After a year of research and development with four prototypes, multipurpose spectacles have been successfully manufactured by three DTU students recently.
Nguyen Manh Tuan, Le Nhat Hung, and Nguyen Tran Viet Chuong test the glasses
The glasses were developed by Le Nhat Hung, Nguyen Tran Viet Chuong of the DTU International School and Nguyen Manh Tuan from Electrical Engineering. They help visually impaired people.
Le Nhat Hung, the youngest of the team, explained that when they started working on the project, in April 2015, they had to order sensors and compasses from abroad, online, losing time and money. In February, when the fourth prototype was successfully tested, they were relieved.
“Currently, the glasses help the visually impaired to navigate more easily, read books without having to learn Braille, identify essential everyday objects, know their current location and interact with the device through basic voice commands, as well as making phone calls and checking the time,” Hung explains.
The entire set is compact and weighs 300 grams. There is a camera attached to the glasses and a processor is located on the user’s belt to interpret the signals. The glasses also have a support to reduce weight on the ears, there is a microphone and an infrared sensor to identify obstacles. The processor recognizes voices, checks the battery and connects to peripheral devices, such as the external speaker, before submitting results to the user.
“We have already tested the device on thirty people at a center for the visually impaired, and the results were encouraging. Everything worked well and the users were comfortable and happy wearing the glasses,” said Chuong.
The team is now concerned about how to market the $400 product.
“We are appealing to social organizations for support,” the team explained. “Once put into practical use, the product will certainly be very useful for the visually impaired in Vietnam. We are also researching ways of adding handwriting to make studying and reading easier.”
According to Nguyen Ngoc Sy, Vice-Director of the DTU Center of Electrical Engineering, the glasses are much-needed by visually impaired people worldwide. He said: “We are putting them into practical use at centers in Danang, continuing our research and recommending companies to market our product.”
(Media Center)