Ingenious Gadgets For The Blind
Innovative and technologically advanced inventions for the visually-impaired.
16:13 03 May 2017
Modern technology has paved the way for visually-impaired individuals to ‘see’ their surrounding instead of just feeling the world around. Below are the top ingenious gadgets for the blind:
· Argus II – An FDA-approved device that provides blind people a basic form of sight using bionic retinal implant. The implant takes over the redundant retina’s role of generating electrical signals after receiving information from a camera. Pulses are then sent to the optical nerve that the brain can learn to interpret as vision.
· Assisted Vision Smart Glasses – These glasses have been designed to display the world in outlines for the blind so they will be able to ‘see’ movement and even facial expressions. It consists of a video camera, a computer processing unit and a software that provides images of objects close-by on the see-through displays in the eyepieces of the glasses.
· BrainPort V100 – This uses a camera to help the blind “see with their tongues”. One part of the gadget is placed in the person’s mouth and sends signal through the user’s tongue. The device helps improve object recognition, spatial awareness and assist in mobility.
· eSight3 – This gadget is specifically designed to help people who only had some peripheral vision but no or low central vision to fully see. The headset transmits images from forward-facing camera into the wearer’s peripheral vision.
· EyeMusic – This technology has been designed to help people perceive shape and colour through music. It constructs “soundscape” that conveys visual information through musical note. Users are trained to identify the meaning from pattern of notes.
· XploR, SmartCane, Ultracane – These are all mobility aids designed to help blind people navigate better. XploR features a facial recognition function that helps the blind recognise people while the SmartCane and UltraCane offer a low-cost assistive technology.