MIT creates voice-activated augmented reality device for the blind

MIT Media Lab researchers (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, EU) have developed an augmented reality ring equipped with a small camera, a processor, Bluetooth connectivity and auditory feedback via wearable device, that could help the visually impaired identify objects and read text.

A project of several researchers from the MIT Media Lab aims to make pointing a way to learn more about the world around us, wearing a special ring on the index finger and a smartphone in his pocket. Under the name Eyering, The device is placed on the finger and allows you to point at an object, take a photo and hear information about it.

The project is the brainchild of Pattie Maes, professor at MIT dedicated to studying interfaces that allow us to interact with digital information in intuitive and novel ways. Initially conceived as a potential aid for the visually impaired, Eyering could also function as a navigation or translation aid, or to help children learn to read, say the researchers involved.

El Eyering, which is currently printed in plastic using a 3D printer, includes a small camera, a processor and Bluetooth connectivity. To use it, you have to double click on a small side button and give it a command to determine the function of the ring (can currently be configured to identify coins, text, prices on labels and colors). We must aim for what we want more information about., for example a shirt on a shelf, and click the button to take a photo. The image is sent via Bluetooth to the smartphone, where an app uses computer vision algorithms to process it and then announce out loud what it sees (‘verde’, For example, to inform about the color of the shirt). The results are also displayed on the smartphone screen.

‪”We think that not having to take your phone out of your pocket or bag and open it is a great advantage”, has nominated Pattie Maes. Until now, Researchers have made Eyering work with a smartphone running Google's Android software and a Mac computer, lay Shilkrot, graduate student in the Fluid Interfaces Group of the MIT Media Lab, and you are working on the device with Maes. An iPhone app is also in development.. The group has carried out Eyering tests on people with visual disabilities.