A bracelet that helps the blind to see

Around 90% of the estimated 285 million blind people in the world live in poor countries with little or no access to assistive technology.

A new device could help them find the way. Its a bracelet that detects nearby objects and alerts the wearer to them.

The bracelet does its job by using an ultrasonic distance sensor and it has two feedback modes – audio and haptic.

In the audio mode, the bracelet will begin to beep when an object is within less than three meters, and the closer you get to the object, the beeping increases.

In the haptic mode, two tiny vibrating disk motors are attached to cuffs that fit on the thumb and smallest finger. These motors buzz differently based on the person’s closeness to a given object. If an object is 1 to 2.5 meters away, the motor will vibrate on the smallest finger. If its close than that, the motor on the thumb will vibrate.

The project is low cost because the materials are PVC, nylon and plastic. It’s a simple assistive device made from readily available and recycled materials, and it can be built by anyone who knows a little bit about electronics.

See how it works here – https://youtu.be/_IkPIKuDnoU