'New' eyes for the visually impaired

Just wear the 'magic eye' device in the head, the visually impaired person will identify the obstacle ahead to avoid it. This device was built by a research team in Ho Chi Minh City to build.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Thao, 57 years old, in Quarter 3, Linh Trung Ward, Thu Duc District, Ho Chi Minh City is a visually impaired person who sells lottery tickets. For Ms. Thao, the blinds in the house were familiar with everything, but when they hit the road very often hit their feet, or entered the footpath of a roadside motorbike. With a parked truck, the bottom is empty, sticks cannot be found, but the top has a protruding body, so the visually impaired person can easily stumble, or swollen, and head.

Peace of mind when traveling

When you wear the 'eye-eye' device, even if you do not have a cane, you can avoid the obstacles in the front: 'I am relieved because I am not afraid to touch my head. Wearing 'god eyes' better than a lot'.

Ms. Duong Thi Thanh Lan, 45 years old, lives in Linh Dong Ward, Thu Duc District. Where to go, she is also closely tied to the guide stick. However, when wearing the 'magic eye' device in the head, Lan easily avoided the obstacles that the research team and the staff of the Thu Duc District Blind Association actively created. Continuing to enter the corridor with many ornamental pots, motorbikes and narrow passages, Lan still found a space to go. Even when going to the street with the traffic in traffic, the 'god's eyes' also made it easy for her to recognize.

Hai is introducing the device. (Photo: Thai Ngoc)

However, due to being mounted on the head, the 'god's eye' only 'saw' an obstacle whose height from the knee reached the top of the head a little. 'If only there was a' god's eye 'under the knee, it would be very nice,' said Lan. At present, the god's eye only helps to avoid the upper obstacle, but at the feet, the visually impaired must combine with sticks to detect obstacles. Dr. Nguyen Ba Hai, head of the research team, said that the device will be improved to help blind people 'see' all obstacles in front, from head to toe without the need for a walking stick.

Voluntary research

Dr. Nguyen Ba Hai shared, before that he had the opportunity to visit centers with blind people, he wanted to build a device to help these people less difficult to travel. However, it took 3 years, Dr. Hai and his colleagues to research the product. This is a research topic entirely funded by group members and has not received any funding from organizations or individuals.

Student Nguyen Thanh Tuyen, a member of the research team, said that the biggest difficulty when starting to build must solve the problem when the observed 'god's eyes' is prevented, the software must handle quickly to give signals timely to users.

Team equipment for visually impaired people. (Photo: Thai Ngoc)

This difficulty has been handled very well by the research team. Currently just need to see the obstacle ahead, immediately the device will create vibrations in the head. The closer to the obstacle, the stronger the vibration. However, just facing the direction of the gap, the device will run out of vibration. To do that, the design team used laser sensors to locate obstacles. The downside of the device is still bulky. In addition to the eye element like a belt attached to the head, the person also has to wear behind a series of accessories attached to a backpack weighing about 300gam. However, the team is actively improving to make the device as compact as a headwear hat.

The team is intending to donate two complete products to the visually impaired. Many visually impaired people can buy 'god eyes' if the price is below 10 million dong. In the short term, the team is planning to donate two complete products to the visually impaired.