Smart glasses developed to help the blind

June 18, 2014 3:39 AM

Researchers at Oxford University have developed glasses that enhance images of nearby people and objects to help those with failing vision.
posted by ellieBOA (15 comments total)

Excellent. It would be great to have a few more details of how it works but a cursory google hasn't turned up anything for me.
posted by Segundus at 4:11 AM on June 18, 2014

There isn't much online, I heard about this on a BBC World Service podcast.
posted by ellieBOA at 4:15 AM on June 18, 2014

Wish we could get some Google Glass or something that could read lips. Deaf Dad could use that.
posted by Drinky Die at 4:23 AM on June 18, 2014

I've been following these guys as well.

eSight eyewear uses an advanced, high-resolution video camera to capture what the wearer is looking at and delivers those video images to a controller... The images are processed and then in real-time, projected onto two LED screens inside the eSight eyewear. In this way, eSight provides as near-normal vision as one’s condition allows.
posted by evilmomlady at 4:32 AM on June 18, 2014

I expect incidents of eSight (or other brand) wearers being ejected from restaurants, etc. because the staff can't tell the difference from Google Glass (or other brand).

Eventually nobody will be able to tell the difference and nobody will have any expectation of privacy during human interaction.
posted by surplus at 4:40 AM on June 18, 2014

Geordi LaForge to the bridge...
posted by fungible at 4:44 AM on June 18, 2014

My Mum has always had bad sight in one eye, and now she is losing it in the other. It frustrates her a lot so I'd love these to be available in the next couple of years as I worry about how it will deteriorate further. Yay science!
posted by billiebee at 5:17 AM on June 18, 2014

It would be great to have a few more details of how it works

I bet it works like six or seven beers, without the subsequent disappointment.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 5:49 AM on June 18, 2014

because the staff can't tell the difference from Google Glass

I suspect the people wearing these will still be noticeably visually impared, so I don't think that'll be a problem.

The article sort of dances around it but I don't think people wearing them will have anything close to normal vision. Much better vision to somebody with retinitis pigmentosa is "finding the door" and "seeing the shape of a person." Large objects with little or no detail. So no reading menus or even finding a specific seat at a specific table in a room full of seats and tables. At least not yet. It's still an incredible development though.

I was at an ophthalmology conference earlier this year where a similar device was discussed. The image is not projected onto the lenses of the glasses though. It's transmitted to a a device that's implanted into the eye, an "artificial retina" that pokes through from outside of the eye and kind of clips onto the retina, if I remember correctly. The Argus II. FDA Press Anouncement.
posted by AtoBtoA at 8:04 AM on June 18, 2014

The person interviewed for the podcast had vision impairment that left him with a kind of pinhole view, and unable to see the periphery. These would definitely be useful for that.
posted by ellieBOA at 9:29 AM on June 18, 2014

I can't wait until the first anti-glasshole rips one of these off of the face of a blind person in order to protect "privacy".
posted by sparklemotion at 9:41 AM on June 18, 2014

It's transmitted to a a device that's implanted into the eye, an "artificial retina" that pokes through from outside of the eye and kind of clips onto the retina, if I remember correctly.

But wouldn't this be better? Wearing glasses would eliminate the cost of surgery, and be easier for people to adjust to.
posted by Kevin Street at 12:33 PM on June 18, 2014

"I bet it works like six or seven beers, without the subsequent disappointment."

Hi, can we not do this, please? This could be like an actual big deal for some people reading this thread and the first joke that comes to your head is kind of not contributing much.

Thanks.
posted by Space Coyote at 5:44 PM on June 18, 2014 [1 favorite]

This reminds me of a project for Oculus Rift being used to show people sighted in one eye to see real 3D for the first time (I really want to try it myself someday).
posted by mathowie at 9:53 PM on June 18, 2014

Wow that's awesome. This reminds me of a quote I probably read here (could have been someone's comment?), that we used to think of the future in a far-away, space odessy kind of way, when in fact it's sneaking up on us with inventions like these.
posted by ellieBOA at 8:43 AM on June 19, 2014