RRL

Blindness
Based on an article made by WHO on October 2003, an estimated 40-45 million people all around the
world are bind. Through the years this number is rapidly increasing. But first what is blindness?
Blindness is a lack of vision. It may also refer to a loss of vision that cannot be corrected with glasses or
contact lenses. (nlm.nih.gov). But what causes blindness?
Based on healthline.com, different sickness and conditions may cause blindness. Disease and conditions
such as:
Glaucoma refers to four different eye conditions that damage the optic nerve that carries visual
information to your brain.
Macular degeneration destroys the part of your eye that enables you to see details. It usually
affects older adults.
Cataracts cause cloudy vision and are more common in older people.
A lazy eye can make it difficult to see details and may lead to vision loss.
Optic neuritis is inflammation that can cause temporary or permanent vision loss.
Retinitis pigmentosa refers to retina damage, but leads to blindness only in rare cases.
Tumors that affect the retina or optic nerve can also cause blindness
Complete blindness requires approaching life in a new way and learning new skills, including:
Learning to read Braille
Using a seeing-eye dog
Installing handrails in your bathroom
Joining programs that help the Blind
Use of Blind Aid Devices
(www.healthline.com)

Helping the Blind
Vision 2020: The Right to Sight launches a program where they provide tools globally in order to prevent
vision loss and blindness. They provide help and operations to eliminate avoidable blindness by the year
2020. Hundreds of member countries are already experiencing this program. Governments and different
health agencies such as the World Health Agency continuously show their support to this program.


Blind Aid Devices
Beside these programs, different equipment were also invented to help the blind through their everyday
lives. These devices are known as the Blind Aid Devices. What are Blind Aid Devices?
Blind Aid Devices are, materials/equipment that are invented to help and guide the blind through their
daily life. From the walking stick guide, different researchers tried to improve this device with the help
of technology. What are examples of these devices?
Guide Dogs
As an alternative for walking canes which have limitations in so many ways, dogs were used to help the
everyday lives of visually impaired individuals. Considered as mans best friend, they are now also blind
peoples helping hand to find their way. However, guide dogs cost more, take longer to learn to use,
require much more maintenance, are not available 100% of the time and you have to think about social
considerations. The health of the dog should be put in the considerations too, the user will never know
when the dog will get sick and taking care of the dog itself will be an additional burden to the user too
plus the training it has to take.
http://www.livingblind.com/guidedogs.html
Blind Peoples other Senses not more Acute
There is a belief that since blind people lack the ability to see, they are blessed with better senses in
other aspects such as sense of smell, hearing and touch to fill in the gaps of not being able to see.
However, it was pointed out that there is a difference between better hearing and using auditory
information more effectively. Studies show that there is not much difference in the ability of blind
children with that of the normal children to smell however the blind children pointed out that they pay
more attention to the smells. This is so too in a test that Ashmead et al. (1998) conducted. There is not
much difference with the sense of hearing but the use of information is different. Blind children can
better identify where the sounds were coming from.
Perhaps, though, despite not having superior olfactory or auditory powers, blind children have a better
sense of touch? Morrongiello et al. (1994) tested this by giving blind and (blindfolded) sighted children
different types of objects to identify. Some objects were miniature versions of large objects, like a
bicycle, while other objects were oversized versions of small objects, such as a big key. In fact both
groups got the same number of objects correct, had problems with the same objects and seemed to use
the same strategies to identify the objects. A study on older children did, however, find evidence that by
the age of 13 blind children had developed superior tactile strategies than sighted children (DAngiulli,
Kennedy & Heller, 1998).
http://www.spring.org.uk/2008/02/blind-peoples-other-senses-not-more.php

