@Zarvox you say "A small stick" I wonder what sort of cane your using.
Used properly a long cane can give you a lot of information you wouldn't get otherwise, indeed without a dog it is the best way of detecting things like down steps in front of you, or obstacles.

yeah, some scifi camera system would be cool, but the plane fact is we don't have that yet, so we need to use what's available.

I used a long cane for 17 years and went round the world with one, including at university most of the time on my own, and still use  when Reever my guide dog needs a break. I wouldn't take it everywhere, usually if i was inside a house or single room I'd just fold the thing up, but when walking around the streets or in a large building like  university building or hospital I'd always have it with me.

My own feeling is that the long cane is there for me! Its there to make my life easier, I'd feel much more stupid, and likely get injured falling down the stairs without one. Everyone else can think what the hell they like.

Besides, odds are people will see your blind anyway whether you have a cane or not, so why bother missing out on something that can be helpful to you and risk injuring yourself just because of what someone else might think?

I'd say its nothing to do with "accepting blindness", its more just having the confidence to use what is available and tell everyone else to shove it, rather than just wanting to be one of the usual sheep.

I'm not ashamed of being blind, I'm not proud of it either, its just something I have to deal with, end of story.

Personally redfox, I always needed less help using a cane than I would without one, and since I admit I do have a bit of an issue accepting help from people and tend to want to do everything myself, that is quite a thing for me.

The issue is, in my opinnion, that cameras don't give you that tactile feedback. I don't think technology has progressed to a point where it can differentiate between the sidewalk and a street and quickly warn you about them. Even if it has, it is probably eyatering expensive.
I personally will be gejting a guide dog, as for me, that will improve
my speed of travel. While the cane tells people that we are blind, I think that people would think that you would need help, as if you wore a camera suit, I think there's a specific gait that blind people walk with, and I think sighted people know that gait, and assume that we need help.
Furthermore, outfiting a suit with cameras that are good enough to detect these things could cost thousands of dollars. What happens if one of them breaks? You might have to either replace that one, or worst case scenario, replace the whole suit.
Canes, however, can be replaced for under $40. Canes are much more cost-effective compared to a camera suit.
Regarding your argument about being hands-free, that is true. However, keep in mind that you could get a backpack that could carry some of the things that require two hands to carry (except softener salt, those things are a pain)...

What about the weatherproofing, what about the weight (and heat) in warm months, what about when your in a crowd of people, what about overhead obstacles. What about the battery power limitations, what about the code that's supposed to be so good your willing to put your life in it's hands even though we are still years from making autonomous cars safe enough to have confidence in and they have massive corporations behind them. and most importantly for the majority of potential users, what about the cost, how will you get blindness organizations to believe your solution is safer, more convenient, and more socially acceptable enough to justify that massive difference, when many of them can hardly get enough grant money to keep running the programs they do have.

I'm glad people are thinking about this because eventually something concrete could come out of these ideas, but ideas are a dime a dozen, while good ideas that could actually work and have real planning behind them are priceless.

And yeah, the cane marks you in allot of negative ways I agree, but that can be useful too.  Ask a low vision person how often they have to convince people they need basic assistance, because they don't look blind.
Plus, what is your excuse for slightly bumping into people, walking on the wrong part of the path, not seeing people's cues to move out of the way or go somewhere, or touching things to find out what they are for future reference if you have no cane.  Someone with a reasonable amount of intelligence is going to realize oh hey, he's blind, that's why he's doing that because he has to.
It's also important for showing drivers at an uncontrolled crossing when you want to go, since you can't make eye contact or see them wave, and for making sure your moving with a line or finding a free seat on a bus.  Doing so without a cane would be much more awkward.

People will see a blind person doing well with a cane and walking places with confidence and independents, and say wow! That blind guy is doing all that? I didn't even know that was possible! That's awesome!
So it's more the person behind the cane in the end, especially if you have enough social confidence to strike up conversations with people and to laugh off simple mistakes, since they'll happen probably multiple times a day if you lead an active lifestyle.

