Product and Technology

Vision for future: Bionic eye offers hope to blind

For a man whose view of the world has slowly faded to black over 30 years, a device that allows him to see flashes of light has kindled his hope of one day gazing upon his grandson's face. A career electrician who grew up in Greece and came to the US as a young man, Elias Konstantopoulos first noticed his vision getting poorer when at age 43 he absentmindedly tried on a relative's eyeglasses and found he could see more clearly with them than without.

Scientists make eye's retina from stem cells

A part of the eye that is essential for vision has been created in the laboratory from animal stem cells, offering hope to the blind and partially sighted.

One day it might be possible to make an eye in a dish, Nature journal reports.

The Japanese team used mouse stem cells - immature cells that have the ability to turn into many types of body tissue.

With the right mix of nutrients, the cells changed and began to grow to make a synthetic retina.

Wheelchair uses 3D to ‘see’ for visually impaired

Research on an electric wheelchair that can sense it´s environment and transmit information to a person who is visually impaired, has been tested at Lulea University of Technology.

The wheelchair has a joystick for steering and a haptic robot that acts as a virtual white cane. The “sighted” wheelchair has been developed by Kalevi Hyyppa and his team at the university.

“This may be important aids for the visually impaired who are wheelchair users. Many have already been in touch with me and asked if they can come for a test drive,” says Kalevi Hyyppä.

Experimental device attached to tongue helps totally blind man read

They were three small words, but their meaning was huge.

Sitting in a lab at the University of Pittsburgh last week to help test the BrainPort vision device, Jose Neto read out the words projected onto a wall in front of him.

CAT. HAT. HOT.

For a person who is totally blind — as Neto has been for over two-and-a-half years since he was shot in the face by a bullet in Chinatown — identifying words on a wall is revolutionary. And so is the study taking place here to test the prototype of a device that aims to introduce a new type of vision for those who can't see.

Now, a pen that can read Koran

Come Ramzan and Koran is the fastest moving product. But this time round, it is going to sell in a different format.

The Koran reading pen has hit the market here and more than a month before Ramzan is to begin, it is making waves here.

What is so special about it? Well, the pen can read any verse of the Koran loud and clear. All one has to do is to touch it on any page or verse and listen to the Arabic version.

One can also choose the voice of famous reciters such as Abdul Rahman Al Sudais, Abdul Baset Abdu Essmad, Ali Al Hudhaifi, Sa'd Al-Ghamidi.

Bionic specs may soon allow the blind to see

Scientists are developing smart and sleek bionic spectacles which they say could soon be on sale and help hundreds of thousands of blind people see. The "smart spectacles" , being developed by a team at the Oxford University in the UK, uses tiny cameras and a pocket computer to alert wearers to objects and people ahead.

The cheap and lightweight glasses, which could be on sale by 2014 following successful trials, would make it easier for the blind to navigate roads in busy areas and even read bus numbers, the researchers said.

Talks & Zooms at 1800; Hindi TTS also available

Second phase of Nuance Talks at concessional rate

Special Announcement

Based on feedback and requests of users, Saksham is back again with:

Limited time offer for Nuance Talks at concessional rate of Rs. 1800 only

Get a phone that supports talks, get just the talks premium edition license along with DAISY player and magnification software by paying just Rs. 1800.

This time we are here with some new options:

Improved accessibility for Google Calendar

Today we announced some of the updates we’ve released recently to make Google’s applications more accessible to the blind community. Google Calendar now has new keyboard shortcuts and better screen reader support for our blind users. Members of the blind community can now use JAWS, VoiceOver and ChromeVox to manage your calendars, create and edit events or simply browse your events. Here are a few examples of how screen readers and keyboard shortcuts work with Google Calendar:

Mumbai students develop robots to improve lives of the blind, elderly

Imagine a robotic walker that can tell exactly how much and where your grandmother has walked on a particular day.

Or better still, imagine a game of air hockey that can be played even by blind people. City students have built robots that will improve the lives of the elderly and the visually impaired.

A group of students from international schools in the city have developed robots as part of the Sixth Indian Robotic Olympiad - Mumbai Chapter.

A group of 14-year-old students bagged the first prize in the open category.

'Smart cane' to guide visually impaired in hills

White canes will soon be passe. Now, visually impaired persons can depend on smart stick to guide them through hills and crowded roads. Fixed with sensors, it will alert the user about the lurking danger via vibrations and also inform about the size, shape and type of obstacles.

Developed by IIT-Delhi with the help of Delhi-based NGO Saksham, the first phase of week-long trials of smart cane for the hills involving six students, including three Class XI girls of local Portmore School, ended here on Friday.