Blind People Alerted Of Obstacles With Robotic Mobility Aid

A group of University of Southern California engineering researchers, including an Indian-origin scientist, have developed a robot vision-based mobility aid for visually impaired people

A group of University of Southern California engineering researchers, including an Indian-origin scientist, have developed a robot vision-based mobility aid for visually impaired people that will alert them about objects in their paths.

The new device would help visually handicapped people who still rely on a very rudimentary technology-a simple cane-to better navigate the busy streets.

Blind can Pick Up Navigation from Bats
A study has pointed out that blind people can pick up the nuances of navigation from bats.

"There are many limitations to canes for the visually impaired, from low hanging branches to large objects. We wanted to build an effective system that would provide new opportunities for them," according to Gerard Medioni, a professor in the Institute for Robotics and Intelligent Systems at USC Viterbi.

Medioni and his colleagues, including James Weiland, a Viterbi School associate professor of biomedical engineering and Vivek Pradeep, a recent Viterbi Ph.D, have developed a software that "sees" the world, and linked it to a system that provides tactile messages to alert users about objects in their paths.

The system uses cameras worn on the head connected to PCs that use Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) software to build maps of the environment and identify a safe path through obstacles.

Phone App for the Blind' Lets Them 'see' Through Crowd Sourced Answers
It is clear that people blessed with eyesight can tell at a glance if their clothes match before an important job interview

This route information is conveyed to the user through a guide vest that includes four micro motors located on an individual's shoulder and waist that vibrate like cell phones.

The prototype of the system was presented at the 2011 meeting of Association for Research in Vision and Opthalmology May 1.

Study Says Blind People Have a Better Sense of Touch
Blind people have a better sense of touch than their sighted peers, due to practice, than the brain compensating for vision loss, reveals study.

Source-ANI

Survey Finds 1 in 6 Women Would Rather be Blind Than Being Obese
One in six women have said that they would rather be blind than obese, says a new survey.