This artificial vision device helps the visually impaired “read” and recognise people and products
Now these are the real smart glasses.
From signs to books, the written word is often a blur to people whose vision is impaired. Now, here is an ingenious solution. An unobtrusive device named OrCam MyEye, perched next to their glasses, can “tell” them what they cannot see clearly – primarily, text, faces and objects (videos above and below).
The camera does the “reading”, converts it to text, and whispers it to the wearer using a built-in mini speaker – all of this, crucially, in real time. No matter what the medium – books or newspapers, computer screens or street signs – the device can read them all.
Also, once a face or product has been identified by the user, OrCam can then recognise them every time, and pass the information on.
The technology was developed and launched in Israel by Amnon Shashua and Ziv Aviram in 2015, while the next generation of improved devices was launched in 2017. The current generation starts with a price-tag of $2500.
