Sensor technology assists the visually impaired
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Categories |
Computer Science & Engineering, Medical Applications |
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Development Stage |
Working prototype used in trials with sighted and visually impaired |
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Patent Status |
United States patent application filed |
Highlights
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Many sight- impaired people are unwilling to use white canes to assist them in moving around – only 10% of blind people in the United States use canes - either because they are embarrassed or because they are afraid of causing a disturbance or injury to other people.
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Using a cane only provides information about the surroundings up to 20 cm above the floor and in a radius of just over one meter from the person
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Visually impaired people participating in trials with the device have been very excited.
Our Innovation
Sensors in a small mobile device provide accurate information about distances from objects in the user's immediate environment relayed through vibrations or sound.
Key Features
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The sensors may be embedded in a cane to provide added confidence.
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Sensors may be incorporated into a hand-held mobile device about half the size of a cell phone or similar to an MP3 player.
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Augments user's ability to estimate the distance and shape of the objects within and outside their personal space.
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Signals associated with each direction are distinguishable from signals associated with other directions
Development Milestones
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Seeking partners and funding to develop device, possibly providing them to visually impaired in Israel as beta site for other countries
The Opportunity
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About 314 million people are visually impaired worldwide, 45 million of them are blind.
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