A team of researchers at the University of Technology in Sydney, Australia have designed a new tool that could allow people who are blind or who have low vision or other vision impairments to “see,” drawing inspiration from the way bats use sound to detect their surroundings. The team’s new tool is described in a recent article published in PLOS ONE.
According to the World Health Organization, almost 40 million people around the globe are considered blind, with millions more struggling with various vision impairments and low vision overall, which can affect a person’s day-to-day quality of life and ability to go about their days. A flurry of technologies and tools have been developed in the past to help address blindness and help people go about their days, from the iconic white cane used to help people get around to computer-based tools like text-to-speech tools and other screen readers that help people navigate information on a screen.=
Researchers at the University of Technology Sydney are taking a unique approach to designing a new gadget that is designed to give people with vision impairment a new way to navigate their environment, drawing inspiration from echolocation abilities (sound-based abilities) that bats use to navigate their surroundings, find food, and locate their fellow bats. Specifically, researchers designed a pair of “smart” glasses that can translate sonic information into specific sound bits that can represent certain types of visual input and help wearers navigate their surroundings. For example, the smart glasses may generate certain sounds to represent certain objects that might enter a wearer’s line of sight.
To see how well the glasses worked, researchers tested them in a group of 14 participants: 7 participants were blind or had low-vision, and the other 7 (the control group) were simply blindfolded. Overall, researchers found that the glasses enabled people with blindness or low-vision to actual identify objects and reach out for them, all with minimal mental effort.
Overall, researchers highlight that their technology could play an important part in helping people with vision impairment navigate day-to-day tasks, including locating objects around their home.
Sources: Science Daily; PLOS ONE