[Promotion-technology] Fw: BlindNews: vOICe glasses let the blind see through sound

[Robert Jaquiss]

Hello Everyone:

     I thought this would be of interest.

Regards,

Robert

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "BlindNews Mailing List" <BlindNews at GeoffAndWen.com>
To: <BlindNews at BlindProgramming.com>
Sent: Friday, June 16, 2006 9:12 PM
Subject: BlindNews: vOICe glasses let the blind see through sound


> Sci-Fi Tech (Blog), New York USA
> Friday, June 16, 2006
>
> vOICe glasses let the blind see through sound
>
> By Peter Pachal
>
> Technology may one day eliminate blindness altogether, but cybernetic eyes 
> are likely decades away. Until the cyborg age begins, the blind may still 
> be able to get a view of their surroundings with a new system called vOICe 
> (as in "oh-I-see"), which gives the user an auditory "picture" of what 
> she's looking at.
>
> The system includes a laptop connected to a special pair of sunglasses 
> fitted with a small camera in the bridge and stereo headphones near the 
> ear hooks. Scanning left to right once every second, the cam feeds the 
> visual data to the computer, which translates the field of view into 
> audible sounds.
>
> For example, louder sounds means bright colors while a higher pitch means 
> an object is located up high. It apparently takes some getting used to - 
> people that have used it say it's like learning a foreign language - but 
> with practice one blind woman said she could discern walls, stairs, and 
> windows in a room. No word of if she could do any ninja-kicking, so maybe 
> that's to come in vOICe 2.0. Just as with any new gadget, portability is a 
> big issue, since anyone using the system needs to carry around a bulky 
> laptop. Well, at least until the smartphone version comes out. - Peter 
> Pachal
>
>
> http://blog.scifi.com/tech/archives/2006/06/16/voice_glasses_l.html
>
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