Smart Glasses Allow Blind People to See

Smart Glasses Allow Blind People to See

     A new prototype pair of smart glasses developed by Assisted Vision are able to translate visual information into images that blind people can interprate. They simplify the more ambiguous elements of the everyday environment and then display these more basic and relevant details for the user; essentially allowing them to gain partial sight. The system works because 75% of registered blind people have the ability to detect light, and the glasses could be especially useful for users with cataracts, age-related macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy, among other eye-related conditions.

    

    Assisted Vision's sensors gather data through two cameras, a gyroscope, a compass and GPS. The sensors can capture movement, direction and the exact location of the objects in front of a user. The sensors send data to a processor, which translates the images. The processor then transmits the data to a display inside the glasses, where objects in front of the user are rendered as a series of lights. The OLED technology can show different colors and intensities of light to indicate an object's distance, for example, objects can be made clearer against the background, or the distance to obstacles can be indicated by the varying brightness of an image. It can also differentiate between objects that are moving and those that are still.  The smart glasses also come with a headphone and text-to-speech software, which helps users ascertain other important information such as directions, bus numbers and even signs.

Assisted Vision Displaying the Movement of a Person