Seeing for the Blind, a teen-developed wearable navigation device for the visually Impaired

Motivated by the fact that nearly 90% of the world’s visually impaired population lives in developing countries with limited access to assistive technologies, ate age of 14, Sidharth Anantha set out to create an affordable and portable solution. His idea emerged during a flight to India, when he noticed a woman using her cane to count seat rows—an observation that inspired him to design a hands-free navigation device for blind individuals.

Sidharth’s invention, Seeing for the Blind, combines sonar sensors with an Arduino® processor to detect obstacles and alert users via sound or vibration. The device is compact and designed to be worn on shoes or glasses. Later, he added a second system using a Raspberry Pi®, camera, and machine learning to identify specific objects or text, delivering the information audibly through earphones. Both systems are designed to be stored in a small pouch and used interchangeably. The invention targets individuals who have lost their sight after birth, aiming to recreate a more intuitive understanding of their surroundings. Sidharth received U.S. Patent No. 10,900,788 B2 in 2021 and has presented the device at multiple invention competitions, where it earned several awards.

Adapted from: https://www.uspto.gov/kids/young-inventors

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1Aybcb0xtw