A new system called ‘vOICe’ (as in ‘oh-I-see’), gives the user an auditory ‘picture’ of what she or he‘s looking at.

vOICe includes a laptop connected to a special pair of sunglasses that are fitted with a small camera in the bridge and stereo headphones near the ear hooks. The camera feeds visual data to the computer, which translates the field of view into audible sounds. For example, louder sounds mean bright colours while a higher pitch means an object is located up high.

People who have used it, say it's like learning a foreign language. A visually impaired user said that with practice she could discern walls, stairs, and windows in a room.

Portability is still an issue, since anyone using the system needs to carry around a bulky laptop.