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EyeRing Could Help Blind People See Objects
cylonlover writes "Generally speaking, the vast majority of augmented reality applications that enhance the world around us by overlaying digital content on images displayed on smartphone, tablet or computer screens are aimed squarely at the sighted user. A team from the Fluid Interfaces Group at MIT's Media Lab has developed a chunky finger-worn device called EyeRing that translates images of objects captured through a camera lens into aural feedback to aid the blind."
Somebody send Geordi La Forge over there to straighten those people out.
Nobody is going thru life poking their finger every which way, even blind people realize how dumb that looks.
Hell even Google's got the camera on glasses figured out, and you can do a earbud or cochlear implant if you still insist on doing sound waves.
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RTFA shows that it is for reading not for walking down the street.
It uses a camera, an android app, OCR, and text-to-speech technology to aid the blind.
Crap... I guess it can be used for that.
So much for my speed reading skills.
Anyways, complaint still invalid, as this is a prototype. No reason it couldnt be mounted elsewhere.
Somebody send Geordi La Forge over there to straighten those people out. Nobody is going thru life poking their finger every which way, even blind people realize how dumb that looks.
Hell even Google's got the camera on glasses figured out, and you can do a earbud or cochlear implant if you still insist on doing sound waves.
The article says that these are just a proof of concept: tight now the device only can identify currency, text, pricing information on tags, and colors. The idea is that it can be used to develop the glasses to give the blind information about their surroundings.
"Maybe this world is another planet's hell"
Aldous Huxley
I read TFA, its still a clunky, hackerish and unrealistic approach. There is far better technology out there, and I;m no longer impressed just because someone managed to use Android.
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This sounds like the perfect opportunity to throw in OCR. Recognize a printed sheet of paper, or anything else with words on it, then read it back to someone, or do something else with the text. Perhaps even translate it. Maybe even someone who isn't blind could benefit from that.
As computer vision and hardware evolve, life might get better and better for the blind. That is, until bionic eyes become a possibility :)
We as a society spend way too much in the way of resources on people who are flawed in some way. Look, if you're blind, you need to leave the gene pool. There is really no easier or kinder way to put it - you are a flawed individual and in the jungle, you would not survive. Think of the things we could do with the time and money we would otherwise piss away on inventing ways for inferior people to live in our fast paced world. It a shame, and it needs to end.
I read TFA, its still a clunky, hackerish and unrealistic approach. There is far better technology out there, and I;m no longer impressed just because someone managed to use Android.
I concur - especially when they really should simply be using the phone itself - I don't see how adding an accessory (camera + bluetooth) is any better than holding the phone.
also - I thought it was pretty funny that the only information the guy used to buy a shirt was that it was gray and $27.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_b0J1sI-DOo
Targetting the blind with this kind of product misses the bigger audience that might want to have eyes on the back of their head...
For example, I'm sure the police, military or the even firemen would be interested in something like that, then they can amortized the development costs to provide a version for blind folks pointing forward at an even lower cost.
Someday, maybe even sharks will be interested in it (when they get that version with the embedded laser)...
Until they walk into a McDonalds. We're going to see a lot of blind people beaten up.
My other UID is three digits.
It's standard commuting behavior around here.
Table-ized A.I.
..... I guess you get to see everything ..... again.
There was glasses developed in the eighties that did something similar. It looked a lot better, but like all these wonderful things, they never made it to market. Wish I could remember who did it.
I still wouldn't need one of these, to tell the difference between an iPhone and a Samsung Galaxy.
And I thought a nose ring sounded painful... Yikes.
Before anyone passes judgement on something like this, consider the perspective of the blind:
- Most devices currently on the market for blind individuals are very expensive. Consider a braille embosser that costs several thousand dollars (contrasted with a sub-$100 inkjet printer for the rest of us), color-reading and bill-reading tools that cost over a hundred dollars, refreshable braille displays that start at several thousand dollars, books and games that are three times more expensive than their print counterparts, assuming they are available at all. A device like this, even if not perfect, would hopefully rank high in affordability.
- The visually impaired need to rely on sighted people for many tasks. For example, my fiancee who is completely blind (and my source of information), folds her money in different ways to identify it. But what it also means is that when she receives change, I have to sort the bills for her so she can then fold them properly. She also has been cheated by a cashier at least once, and the only reason it was caught is because she was with a sighted friend.
- Many visually impaired individuals have differing opinions on things like wearing glasses or using canes. My fiancee outright refuses to wear sunglasses at all. Devices that are more discrete and small (and especially that can be put away with ease) would appeal to a wider group of the visually impaired.
So, while the EyeRing may not be the ideal device for everyone, it is a beacon of hope to the visually impaired to see attention directed their way.
Actually, there's good reason for using something that slips on a finger. Aiming a camera at something you can't see with your head would be a lot of trouble. Exploring things by touch is much easier and more accurate. Take the price tag reader, how would you know if the tag it was reading was attached to the shirt you were considering without feel? It could be reading the price for a different product right next to it. Until we can read data straight into our visual cortexes, I think a smaller version of something like this will beat out geordi's visor.