A team at CIT has developed an imaging technique that identifies obstacles and signs and which will be welcome news for Ireland’s visually impaired, estimated by the World Health Organisation to be up to 200,000
NEW terrain-mapping devices, developed in Cork, will not only enable the visually impaired to detect and avoid obstacles, but will also be smart enough to read road signs and plan journeys.
In the development of the device, the VisionRETM team at Cork Institute of Technology worked in conjunction with Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind. It recently took the “most technically innovative product” title in the 2009 Enterprise Ireland / Invest Northern Ireland student enterprise awards.
Kieran O’Callaghan, of CIT’s department of mechanical engineering, accepted the award along with business studies team members Norma Downing and Etaoin Ní hAilpín (the current Miss Cork, a contender for this year’s Miss Ireland and sister of GAA player Séan Óg).
VisionRETM was born from an initial concept to promote safe driving. “The first product was the Drive SafeTM product, which used machine imagery technology to detect pedestrians to the rear of heavy goods vehicles,” explains O’Callaghan.
The CIT team went on to develop a number of imaging devices. One used photoelectric detectors to warn when a swimmer was getting close to the pool wall, identifying swimmers by the colour of their swimming caps. The device sounds an alarm when the swimmer reaches a chosen distance, he says.
The AquaEyeTM was developed in conjunction with paralympics swimming trainer Geraldine Conway and at the 2007 enterprise awards, took “best international medical engineering device design / development” title.
“When we saw that we could go on to use this technology to detect terrain or obstacles walking to or from work or home, we realised there were huge opportunities to use this technology to enable the visually impaired, and so we went on to develop the VisionRE product,” says O’Callaghan.
With recent World Health Organisation figures showing more than 200,000 visually impaired people in Ireland, 2.5 million in the United Kingdom, and 15.5 million in Europe, this technology should be welcome.
VisionRETM consists of a headset that feeds images to an intelligent wrist-band, which then communicates with the user.
“There is a 3-D camera in the headset which can detect the distance of any object within an image and present this information via wireless communication as a display on the tactile pad on their wrists, which they can pick up using touch,” says O’Callaghan.
The product is sensitive and accurate enough to read road or warning signs within a preset distance and present this text at the wrist using a mechanism similar to Braille. “The wrist-band wraps around the wrist and the fingers, then feels for the image or text presented via ‘linear miniature actuators’ on the pad, which uses optical character recognition.”
The wrist-band may also be worn around the knee, depending on the activity, says O’Callaghan, and the headset can easily be integrated into a hat.
“There is also an audio feedback option, which can be put in place for things like Stop or Yield signs, so the option is there to use tactile, audio or both simultaneously.”
The team is already looking at improvements such as the additon of satellite positioning. This would allow users to plan their own journeys, increasing their independence, he says.
The interdisciplinary approach to forming research teams in CIT marries science, engineering and business to drive innovation. “It is a huge advantage to have expertise from all disciplines in a project such this,” adds O’Callaghan.
As an enabling product, the new device may qualify for a technical acquisition grant from the National Council for the Blind. This grant covers up to 25 per cent of the purchase cost.
O’Callaghan estimates a basic model might sell for about €500, while the most advanced models would cost between €2,000 and €4,000.
The Medical Engineering Design Innovation Centre in CIT is working on plans for a spinoff company in conjunction with Enterprise Ireland.
See VisionRE.cit.ie for full details