Fw: BlindNews: 'Electronic eye' designed to help blind people cross theroad

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Leon Gilbert" <BlindNews@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: "Blind News Mailing List" <BlindNews@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Thursday, November 18, 2004 8:36 PM
Subject: BlindNews: 'Electronic eye' designed to help blind people cross
theroad


> The Guardian (UK)
> Thursday, November 18, 2004
>
> 'Electronic eye' designed to help blind people cross the road
>
> By James Meikle, health correspondent
>
> It may not be as companionable as a guide dog or as simple as a white
cane, but scientists say they have developed an "electronic eye" to help
blind people cross the road more safely.
>
> Spectacles fitted with a mini cam, a small computer worn on the belt and a
discreet earpiece could be the latest accoutrements for the blind if
researchers can get their invention out of the laboratory and into
production.
>
> Tests with the navigation system at the Kyoto Institute of Technology
suggest it can detect pedestrian crossings, measure road width, and tell the
colour of the traffic lights.
>
> Although some crossings make a sound when it is safe to cross, many do
not. Until now, researchers for the blind have tended to focus on adapting
canes and using lasers or ultra-sound to detect more distant objects. But
these devices do not give many clues about the location of a crossing, the
distance across or whether the lights are green.
>
> Scientists Tadayoshi Shioyama and Mohammad Uddin, writing in Measurement
Science and Technology, a journal from the Institute of Physics, say they
believe they have developed a solution to these problems.
>
> "The camera would be mounted at eye level, and be connected to a tiny
computer", said Prof Shioyama. "It will give vocal commands and information
through a small speaker placed near the ear."
>
> Last year the two announced they had a computer-aided camera that could
measure a crossing to a single step's length, while determining the colour
of the lights. Unfortunately, it could not find the crossing. But by making
an image of white lines on the road, they think they have resolved that
problem - assuming, that is, the road has lines in the first place.
>
>
http://education.guardian.co.uk/higher/sciences/story/0,12243,1354737,00.html
>
>
>
>
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