VASE: Smart glasses for the visually impaired

Abstract

In this paper, Virtual Assistive Smart Eyes (VASE) is described which introduces a new advanced smart glass technology for the visually impaired. Smart glasses in general, have come up as the most calculative device in the modern age to amalgamate humans and machines with the help of machine learning and information technology. These devices are frequently used in industries like medicine and gaming, but their exploration in the field of assistive technology, specifically for the visually impaired is very limited. Majority of these devices are focusing on only a fraction of the features required. It is unfair to leave the average person no choice but to invest in products that are expensive and are not covering all aspects of the problems faced, that they would need to be autonomous in their every-day lives. The proposed VASE is a cost-effective pair of smart glasses which includes many features such as obstruction detection and object recognition. VASE would immensely benefit the visually impaired people in doing their daily tasks and lead an independent life. It will impact the society enormously, as it aids in the prevention of accidents and any other unfortunate incidents, bringing about a major technological advancement benefiting the whole world.

Acoustic touch: An auditory sensing paradigm to support close reaching for people who are blind

“…There are also numerous smart glasses projects with object recognition objectives such as Envision glasses [? ], the CARA project using a Microsoft Hololens [10] and custom systems created using, e.g., a Raspberry Pi [11]. As well, there have been numerous navigation aids proposed [10,12,13,14], for a review see [15].…”