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