Unfortunately, coping with becoming visually impaired is a common way of life for many people thanks to diseases, injuries or other health conditions such as diabetes. One of the fundamental problems which loss of sight causes for people is the inability to negotiate unfamiliar places. It can also affect everyday life activities such as working, sports, or even building friendships.
However, technological advances have been used to help improve the lives of the visually impaired with many creative new inventions developed to help with daily living challenges. Here are the top seven inventions which could revolutionise the lives of people with sight problems:

1. Shoes which can tell you which way to go
Ducere Technologies have created Lechal insoles which can connect via Bluetooth to your mobile device. You input your directions, and as you start to walk, the shoes will vibrate when you need to change course – either the right shoe or the left shoe – with the buzzing getting stronger the nearer you are.

2. Glasses which show you colours
For people whose visual impairment includes colour blindness, to them, a whole new way of seeing the world could be made available thanks to Enchroma Lenses. They look like regular sunglasses but enable colour blind people to view a variety of hues.

3. Accessible mobile phones
Many cell phone manufacturers are now incorporating original elements to make their handsets accessible for the visually impaired, including screen-reading, voice control, slide out keypads, and raised details on the keys to guide your fingers.

4. Braille Rubik Cube
While it’s not something you need on a daily basis, those looking for an exciting challenge might like to try the braille Rubik cube. Rather than match the colours, you match the feel of the braille squares.

5. A safe audible mug
Imagine being blind and trying to make a cup of tea or coffee – how would you know when you had filled the cup with hot water? Well, thanks to the Braun Bell Concept Mug there is now no risk of burning yourself as it lets out a sound once the water hits a particular sensor, telling you to stop.

6. A watch that lets you feel what time it is
Being able to speak the time is something we all take for granted, but if you can’t see, then how do you know what time it is? A brilliant invention to make everyday life easier for those whose sight is limited is the watch which lets you feel the time. The designs use breaks at the 12 o’clock mark and ball bearings to enable the wearer to feel the position of the second hand and the hour hand.

7. A bracelet which tells you where you are
A simple looking piece of jewellery can help blind people to navigate around unfamiliar places, as they contain full navigation options including GPS, audio and voice controls. This nifty and stylish gadget can contribute to maintaining a healthy level of independence.

Key word:
Visually impaired
LSI:
Visual impairment
Blind
Sight loss
Loss of vision
Sight problems
Sight challenge
Colour blind
Sight limited
Accessible

According to the World Health Organization, about 285 million people worldwide are considered visually impaired, meaning they are fully or partially blind. Visual impairment makes it tough to navigate today’s fast-paced, technologically-focused world. However, advances in technology are enabling innovative designers to create inventions which allow the blind and visually impaired to regain a sense of autonomy, agency, and dignity in a world which often undermines their potential.

1. Mobile phones adapted for the visually impaired

   None of the major mobile companies such as Apple or Android has phones specifically built for blind people, although some models can be tailored for those with mild visual disabilities. The B-touch mobile phone by Yanko Design is a smartphone, equipped with touch screen technology, which is entirely designed for blind users. The phone uses a combination of a braille touch pad, high-contrast raised keys, voice recognition and camera word processing technologies to enable the blind to do many of the tasks of traditional smartphones.

2. Touch-sensitive vibrating shoes

   The sense of touch is highly underused in technology assisting those with visual impairments. One shoe company called Lechal had designed a pair of shoes which combines GPS technology with vibration to help the user navigate through his or her environment. The shoes vibrate the left or right foot when a turn is needed, and the designers soon hope to be able to identify obstacles ahead.

3. 
   Tactile Flash Cards

   Another design by Yanko, these flashcards enable the lifelong visually impaired to learn about different objects through three-dimensional diagrams and braille terms.

4. Argus II: The Bionic Eye

   Although this may sound like something out of a science-fiction novel, it has been used experimentally by over a hundred people. The company Second Sight developed Argus II to help those with degenerative eye disease (not those blind from birth) to regain some amount of vision. The device uses a combination of retinal implants, optical processing glasses, and electrical impulses to transfer light manually from the user’s environment to the visual cortex.

5. Thermal Painting

   Although it may not seem like the most useful invention, there are plenty of blind artists who are denied the opportunity for creative freedom. This touch colour tablet necessarily translates colour into critical temperature (a spectrum of tools for blue, purple, and green, and spectrum of warms for reds). This way, artists can paint using heat as their guide and can “mix” colours as well as sample colours from their environment.

6. Braille Watch

   Another Yanko design called the “Feel the Time” watch has physical dots of braille moving around the clock face rather than two hands under a glass panel. This enables the blind to feel the positioning of the clock hands and tell the time.

7. Braune Bell Concept Mug

   This mug enables the blind and the visually impaired to drink hot beverages like coffee and tea without risking burning themselves. Most blind people use their fingers to test the level of water in a mug, but this cup sends out a different pitch when the mug is low, medium, or almost full so that the visually impaired person can hear the water level rather than feel it.

http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs282/en/

http://www.who.int/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visual_impairment

http://www.yankodesign.com/2009/06/15/touchphone-for-the-blind/

http://lechal.com/

http://www.yankodesign.com/2009/08/11/tactile-flash-cards-for-the-blind/

http://www.secondsight.com/

http://www.yankodesign.com/2009/08/04/no-longer-color-blind/

http://www.yankodesign.com/2009/04/22/get-touchy-feely-with-time/

http://www.ohgizmo.com/2009/08/06/braun-bell-concept-mug-for-the-visually-impaired/

Keywords:

blind,

visually impaired,

visual impairment,

technology,

mobile phones,

visual disabilities,

smartphones,

vibration,

GPS,

motion sensing,

flashcards,

vision,

degenerative eye disease,

thermal painting,

braille watch

There are various reasons for a person to turn blind, from age, accidents to diseases and strokes. Thanks to the massive renaissance in science and technology, there are many gadgets available for the blind, to help them ease their daily chores and live their lives normally.

