207,000. This is the number of blind and profoundly visually impaired people in France, according to the Federation of the Blind of France. According to her, this number rises to millions when you consider the world in its entirety. In order to improve the quality of life and the daily lives of these people with blindness, new technologies and start-ups are working hard: glasses with voice aids, vibration systems to avoid collisions, and much more! Let's take a closer look at it...

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Obstacle detection glasses

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It is the postulate of German researchers, Manuel Zahn and Armaghan Ahmad Khan, who developed a device that allowed blind people to be able to find their way around with or without a white cane. The principle is based on infrared glasses that are connected to an armband or sleeve. It is worn on the wearer's arm and is capable of vibrating as soon as the infrared glasses detect an obstacle.

The armband is equipped with twenty-five sensors divided into five lines. The aim is to allow the wearer of the device to be able to locate and understand where the potential dangers are located. Vibrations will be strong when approaching an obstacle such as walls on the sides in a corridor and the central sensors will not vibrate if no danger is identified.

For the moment, this device is in its prototyping phase. The researchers hope to improve the aesthetics and practicality of their 3D printed glasses for now and their armband.

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Voice description glasses

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In reality, it is a camera that is attached to glasses. This idea comes from two Israeli researchers, Amnon Shashua and Ziv Aviram. This device is based on An artificial intelligence capable of deciphering text, of recognizing objects, products and faces in order to be able to indicate vocally to the wearer what he is pointing with his finger.

Obviously, it is necessary to be accompanied the first time you use it, in order to record this or that element in the device's memory for the first time.

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Solidarity mobile applications

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” Be MyEyes ” is a Mobile app downloadable on smartphone from Google Play and the App Store. The idea comes straight from Denmark with its creator Hans Jørgen Wiberg. It makes it possible to put a person with vision problems in contact with a person who is said to be “well sighted”.

The first can call on the volunteers present on the application to help her with a daily task such as changing the television channel via her remote control. A notification is then sent and a volunteer can respond. The person in a situation of blindness will thus be able to share their difficulty by filming their environment with the camera on their phone and the person helping them will then be able to guide them.

This solution makes it possible to gain in statehood people with visual disorders, while providing human contact.

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Implants, glasses and braille reading

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Other advances are emerging, such as implants placed at the bottom of the eyes connected to glasses. Thanks to a camera placed on the glasses, this device would make it possible to decode Braille and send it as an image to the brain via the implant. However, difficulties, particularly in terms of latency between the glasses and the implant, are still problematic.

The start-up Neuralink would also be in the process of helping blind people. Going so far as to hope to be able to restore vision even in a person who was born blind. At least that's what Elon Musk is saying.

There is also the start-up Pixium Vision who is putting all its efforts on the hope of restoring sight in a bionic way using neurostimulating implants and augmented reality (AR) smart glasses. The company focuses specifically on patients with DMLA(Macular Degeneration Related to Age).

Technology and science are there to restore hope in helping blind and partially sighted people. Hopes are also possible about the possibility of restoring sight to those who have lost it or who never had it.

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Comfort glasses and tele-magnifiers

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On Magic Sight, we decided to create and offer comfort glasses or tele-magnifiers. These are aimed at people with a visual acuity deficit and allow them to improve their daily lives.

Our software is interfaced with the “Magic Leap 2" smart glasses and allows users to reproduce a clear image by remote enlargement of the central area by exploiting the peripheral areas of the wearers' retina that are still functional.

Our desire is to fight against the loss of visual comfort of people whose eyesight is declining.

To find out more about our solution, do not hesitate to contact us.

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