We know that blind people can read those things written in Braille system. But researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has designed a 3D printed ring called FingerReader that helps blind people read in real time.
Recently, three RAF pilots who were flying highly costly Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) planes were left blinded during their flights. The reason for this temporary disability was a faulty headgear which was meant to provide them technical information about their flights.
Braille is a system of reading and writing by touch, widely used by blind people. It consists of arrangements of dots, which make up letters of the alphabet, numbers, and punctuation marks. Blind people can read braille by moving their fingers over the dots. Recently, we’ve come to know that Indian engineers have made the world’s first braille smartphone for the blind. The phone can convert text in any language to braille letters.
Researchers have developed a new device that allows blind people to see words in Braille format by stimulating the light-sensitive part of the eye. In short, blind people will be able to read through Braille.
Cameras have been playing a very significant role in our daily lives. Now, I am going to tell an unconventional application of cameras’ that will surely amaze you. Recently, a team from the Fluid Interfaces Group at MIT’s Media Lab has developed a prototype camera worn on a finger ring, called EyeRing. But that’s not the main part. EyeRing can translate images of objects captured through a camera lens and feeds the information back to the user via the earphone, who are, in this case, blind. The camera will let blind people ‘see’ through their ears.
Braille, a tactile writing system used by the blind and the visually impaired, has helped a lot of visually impaired people immensely in different fields of life. However, sometimes, even braille turns out to be limited. For instance, if a blind person want to order a new food item, just by the name, problems may arise. A new concept, based on smell, proposes a solution for such situations.
Eyesight restoration has deservedly been the subject of much research over the years. Recently, researchers have discovered a chemical that temporarily restores vision to blind mice. Now, the team is working on an improved compound to restore vision in people.
Technology is waiting to welcome another major breakthrough in the realms of medical care. A team consisting of scientists from USA, Israel and from different countries of Europe is developing a bionic retina implant that can restore vision of the blinds. People with blindness caused by retinal degenerative diseases could get their vision back using this bionic retina. The clinical trial of the bionic retina implantation is likely to begin in 2013.