A Spanish couple - Jaume Puig and Constanza Lucero have developed a digital device that will help their son with low vision to be more independent.
The couple realised that their two-year-old son does not have perfect vision six years ago. Their toddler Biel started falling over a lot. Even after learning to walk, he struggled to climb stairs. After consulting several doctors, Biel was diagnosed with low vision, reported AFP.
The digital device, a headset, was designed with the help of a team of doctors and computer engineers. The headset is an amalgamation of gaming goggles and glasses. It can create a 3D image much like real-world images. And the text, graphics, and video can be overlaid upon them.
There is AI incorporated in it to detect and announce obstacles. When the user is approaching an obstacle, a large red circle will appear on the screen as a warning. The headset also allows the user to zoom in on a street sign or any other object.
The visual impairment can be caused by defects in the retina, brain, or any other part of the visual system. In some cases, low vision is caused by glaucoma or macular degeneration. But in the case of Biel, it was caused by an optic nerve problem. Glasses or surgery cannot help with low vision. Magnifiers can help through some tasks like reading.
Low vision is more common than blindness, and it also makes getting through daily tasks a challenge. The couple soon realised that there was no technology to help him navigate. Jaume Puig said that he and his wife realised there were only guide dogs and canes to help people with low vision to get around.
Puig said that they wanted to use technologies to take advantage of the vision Biel does have in order to be more independent. The couple told AFP that they wanted to help the now-eight-year-old son even though they can't cure him.
In 2017, the couple founded a company, Biel Glasses, dedicated to creating a digital device to help people with low vision with a doctor. At Barcelona's Mobile World Congress (MWC), the telecom industry's biggest annual gathering, Puig said that they started the project because they realised there was a need for it.
The overall cost of the project was 900,000 euros (USD 1 million). Biel's parents invested 65,000 euros and gathered the rest of the expense from public institutions and crowd-funding.
The headset is on display right now, and the European Union has already approved it. The digital device is expected to go on sale in Spain and Denmark by the end of 2021. It needs to be customised by each user because everyone has a different range of vision. It is priced at 4900 euros (USD 5,850), said the AFP report.
Jaume Puig (52) who is an electrical engineer has founded several tech start-ups in recent years in the hopes of adding voice activation and a navigation system working with Google Maps in the upcoming versions of the headset.