Smart Glasses for the Blind Designed at Google Science Fair

A teenager from Greece, Angelos Getsis, has won in Google’s Science Fair 2014.  The young man has claimed a prize for creating a pair of smart glasses, which can assist blind people in navigating their way around the city. The 17-year-old from the city of Arta, Greece, has said that the glasses could replace the standard walking cane that is often used by the blind.

Getsis received the first prize in the Greek part of Google‘s innovative competition, while his invention was also voted one of the six best projects that were presented in Europe and one of the 32 best projects globally.

The smart glasses are still in an early prototype stage. They are powered by means of a battery and have an on/off switch. Getsis wrote the code using some programming software and then uploaded it to the glasses. Instead of a sound system, he installed a vibration motor in order not to interfere with the users hearing.  The Smart Glasses work by alerting the user to an obstacle in their way by means of vibration in the frames.

Google’s Science Fair Brings The Brightest Minds Together To Change The World.

The Smart Glasses are made up of a microprocessor, an ultrasonic proximity sensor and another sensor, which can detect the position of the user’s head, so the glasses “understand” what is around the user.

The Greek teenager is hoping that his invention will help people with visual impairment. He came to the realization that with a few adjustments, the sensors used in robots for environmental perception could be also be used in special glasses to help the blind navigate the world around them.

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[Image via atp.tv]

SOURCE: http://greece.greekreporter.com/2014/09/10/greek-teen-invents-smartglasses-for-the-blind/