“Augmented reality could help the legally blind see,” Greg Nichols writes for ZDNet. “That’s the promise of Canadian company eSight, which showcased its latest technology at the recent Augmented World Expo in Santa Clara, the industry’s main trade show.”
“Vision-impaired users wear eSight like a pair of glasses. It gets bonus points for bearing a passing resemblance to the VISOR device worn by Geordi La Forge in Star Trek: The Next Generation,” Nichols writes. “A front-facing high-definition camera on the headset captures everything in the user’s normal field of vision. Images are projected in real-time on near-eye displays.”
“The company’s mission comes straight from founder Conrad Lewis’s personal history,” Nichols writes. “Lewis has two legally blind sisters, and the company is part of a lifelong quest to help them have better lives.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Sometimes amazing tech is a godsend!
Someday, hopefully sooner than later, we’ll look back at holding up slabs of metal and glass to access AR as unbelievably quaint. — MacDailyNews, July 28, 2017
The impact of augmented reality cannot be overstated. It will be a paradigm shift larger than the iPhone and the half-assed clones it begat. — MacDailyNews, August 4, 2017
Augmented Reality is going to change everything. — MacDailyNews, July 21, 2017
SEE ALSO:
Gene Munster: Apple will release Apple Glasses late in 2021 – May 17, 2018
Apple patent application reveals work on eye-tracking technology for VR and AR headsets – April 27, 2018
Apple prepping Micro-LED displays for Apple Watch and Smartglasses for 2019, sources say – April 3, 2018
Apple CEO Cook on the future of fashion, shopping, and AR smartglasses – October 11, 2017
Apple’s AR smartglasses – understanding the issues – August 29, 2017
Bernstein: Apple’s ‘smartglasses’ opportunity ‘could be enormous’ – August 25, 2017
Apple working on several prototypes of AR glasses – August 4, 2017
Apple’s next big move: Augmented reality – August 3, 2017
Apple’s rumored new glasses will be an even bigger deal than the iPhone – July 28, 2017
Apple smart glasses are inevitable – July 28, 2017
give a flying F about a Mac Pro, or “needing” a mini. If this comes to be affordable and truly functional, everything else pales. This is the tip of what I’d call “innovation.” I’m not blind, btw.
Prater?
Ok. I wasn’t prepared for that first video. I didn’t have the concrete casing protecting my heart.
While this is incredible and wonderful… it isn’t AR. It allows people to SEE REALITY as opposed to superimposing computer-generated images on top of reality. This is indeed something greater than AR.
I beg to differ. This device takes an image and processes it in real time augmenting the image so that the image can be processed by someone who’s central vision is completely obscured. Saying that Computer images being superimposed on an live image it the only for of augmentation is very short sighted.
I beg to differ. This device takes an image and processes it in real time augmenting the image so that the image can be processed by someone who’s central vision is completely obscured. Saying that Computer images being superimposed on an live image it the only for of augmentation is very short sighted. (Forgive the pun)
None of the disorders listed, that this device helps are simple nearsightedness. This device is more than just and electronic magnifier. It is adjusting the location on pixels to avoid areas in the field of view that are damaged and increasing the resolution in areas where the persons eye can process it. In the case of the second video, it is surely moving pixels away from the center of the field to allow more of the image to be processed by the periphery. That sounds like the ultimate in augmented reality, in my opinion.
Nope, this is for visually impaired people, not blind people. Journalists, and even MDN, learn the difference. For /real/ AR for the blind, see http://www.seingwithsound.com.
I have to agree. There is a mountain of difference between being extremely nearsighted and completely unable to see. Unfortunately ‘legally blind’ can be used for both. The former is helped by this system and the latter will still be in the dark, forgive the pun.