For the visually impaired, there is some good news. New devices, that would help them in overcoming their disabilities to a great extent are on their way.
These include a hand-held reading device that works like 'reading eyes' and a high-tech pair of glasses and shoes that help blind people navigate the trickiest of terrain, reports said on Sunday.
The hand-held step-scanning developed for the first time in the world by scientists of the Central Scientific Instruments Organisation in Chandigarh, eliminates the need to convert the text into braille.
The device can be attached to a desktop computer and can be used as a portable text reader if connected with a laptop computer. The high-tech pair of glasses and shoes have been developed by the Research Institute of Innovative Products and Technologies in Hong Kong.
"Ultrasonic waves are sent out and when they bounce back, they are interpreted by a receiver. Once an obstacle is detected, the shoe will vibrate, perhaps increasing in intensity as the obstacle gets closer," said the institute’s director Wallace Leung Woon-fong.
