Executive Summary
The assistive mobility device market for blind and low-vision users has never been more competitive — or more consequential. In 2026, buyers face a genuinely complex decision landscape: purpose-built AI canes, wearable camera systems, smartphone-paired accessories, and hybrid platforms each offer distinct capability profiles, price points, and use-case fits. This guide provides a structured, evidence-based comparison for individuals, rehabilitation specialists, and institutional procurement teams evaluating the current generation of AI mobility devices.
The Baseline: Traditional White Cane
Before evaluating AI-enhanced alternatives, it is worth establishing what the traditional white cane does exceptionally well. A standard folding or rigid cane — costing between $20 and $80 — provides immediate tactile ground-plane feedback, requires zero battery life, never loses a network connection, and has a failure mode of exactly zero. Orientation and mobility (O&M) specialists consistently note that cane technique, when properly trained, enables navigation in environments where electronic devices struggle: heavy rain, extreme cold, and chaotic construction zones.
Any AI device evaluation must be honest about this baseline. The question is not whether AI canes are better in every dimension — they are not — but whether their specific capabilities justify their cost and complexity for a given user's lifestyle and environment.
WeWALK Smart Cane 2
WeWALK, the Istanbul-founded startup that pioneered the smartphone-integrated smart cane category, released its second-generation platform in late 2024. The WeWALK 2 attaches to any standard white cane tip and adds a handle-mounted ultrasonic sensor array, a touchpad surface for gesture input, and Bluetooth 5.2 connectivity to a paired iOS or Android device.
The device's core value proposition is integration depth. Through the WeWALK app, users access Google Maps turn-by-turn navigation with haptic waypoint alerts, real-time transit information, and a growing library of third-party integrations including Uber and public transit APIs for 40+ cities. Microsoft's Seeing AI can be invoked directly from the handle touchpad, enabling on-demand scene description and text reading without removing a phone from a pocket.
At a retail price of approximately $599, WeWALK 2 occupies the mid-market. Its primary limitation is smartphone dependency: the device's most valuable features require a paired phone with an active data connection. In environments with poor connectivity, functionality degrades to basic ultrasonic obstacle detection — useful, but not differentiated from cheaper alternatives.
Glidance Glide
Glidance, a Seattle-based startup founded by former Amazon and Microsoft engineers, takes a fundamentally different architectural approach. The Glide is a standalone wheeled device — not a cane attachment — that the user holds by a handle while it actively steers around obstacles using forward-facing depth sensors and a motorized wheel assembly. The device physically guides the user rather than providing alerts for the user to interpret.
This distinction matters. In user trials published by the company in 2025, participants reported significantly reduced cognitive load compared to alert-based systems, particularly in high-density pedestrian environments such as airports and transit hubs. The Glide's on-device processing stack runs entirely offline, eliminating connectivity dependency.
The trade-off is form factor and cost. At $1,495, the Glide is the most expensive consumer device in this comparison. Its wheeled design also requires adaptation for users accustomed to traditional cane technique, and it is less suited to environments with stairs, escalators, or uneven terrain where a traditional cane's ground-plane feedback is critical.
OrCam MyEye 3
OrCam's MyEye 3 occupies a distinct category: it is a wearable AI camera that clips to standard eyeglass frames rather than a mobility aid. The device uses a forward-facing camera and bone-conduction speaker to provide real-time audio descriptions of text, faces, products, and scenes — triggered by a discrete finger-point gesture or voice command.
For users with low vision rather than total blindness, the MyEye 3 is arguably the most versatile device in this comparison. Its text recognition accuracy — validated across 40+ languages — is best-in-class, and its face recognition capability (with user-defined contact libraries) addresses a social navigation need that cane-based devices do not. OrCam reports over 100,000 active users globally as of Q4 2025.
The MyEye 3 is not a mobility navigation device in the traditional sense. It does not detect ground-level obstacles or provide directional routing. Most users deploy it as a complement to a traditional cane or guide dog rather than a replacement.
Traditional Cane vs. AI Cane: A Framework for Decision-Making
The choice between a traditional cane and an AI-enhanced device is not binary. Rehabilitation specialists at the Perkins School for the Blind and the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) increasingly recommend a layered approach: maintain traditional cane proficiency as the foundational skill, and layer AI devices on top for specific high-value use cases.
Users who commute daily through complex urban transit systems derive measurable value from WeWALK's navigation integration. Users who frequently navigate unfamiliar indoor environments — conference centers, hospitals, airports — report the Glidance Glide's active guidance as transformative. Users whose primary challenge is reading printed materials and recognizing faces benefit most from OrCam.
The $599–$1,495 price range of current AI devices remains a barrier for many users, particularly in markets without insurance reimbursement pathways. Advocacy organizations including the American Foundation for the Blind are actively lobbying for AI navigation device coverage under Medicaid and Medicare Advantage plans — a policy development that, if successful, would dramatically expand the addressable market.
Outlook
The 2026 device landscape represents the first generation of AI mobility tools that are genuinely ready for mainstream adoption. The next 24 months will bring further miniaturization, improved battery life, and — critically — the first clinical outcome studies that quantify safety and independence improvements in real-world conditions. Those studies will be the catalyst for institutional procurement at scale.