Hello! We are currently doing a 4th year Engineering project for the University of Edinburgh. Our research involves looking into potential technology that could be used to aid the visually impaired.
We were wondering your opinion regarding our product.
It is a vest that has an array of small vibrating motors which will vibrate to create patterns on a person’s back. The information about the user’s environment is captured using a camera and recognition software will transform the observed surroundings into signals that go into the vest. Over time, the user will intuitively learn to understand the vibrations from the vest without conscious thought.
The research so far proven that visually impaired people could read information from a blackboard using this vest. The detectable distance is much longer than that of the human tactile sense, making it superior in allowing users to detect obstructions and other useful information in advance while still remaining safe and non - invasive.
Do you think this product would be beneficial for the visually impaired?
Thank you for your time. If you are able to give us any guidance we would greatly appreciate it.
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UofEdinGroup4
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sounds very good- excellent that you are helping in such important work that will make a difference to so many people
Sounds good. If you haven't already may I suggest you contact the Blind Veterans Association if you want to recruit more " guinea pigs " for further testing? I'm sure they'd welcome the opportunity. It would be interesting to see how children found the vest too. Thanks for choosing such an important area for your project, best of luck x
I wonder whether children will pick it up and get used to it more easily than adults, especially those who become visually impaired late in life.
Will the system be able to detect different materials equaly well? I could imagine that say curtains or drapes might pose different issues to a solid wall or wooden door or vehicle.
Your testing should include people of different ages and with a range of visual impairments if possible.
well it may work for some but I would alert you to the fact that some of us already have or develop real sensory issues. In that case a vest wouldn't help and ma, in fact, hamper the fluidity of movement we need to organically develop. Keep in mind that other senses tend to enhance naturally as we lose others, including tactile senses...then there is the problem of ghost imagery in what's left of our sight: It's like seeing a ghostly image in perf. Vision.
We were interested to read your post. The Macular Society encourages innovation aimed at helping visually impaired people (VI) with input from VI people to ensure such innovation genuinely helps. We may be able to help with finding people willing to be involved in testing.
The Macular Society helpline is open 9am – 5pm Monday to Friday on 0300 3030 111 or please email us via help@macularsociety.org
I think your project is fantastic but wouldn't it be easier for the user of the vest and more effective if the vibration patterns were made into audiable speech ..This would also facilitate more detailed information without the likely confusion that could result from vibration patterns.
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