The Ministry of Transport and Communications announced on Wednesday its plans for a project that would put new living-assistance technology into the hands of Turkey's visually impaired.

Chief among the ministry's plans is a project to introduce by the end of the year 5,000 “Bluetooth glasses,” a pair of glasses that will help guide the blind to their destinations through a GPS system. The devices, reportedly developed by Turkish engineers contracted by the ministry, will provide “verbal instructions” that will guide the disabled to a set of preprogrammed groceries, pharmacies or an address of the user's choice.

The glasses will be programmable by computer and will be released in conjunction with thousands of brail keyboards and cell phones. The cell phones will reportedly be programmed with voice readers that will allow the visually impaired to check emails and listen to news published on the Internet.