@8 good points. I already know it is too expensive  and yes I’ve thought about obstacles brushing up against the lenses, and overcrowding.  I just wanted to see if other people had the idea of replacing the cane as well, because we have been using canes for a very very long time. And I know the phrase, if it isn’t broken don’t fix it, but I just thought we could have something  different for a change.

If you can make a camera suit that does the same things as a cane does (approximates the same types of feedback, is easily foldable and has a string loopy thinggy to put a ring of keys on), then I'll happily buy it if it's under $100. Otherwise I don't see the use as of now.

and @9 lol, let's you stick to walls.

a few things i would like to say.
1. I don't know where you live but where i live everybody respects the white cane. Even if i'm  holding a friend's arm and holding my cane folded, cars will slow down and give us way to pass the streets if they spot my cane. I'd like that level of respect and i like to have that power in my hand while i'm outside.
2. I feel literally disabled and helpless if i don't hold this small stick that you speak of while walking outside. Maybe you don't know how to use the cane  to its full potential but i can  easily see my path in front of my foot with the cane. Is there an actual alternative tech that can replace this efficiency? no. Do i want an alternative? yes!
3. I still can't forget the time when i was holding my visually impaired teacher's arm as we were walking the corridor of a subway station and he suddenly began slamming his cane unnaturally hard as he navigated forward with the pencil tip cane. I immediately shrank in embarrassment and as the sound of the cane was echoing the corridor walls around me, i was wondering to myself what the hell is this man doing, with this age everyone is going to look at him and think that he's, think that... he's blind!. at that age,  i never wanted to appear that way while i was walking that corridor. I was scared of the click sound of the cane specially because it sounded loud in that specific place and i was pretty sure people who are passing by are going to notice it and see that i'm different. So yes, acceptance. He taught me that i should accept that i have to be seen with a white cane because that was the only way for me to walk outside.
Does holding a white cane give you some sort of public image? yes! IS that the only thing that gives you public image? no! there is your hair, the clothings that you're wearing, the way you walk.
You wanna go outside looking like iron man that is fine but you gotta understand that  that option is not on the table for you at this time. I doubt that there's a footwear camera that could alert you of a small bump in front of you so precise that you wouldn't accidentally trip over it and go stumbling to the ground.

@16 Maybe it is time to tell my o and m teacher that I am embarassed to hold the white cane. Is that why I don't care about safety when traveling? Maybe it is. I hope so, because safety is extremely important, and I people's words of safety are starting to get through to me at once. But I believe it is time to tell my teacher that I am embarrassed to hold it and attach myself to the public image of it. I can't throw away my safety simply because I am scared of being attached to an image. I have to sacrifice security for safety.

[email protected] wow I'm impressed that cars etc stopp in Persia for someone with a white cane. Over here its more as if you don't exist, though I wouldn't attribute that to the cane as to blindness generally.

@Zarvox people will see your blind anyway no matter what you do. Even if your eye condition is not one which shows as abnormal, people will gather that by the way you move around, the way you don't make eye contact etc.

Since people are going to do that anyway, why deny yourself something that could help you get out, be more independent and yes, look less! helpless, since believe me, you will get far more negative attention for falling down a step in the street or walking smack into a post than for finding it with your cane first and negotiating your way around it.

LOL when people see the white cane they only try to help you, not hate you that's because you mentioned the public image, heard of any blind terrorist who hid bombs inside of a white cane and murdered people? i didn't, unless you are a god and can't accept help from humans there's no reason to be embarrased

Hey folks. People will always apply tags in order to "Understand how it works", so, even if you build a drone to floate next to you and warn you of the area around, or a all mighty suit, a bodyguard, a guide dog, a white cane or whatever brings you joy, people will see a blind person, or a sighted person, a fat person, a tall person, a short...well, I guess it is clear as of now, right? People have opinions about everything, even if they don't know what are they talking about. My own opinion on this topic may sound like a bunch of crap to some and you're not going to take it into consideration, and it is perfectly fine. So why would having a public tag or image upon you could be that harmful?
Best regards, Haramir.