Student builds googles to help visually impaired people identify hurdles

After Anang helped a blind woman cross the street, he tried to find a solution to this problem. He realised that visually impaired people can sense objects in their way with their traditional cane. However, this device can’t really help when the user is trying to cross the road.

So he started doing some research, looking for some method like the bats have, to help them identify immediate danger. Since they’re blind, they rely on echolocation (sound waves are reflected from the surface of the opposite object) to identify and dodge from hurdles.

The student developing a solution, in 2017, based on this method. The result was Googles for Blind (G4B), which integrate ultrasonic transmitters, receivers, and a microprocessor.

The G4B uses ultrasound and infrared sensors to help the users detect obstacles within a distance of two meters. When the sound waves it an object, the sensors detect the echo and send a vibration alert through coin vibration motors fitted on two temples of the goggle.

The innovation has an infrared sensor in the middle of the goggles to detect hurdles in case both the ultrasound sensors fail. When an obstacle is detected, a beep sound is heard through the audio output along with vibration to alert the person.

“As soon as the person who wears this he comes close to an object the intensity of the vibrations will increase. This can't be a replacement for the stick but can be effective when used with the stick”, he explained.

The inventor got the Dr APJ Abdul Kalam IGNITE Award 2017, the Dinanath Pandey Smart Idea Innovation Award 2017 and the National Grassroute Innovation Award for his gadget.

The inventor has developed three prototypes. When the final prototype is ready he will get from UNICEF and other organisations to help promote the device and bring it in the market.

Adapted from: https://bit.ly/2XaAzCo
https://bit.ly/2XygXr4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFhHPFBZbUo