visually impared Archives - Tech Podcast Network

.lumen visually impaired guidance Technology has the power to transform the lives of people with disabilities, providing them with greater independence and opportunities. Haptic feedback glasses for the visually impaired are a groundbreaking development designed to uplift the lives of these individuals. Cornel Amariei, the CEO and founder of .lumen, is committed to creating glasses that mimic the primary functions of a guide dog.

Glasses for blind with haptic feedback

One of the major issues facing blind people is the limited availability of guide dogs, with only 28,000 dogs serving the 40 million blind people worldwide. The cost of training a guide dog, which amounts to around $70,000, and the extensive effort required from blind individuals make guide dogs a non-scalable solution. To address this issue, .lumen has developed glasses that utilize self-driving technology and a patented haptic feedback interface.

The .lumen glasses function similarly to a guide dog, pulling the user’s head instead of their hand. The haptic feedback creates the sensation of something holding and pulling the head in the direction the user needs to go, avoiding obstacles and ensuring safety. The company has been testing with over 250 blind individuals internationally and has shown the glasses to be incredibly effective, even surpassing the capabilities of guide dogs.

In terms of functionality, the .lumen glasses can be directed to guide the user to specific locations or provide general guidance. The glasses compute obstacle positions a hundred times per second, ensuring seamless navigation. The haptic feedback on the forehead provides intuitive guidance, allowing blind individuals to navigate their surroundings without the need for a physical guide.

Why haptic feedback instead of audio alerts

The decision to incorporate haptic feedback into the glasses was driven by the desire to provide non-intrusive yet informative feedback. Blind individuals heavily rely on their hearing, so audio feedback was deemed unsuitable. By utilizing haptics, .lumen ensures that the feedback is intuitive and easily understandable. The head was chosen as the feedback location due to its natural inclination to turn and gather information about the surroundings.

Similar to guide dogs, which do not bark when there is an obstacle but rather guide the individual around it, the glasses use haptics to gently steer the user. The glasses are engineered to handle complex outdoor challenges, such as distinguishing between the sidewalk and the road, through extensive AI training and data analysis.

The decision to develop glasses with haptic feedback stemmed from the desire to address the limitations of guide dogs and provide a scalable solution for the millions of blind individuals who cannot have access to a guide dog. Amariei’s passion for improving the lives of blind individuals is evident in his dedication to creating a product that not only replicates the capabilities of guide dogs but also exceeds them in some cases.

The origins of .lumen

Amariei shares his personal experience growing up in a family of people with disabilities and how it inspired them to create technology specifically for this community. He mentions that he comes from Eastern Europe, specifically Transylvania, where he witnessed firsthand the challenges faced by people with disabilities.

However, he also recognized the potential of technology to address these challenges. Coming from a background in automotive, specifically autonomous driving, he understood the capabilities of technology and saw an opportunity to create something better.

Conclusion: Haptics make for a safer and scalable experience

It is important to note that, in terms of price, it is not intended for the blind individuals themselves to pay for it. Instead, they are exploring reimbursement and subsidy programs, such as those found in Europe, to ensure that the technology is accessible and affordable for those who need it.

In conclusion, the development of glasses for the blind with haptic feedback represents a significant advancement in assistive technology. These glasses have the potential to transform the lives of blind individuals by providing them with a reliable, intuitive, and scalable solution for navigation and obstacle avoidance. With further advancements in technology and increased accessibility, glasses like Lumen’s have the power to empower blind individuals and enable them to live more independent and fulfilling lives.

Interview by Scott Ertz of F5 Live: Refreshing Technology.

Sponsored by:
Get $5 to protect your credit card information online with Privacy.
Amazon Prime gives you more than just free shipping. Get free music, TV shows, movies, videogames and more.
The most flexible tools for podcasting. Get a 30 day free trial of storage and statistics.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS | More

Lighthouse Tech Visual Impaired Smart Glasses Over the past decade, it seems that everything has become smart. From lightbulbs to refrigerators, to even glasses, everything is getting smarter. In some cases, the benefits have been obvious, such as being able to control lightbulbs without having to go to a particular place in the room or having special wiring. However, some items being smart have mostly been gimmicky, like glasses. That is until now – as Lighthouse Tech has a new take on the tech, making it a truly useful addition for many users.

What is Lighthouse Tech?

Lighthouse Tech is a company making smart glasses for a new demographic – those with visual impairment. In general, smart glasses have included pretty pedestrian features, such as Bluetooth speakers or cameras. On the other hand, we’ve seen products like Google Glass, which were both ahead of their time and surprisingly useless.

Lighthouse Tech has thrown out all of those ideas and totally changed directions. These glasses are not intended to make you look techy. Instead, the glasses themselves look entirely like normal glasses. These glasses, however, are designed to help improve the safety of wearers with visual impairments by giving alerts and information about hazards that other safety measures generally miss.

In particular, the glasses are intended to find items outside of the range of a walking stick. This includes, but is not limited to, low hanging tree branches, street signs, store signs, and more. Specifically, the glasses look for things that are hanging or physically separated from the base to which they are attached.

How does it work?

The Lighthouse Tech glasses are designed to protect the safety of their wearer. This is done using front-facing sensors. These sensors are able to detect obstacles within the path of the wearer, as well as the distance between the glasses and the obstacle.

The glasses are able to provide feedback to the wearer through vibration. This is an important detail because, if the glasses are to be used on the sidewalk on a bust street, audible feedback, including beeps and speech, would be difficult to hear. In addition, audible feedback would make the glasses more obvious for their intention, possibly making the wearer more self-conscious about wearing them. The design of the glasses, which are traditional and low profile, are intended to go the other way. Thus, audible feedback would undermine the concept.

To improve feedback, the company also offers a small, connected bracelet. This allows the wearer to move the feedback from the temples to the wrist. For many, the wrist is a more sensitive area of the body and can help improve the awareness of the safety alerts.

Summary

The Lighthouse Tech glasses are currently in active development. The company is searching for beta testers to give the tech a try and give feedback. Once beta testing has completed, the company will finalize the device and bring it to market. To learn more about the company and the product, or to sign up to be a beta tester, head over to the company’s website.

Interview by Marlo Anderson of The Tech Ranch.