As we break barriers in science and technology at blitzkrieg pace, we hope tobetter serve those among ourselves who haven’t been lucky enough to receive the gift of vision. In recent years, our endeavour in this direction has moved only forward letting us know that we are coming close to eliminating visual impairment as a problem.

Here are a few inventions that have made lives of blind people a little easier-

1. Shoes That Guide In The Right Direction-

Available for online purchase, these ‘Lechal’ shoes designed by Ducere Technologies connect with your smartphone to guide you in the right direction. As you walk, a vibration produced in the shoes will help you navigate routes with relative ease. A vibration in your left shoe indicates that you need to turn left while a vibration in your right shoe indicates that you need to turn right.

These are almost a necessity for the people who are both blind and deaf, as people with only vision loss can still use sounds to navigate routes.

2. Guide Dots-

Guide Dots is an app that makes use of social networking sites to let you know which friend is near you. Plus, you can also use it to let your friends know where exactly you are. The app also informs you of points of interest with geotagging. It does all this via the use of sound. You need to wear earphones to keep listening to the information the app gives you. You can also give certain commands to the app using its push to talk feature.

3. iBrailler Notes-

iBrailler brings the standard Brailler device used by the visually challenged onto an iPad. Once the app is opened on an iPad, you need to calibrate the device by placing your hands where usually, the keyboard would be. The app places a virtual Braille pad in place of a keyboard.

You can now use this calibrated Braille pad to do your work, type documents, write or Google. Google can be used by one-touch open button on the Braille pad itself. Using the Apple VoiceOver option, whatever you want to hear will be read back to you.

4. Argus II Bionic Eye–

Taking a page out of ‘The Terminator’ book, Dr Robert Greenberg workedfor 25 years to make the bionic eye a reality.

Argus II is designed to help patients with retinal pigmentosa, which causes vision loss and eventually leads to blindness.

Patients are implanted with a small device that sits on their retinas. Patients have to wear a set of corresponding glasses which has a camera. When the glasses are on, the signal from the camera turns into electrical impulses on the patient’s eye allowing them to be able to see.

5. Enchroma Lenses-

Enchroma lenses are lenses specially designed to help colour blind people see properly. The lenses have a lot of scientific work going on in them that makes it hard to produce these glasses. These lenses are shaded such that people who have trouble seeing particular colours will no longer have the same problem. From outside, these glasses look like regular sunglasses.

6. Tiffy Template-

Tiffy template is an extremely simple device which helps people to keep track of what kind of currency notes are there in their pockets.

Made by Paul D’Souza, the Tiffy template is a metal plate which helps the blind measure the length and width of their currency notes, thus being able to differentiate between them. The length and breadth are measured using grooves on the template that can be felt after placing currency notes against the template.

7. Be My Eyes-

Be my eyes is a non-profit app that helps blind people feel the world around them a little better. This app is aimed at blind people who don’t have anyone living with them to take care of them.

First, a person needs to take a video by pointing his camera at the place or object about which he wants to know more. The app uploads this video online, and volunteers using the Be My Eyes app will help describe the look of that object via audio.

Further, this app can also be used by taking pictures of documents and having the text read aloud by potential volunteers.

We still have a long way to go to make the lives of the visually impaired as comfortable as the rest of us. It is our duty to appreciate, and bring to forefront ways that help the visually challenged.

LSI Keywords- visual impairment, vision loss, Blind, blindness, visually impaired, Revolutionize The Lives Of The Visually Impaired, make the lives of the blind as comfortable as the rest, Enchroma lenses, retinal pigmentosa, Argus II Bionic Eye,

Reference Links-

www.thebetterindia.com/topics/inventions/

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/39688040441959033

mashable.com/2011/10/05/tech-disabled

For people who aren’t visually impaired, it’s sometimes difficult to comprehend how much the world is designed for people who aren’t visually impaired.

From traffic lights to coffeemakers that indicate they’re done with lights, even the smallest thing can be frustrating because of designs that are automatically made for people without visual impairments.

Here are seven innovative products for visual impairment to even the score just a little bit:

1. Braun Bell Concept Mug: Sang-hoon Lee and Yong-bum Lim have made a mug that emits a sound when the liquid reaches water sensors that mark certain places inside the mug: you can now fill up your mug to exactly 3/4ths with no problem. People who can’t see how full the cup is, have to resort to dipping a finger in, this is not only unsanitary, it’s downright dangerous for mugs full of scalding hot liquid.

2. The Eye Stick: The walking stick that sees for you. This walking stick is equipped with a lens that recognises special hazards like stairs, or traffic lights and then communicates to the user through sonic vibrations. New environments are now less dangerous and unknown for the visually impaired who get hold of this nifty little thing.

3. The B-Touch Mobile Phone: Designed by the brilliant Zhenwei You, if this smartphone had an IQ, it would be off the charts. Along with braille touch screen tech, this phone incorporates voice activated software as well. This phone will read out loud to you, act as a navigator, and do object recognition, so you don’t have to, and so much more. All it needs now is a laundry setting.

4. LeChal Shoes: Wear the future with Lechal’s shoes. They connect with apps on your phone or tab to act as navigator. Vibrations on your shoes will tell you how to walk. Move left if you feel a vibe on the left shoe and so on. The latest version doesn’t work with obstructions in your path yet, but they’re working on it, and I for one am eager to explore what they come out with.

5. Enchroma Lenses: Opening up a whole new world for colourblind people, these spectacles may look like shades, but they can help a lot of colourblind people see more colours than before. Colour blindness happens due to a different balance of absorption in retinal cone cells which will cause ‘spectral overlap.’ Red-green colourblind people are likely to not have full spectral overlap so that they can be helped through this.

6. Bionic Eye: Visual impairment through retinal pigmentosa can be a terrible thing. However, with Robert Greenberg and the Argus II, there may be a light at the end of that tunnel. This is a two-step process with a device that is implanted in the retinas combined with a pair of glasses which will send signals to the device that will then send electrical impulses. The image is low-resolution, but at least it’s possible. Unfortunately, it is still extremely expensive and unlikely to be accessible to a majority of patients.

7. Braille E-Book Reader: Electroactive polymers may fulfil the dreams of many readers worldwide. While not a reality yet, and not cost-effective enough to be commercially available, it’s a good thought and one that needs to be pursued.

   Using electromagnetic signals, it is possible to produce refreshable braille patterns or an e-book reader that will make millions of books accessible to visually impaired people in a lightweight and simple form. The design was proposed by Seon-Keun Park, Jin-Sun Park, Sun-Hye Woo, Byung-Min Woo.

Seven things that prove that with technology and will, you really can change the world for the better. This will improve the lives of many people, and give them the tools to change the world as well. It’s a beautiful domino effect.

LSI Keywords:visual impairment, visually impaired, blindness, blind, Accessible to visually impaired people, Products for visual impairment, Visual impairment through retinal pigmentosa, Colorblind people, Braille

References:

http://www.yankodesign.com/2009/08/06/no-more-overspills-even-if-you-are-blind/

http://www.concept-phones.com/cool-concepts/btouch-concept-touchscreen-mobile-phone-blind/

http://www.yankodesign.com/2009/09/08/blind-stick-with-eyes/

http://enchroma.com/technology/

https://www.nbp.org/downloads/cbi/EAPActuators.pdf

http://www.massdevice.com/restoring-sight-blind-conversation-with-second-sights-robert-greenberg/

https://www.entrepreneur.com/slideshow/245443

http://weburbanist.com/2010/04/05/12-ingenious-gadgets-technologies-for-the-blind/