Patent ID: 8077020

Claim:
An apparatus for providing information about a physical surrounding environment to a user, the apparatus comprising: an elongate body having first and second opposing ends and a mast extending transversely from a body centerline at a location thereof proximate to the first end, the second end being handled by the user to repeatedly and continuously sweep the first end in first and second opposite motions; at least one sensor mountably coupled to the mast of the body; at least one dual purpose, bi-directional haptic force feedback device coupled to the body proximate to the second end and including first and second haptic force feedback mechanisms and a vibrator; and a processor, which is coupled to the body intermediate the mast and the at least one dual purpose, bi-directional haptic force feedback device, and which receives signals from the at least one sensor and operatively controls the at least one dual purpose, bi-directional haptic force feedback device to: convey a first type of information about the physical surrounding environment sensed by the at least one sensor during the sweeping of the first end in the first and second motions by operating the vibrator and the first or the second haptic force feedback mechanisms, respectively, and convey a second type of information about the physical surrounding environment sensed by the at least one sensor during the sweeping of the first end in the first or second motions by operating the vibrator, the first and the second haptic force feedback mechanisms.