Interested to hear more about the tech - how this differs from existing products? Is there a reason this product does not exist (if it does - what makes yours better?) The IP on this kind of things goes +25Y back.
Sure, main difference from previous products are:
- Form factor: prior devices couldn't get this small, most devices were heavy, obtrusive (mostly hand held), noisy and not precise (haptic actuators weren't miniaturized and optimized as today are). Making it wearable allows the user to rely on it only when they need it and in way that doesn't stick out or represent a hard task for them to do.
- Connectivity: probable the most powerful factor, none of the previous was a connected device isolating the device for future improvements and fixing the way it works for most of the users. Visually Impaired come in different variants so people have very different navigation challenges depending on the condition behind their impairment (e.g. some have light perception, some have minimum peripheral vision or only central vision, etc), so customization is key. Connectivity permits the device to be prescribed as the user needs besides from allowing us to gather data and enhance the technology constantly so it becomes each time more useful.
In general previous products had a "once fit all" approach in an inconvenient design. There still a few of these devices out there but with low user adoption.
In some ways 25 years is an ideal amount of time - means that key patents recently expired. A similar factor lead to the explosion of consumer 3D printers about 5 years ago.