[Nfbf-l] Smart specs put the blind in the picture

[Alan Dicey]

Smart specs put the blind in the picture
October 31 2013 at 10:57am
 By Daily Mail
In time, it could even be possible for users to read text, with words passed 
to the wearer via an earpiece.

London - Scientists have invented spectacles that allow the blind to "see" 
people and objects.
The glasses use the fact that most people registered blind can still 
perceive light.
Pinhead-sized cameras in the frame capture images and send them to a 
computer in the wearer's pocket, where they are simplified into a shape and 
displayed on the lenses.
The closer the object, the brighter the shape.
This could help the wearer shop or take public transport alone and the 
British Royal Society is now funding the development of software that could 
allow the glasses to recognise bus stops.
In time, it could even be possible for users to read text, with words passed 
to the wearer via an earpiece.
The invention, by Dr Stephen Hicks of Oxford University, will cost under 
£1000 (English) and could be on sale by the end of 2014.
It is hoped the spectacles will help most of the 300 000 Britons who are 
registered blind.
Dr Hicks said the glasses represent the beginning of a "golden age for 
computer vision".
Robert MacLaren, an Oxford University ophthalmologist, added: "It has been 
the stuff of science fiction for many years but now we have the real 
prospect of electronic visual aids being worn as casually as glasses."
- Daily Mail

source URL:
http://www.iol.co.za/scitech/technology/gadgets/smart-specs-put-the-blind-in-the-picture-1.1599980#.UnJW6nj8Jv4

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