'Smart glasses' for the near-blind start trials in public spaces

Date: Jun-19-2014"Smart glasses," which help people with poor vision boost their

awareness of what is around them, are being tested in public for the first time. Researchers at Oxford University in the UK are measuring how well their invention can help the near-blind navigate around

shopping malls and avoid walking into obstacles.

The aim is to improve functional vision for people with limited eyesight and help them gain

"greater freedom, independence and confidence to get about, and a much improved quality of life,"

says Dr. Stephen Hicks of Oxford's Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, who is leading

the development.

Dr. Hicks says he and his team want eventually to have "a product that will look like a regular pair

of glasses and cost no more than a few hundred pounds - about the same as a smartphone."

The glasses are not designed to replace lost vision. Instead, they help the wearer make the most of the

vision they have by providing additional information about what is front of them - presented as

extra images in the glasses. The glasses receive processed video footage of what is in front of the

wearer, which is captured with a camera mounted on the frame.

The frame-mounted camera sends the raw video footage to a small computer that can fit in a

pocket, where specially designed software produces enhanced images of nearby objects and sends

them to the lenses of the glasses. The lenses are see-through displays so the wearer - with

whatever quality of vision they have - can still see their surroundings, but the view is

superimposed with the extra images provided by the smart glasses.

The software enhances the outlines of surrounding objects such as people, tables, chairs and

kerbs so they appear much more distinct. You can view a demonstration of how the glasses work by playing the video below.

Facial features are easier to see

The glasses not only help the wearer navigate around obstacles, but also to interact more with

others, because facial features are easier to see. They also work well in low light, helping

those with night blindness.

The team is starting to test the glasses in Oxford and Cambridge with the help of 30 volunteer

participants with poor vision. They have set up the testing in venues where they can control the

lighting and the placement of obstacles. They track the participants as they make their way

through the set-up, with and without the glasses.

One such participant is Lyn Oliver from Faringdon, Oxfordshire, who currently gets

around with the help of her guide dog, Jess. In her early 20s, Ms. Oliver was diagnosed with

retinitis pigmentosa - an eye disease that gradually results in loss of vision and blindness.

To produce the images, the glasses receive processed video footage of what is in front of the wearer, which is captured with a camera mounted on the frame.
Image credit: Stephen Hicks/Oxford University

She says the glasses help her see why Jess has suddenly stopped - perhaps there is a kerb, or

roadworks, or some other obstacle. She says once, when she was without Jess and was just using a

cane, she walked into a car parked off the road. She says that with the glasses she would have seen

the car.

Iain Cairns, a copywriter for a marketing agency in London, is also helping to

evaluate the smart glasses. At the age of 12 he was diagnosed with choroideremia, a rare inherited

condition where layers of cells in the back of the retina gradually degenerate. He still has some

sight, and says the glasses help him make the most of the vision he has.

The following video shows Dr. Hicks and his team testing the glasses with Ms. Oliver and Mr.

Cairns, who also describe how they found the experience.

Earlier testing showed those with the poorest vision benefited the most

The team started testing the glasses using an earlier prototype last year, with the help of 20

volunteers with various eye conditions and levels of vision. They found it did not take long for

them to get used to the glasses, but the group that most benefited were those with the poorest

vision.

They estimate there are around 100,000 people in the UK alone with the level of low vision that

would benefit from the glasses.

In the US, more than 3.3 million Americans aged 40 years and older are either

legally blind or have low vision, according to the Centers

for Disease Control and Prevention.

The National Institute for Health Research has helped fund the research and development

of the glasses, while the Royal National Institute of Blind People is helping to fund the

trials.

In November 2013, Medical News Today reported that Dr. Hicks' group is also in receipt

of funding from the Royal Society to look at enhancing the smart glasses with face, text and

object recognition. The team is also considering adding audio prompts via an earphone to give

more information to wearers about what they are seeing.

Written by Catharine Paddock PhD

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Courtesy: Medical News Today Note: Any medical information available in this news section is not intended as a substitute for informed medical advice and you should not take any action before consulting with a health care professional.