A laminated piezoelectric element that includes a piezoelectric element layer and a matching layer. A cane having a brake releasable and engageable by the substantially downward force of a user’s hand while the user’s hand substantially continuously maintains a grip on the cane and while the user walks beside the cane. The configuration of the FEM circuit permits the use of common, relatively low cost semiconductor fabrication techniques such as standard CMOS processes. The identifier is matched with an identification pattern included in a record of a database accessible to the computer system.