The core functionality of our body is to live and enjoy through our five senses. These are ears to hear, tongue to taste, nose to smell, nerves to feel touch/pressure and eyes for sight. But not all are fortunate to have all five senses intact.

Loss of sight or blindness is a condition in which a person’s view becomes partially or completely damaged and cannot be corrected by wearing spectacles. There are various reasons for a person to turn blind, from age, accidents to diseases and strokes. Thanks to the massive renaissance in science and technology, there are many gadgets available for the blind, to help them ease their daily chores and live their lives normally. With these gadgets, blindness will no longer hinder them from pursuing their dreams.

Here is a list of devices designed specifically to ease the visually impaired:

1. Sensor Embedded Sticks

Walking on streets is not easy for blind people. They use a stick to make sound by tapping as they walk to get an idea of the terrain on which they are walking. But now we have i-sticks. These sticks are built with lenses at the end that convert the images received into electronic signals. The stick vibrates, alerting the blind people when are near uneven terrain such potholes or staircase.

2. Color Sensors With Sound

Vision impairment doesn’t mean you leave your style. This is a colour reader that detects the colour underneath it and then translates them into voice signals. It might not be very helpful for people who are blind since birth, but others who have suffered a loss at a later stage can benefit a lot.

3. Sign Convertors

A major problem with deaf and blind people is the communication barrier between them and the rest of the world. Not many people know sign language, and the gestures can vary from region to region. This could lead to a whole lot of miscommunication. This gadget has a dual functionality wherein it converts gestures to voice, and voice signals to speech. You can even select a language of your choice for easier communication. The device is light in weight and worn as a pendant.

 4. E-Braille

Visually impaired people read through braille script, in which letters are embossed in dotted rectangular blocks. It was printed on paper, but now we have ibrailler tablets. This is not as advanced as an actual tablet but lets the user type, edit, read or surf the internet. The user only needs to place their eight or ten fingers, and a voice over integration will help them guide to apps or use other functionalities. It is now available on mobile too.

 5. Artificial eyes

A concept which became the plot of ‘Blind Dating,’ 2006, is now actually reality. The visual prosthesis is a complicated and slightly expensive procedure but helps the blind see the world again. The patient is required to go through a surgery where a device is inserted in their retina. This device gets activated when the accompanying glasses are worn. These glasses have the camera built in them. When turned on, the patient sees the object in front of them in the contrast of light and darkness. Research is being conducted to enhance the quality and provide coloured imagery to the user.

Apart from these, there are magnetic cups, a sensor built shoes, blind watches and even flash cards to help the blind feel as normal as they can in their day to day life.

Keyword: Visually impaired

LSI: Gadgets for blind, science and technology, istick, braille, tablets, blind watches, Visual prosthesis, sign convertors, sensor embedded sticks, blind, blindness

Reference:

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

http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/blind-technologies/

The world of technology is dynamic and always moving forward. However, humanity has always ensured that those who find it hard to move along with us, are not left behind. The following list is a glaring example of that. Here are seven inventions which hope to help people with blindness lead healthy lives.

1. See Stick

See stick is essentially a walking stick with a few enhancements. These improvements have made an already useful tool more intelligent.

See Stick is equipped with several sensors that analyse the environment around it and send vibrations to its handle accordingly. This gadget is capable of warning the user against possible threats while commuting.

2. Lechal Shoes

People with blindness usually rely on voice commands from their GPS device to walk through the city. Lechal Shoes takes this idea a ‘step’ forward.

These shoes connect to your mobile phone using Bluetooth and come with vibration motors in the soles which would guide the user about the directions he should take by buzzing the right/left foot accordingly.

3. Bionic Eye

Bionic Eye is a high-tech piece of technology that enables people with Pigmentose Blindness to see the world.

This is achieved through a camera in the glasses which would be worn by the user, and a tiny device placed on the retinas of the user.

These two components capture a digital image and convert it into signals that the brain can process.

4. B- Touch Mobile Device Concept

This soon-to-be-reality concept device will be able to assist people with visual imparity to carry out regular tasks such making phone calls, reading books, etc.

This all-in-one device uses Braille, voice processing and visual reading technologies to perform the tasks mentioned above.

5. Braun Bell Mug

This mug was designed to prevent the burns caused by over-filling hot drinks into the mug.

This convenient piece of technology works by incorporating several sensors which vibrate and beep according to the level of liquid poured into the cup.

6.Feel-The-Time Watch

Individuals with blindness are dependent on either audio clocks or strangers to know the time. This watch aims to change that. It has two concentric circles with a tiny nub at each, which moves according to the time.

It allows the user to know the time by merely feeling the nudges on the dial of the watch, thus saving time and inconvenience in the process.

7. Braille E-Book

The trouble with braille books is that they are way bulkier and more expensive than conventional books. This makes it tough to carry more than one book at a time.

Braille e-book is exactly how it sounds. It can dynamically change the pattern and the texture of the braille letters on the screen, and also store a tonne of books.

Advancement in technology is continuously improving the quality of life for all of us, including the physically challenged. So we wouldn’t be wrong if we said that in the future, the difference in the quality of life of the specially abled and the rest would be minimised to almost zero.

LSI Keywords

Inventions to help the blind

Gadgets for the visually impaired

Technologies for the Blind

Inventions for people with blindness.