PHANToM 1.5 A and Impulse Engine 3000
PHANToM 1.5 A and Impulse Engine 3000 are two devices used by Sweden and UK respectively. The use
of these devices is to provide blind people with information about the 3D world but these devices is
restricted to only one point of contact between observer and object which reduces its effectiveness. The
PHANToM 1.5 A detects objects in the form of a sandpaper or objects that are rough. And the Impulse
Engine 3000 detects objects that are smooth and grooved. Tests are done to test the two devices and
the results highly motivate further studies of their effectiveness, especially in more complex contexts.
G. Jansson,H. Petrie,C. Colwell,D. Kornbrot,J. Fanger,H. Konig,K Billberger,A Hardwick and S. Furner.
Haptic Virtual Environments for Blind People:Exploratort Experiments with Two Devices.Retrieved from
http://pdf.aminer.org/000/288/531/haptic_perception_of_d_pictures_and_d_objects_accurate_mental
.pdf
Ultrasonic Binaural Sensor Aid
Ultrasonic Binaural Sensor Aid is used to receiving signals reflected by an object. The device uses a
method for processing the echo signal from an object to the device. This will enable the blind to sense
the hardness, position and shape of an object.
Wonky Kim,Taeyoung Choi(1998,August 2)Method of Detecting the Position Of Objects.Retrieved from
http://www.google.com/patents/US4761770
CyARM
CyArm, a device designed for the blind people,is used for guiding the movements of blind
people.The CyARM was invented by a group of researchers from Japan. It measures the
distance of the person to an object using an ultrasonic sensor and transmit it to the person's
haptic sense. Tests are being done to improve the detection of objects.As a result,CyArm is
effective but needs to improve by focusing on electric device that guide the blind.
Ito, Kyohide, (2005) CyARM: an alternative aid device for the blind. Retrieved from
http://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=1056947
SmartVision
The number of blindness through injuries and other eye problems has been greatly reduced through the
years but did not stop the rapid increase of age related vision loss. The older we become, the more
responsibilities are to be taken, thus giving blind adults a major disadvantage in living. SmartVision is a
system that provides a user friendly interface that helps increase the mobility of blind users to move
around unfamiliar environments, whether indoor or outdoor.
http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/login.jsp?tp=&arnumber=5665579&url=http%3A%2F%2Fieeexplore.ieee.
org%2Fxpls%2Fabs_all.jsp%3Farnumber%3D5665579

Robot Mobility Aid
A mobility aid for the blind using robot technology was proposed and was said to physically support the
user manning the device and includes obstacle avoidances ensuring safer travels for the blind user. User
interfaces, mechanical designs, and software programs are yet to be proposed to mobility experts and
users to determine an outline of plans to be used for the device.
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921889098000116
Haptic Feedback
Through the powers of technology Haptic Feedback was and is possible. So what is Haptic Feedback?
Haptic Feedback, also known as tactile feedback, is the use of advance vibration to send information to
the user. The word haptics comes from the Greek phrase I touch. It can be audible or visual alerts
like LED, beeps, bells, etc. Haptic uses a vibrator motor or linear resonant actuator to make the device
work. Microcontrollers are also used to make the vibrator motor vibrate and in which pattern it will
vibrate.
Since haptic is a new way of alerting people and sending them information, it is often compared to
vibration alerting. The two are similar but they do differ in vibration pattern. Haptic feedback uses a
variety of waveforms or vibration pattern while vibration alerting is less complicated and are generally
designed to produce enough vibration to alert the user.
With this reason, the researchers decided to use the haptic feedback which is a more accurate and
helpful aid for the blind to be programmed to the device.
http://www.precisionmicrodrives.com/haptics-haptic-feedback-vibration-alerting/haptic-feedback-in-
detail/an-introduction-to-haptic-feedback
Relation to Work
With these devices and the innovation of technology, our group was inspired to create a device that
would be more convenient to the blind. With the use of advanced programming, our group came up
with an idea of a glove equipped with a sensor and vibrate motor, to further guide and warn the blind.
With the use of the innovative Haptic Feedback, the blind would not only receive a vibration but this
vibration would vary and would not be just a constant warning. With the gloves as the main skeleton of
the device, it will be more convenient in such a way that it would be portable and easier to carry for the
blind. With this innovation, our groups goal is to improve the lives of the blind.