Pooja Gupta, B. Optom
Pediatric Fellow, Dr. Shroff Charity Eye Hospital, New Delhi, India
In the Era of advancement of new technologies, low vision field is also not unsophisticated, Smart Vision Glasses GEN 2.O with AI, Made in India is a great achievement of it.
Globally, at least 2.2 billion people have near and distance vision impairments 39 million are blind and 246 million have low vision. (1)
In India, out of 121 crore population, 2.68 crores are disabled which is 2.21% of total population. People suffering from blindness were reduced from 12 million in 2006-07 to 4.8 million in 2019. (2)
Visually impaired, blind people suffer from grave psychological consequences that have an adverse effect on their health and wellbeing as well as day to day functioning. Smart Vision Glass might take a vital role for uplifting the quality of life of blind and people with visual impairments by addressing all these aforementioned issues and give them new hope for new life.
Visually impaired peoples are at a greater risk for mortality, anxiety, depression, suicide ideation, substance abuse. They have low self- concept, confidence, and self- esteem and at times suffer from complete personality disorganization. Taking this into consideration, the aim of Smart Vision Glass is to give them self confidence in their life, and enhance the quality of life to some extent.
Introduction
Smart vision glasses are manufactured by an expert team led by Mr. Ramu Muthangi, CEO, SHG Technologies, Bangalore in cooperation with VISION AID, an NGO based in Boston, USA. (3)
Smart vision Gen 2.0 was launched in Delhi at Dr. Shroff’s Charity Eye hospital (SCEH) by the Vision-Aid and its partner SHG Technologies, on May 17th, at an event. (2)
Smart vision spectacles 2.0 are like any normal wearable eyeglasses which are modified with AI and machine learning technologies specially for the blind/visually impaired peoples. This device has an electronic brain (AI) which helps the user/wearer to read their favorite book, newspapers, recognise faces as well as find out obstacles during mobility.
This device addresses individuals suffering from Macular degeneration, Diabetic retinopathy, retinitis pigmentosa, severe glaucoma and other visual impairments.
Figure 1: Second generation Smart vision glasses. (2)
Features of Smart Vision Glasses:
- Things around you – The first tap (T) on the touch key will take to ‘things around you’ mode. Users can come to know things in front of you like tables, chairs, cups, lamps, mobile, laptops etc. Here, User gets more familiar with the surroundings.
- Reading mode – Tap (R) on the touch key, will take you to reading mode. You can read any textbook, handwritten or computer text, and can read books in 73 different Indian languages.
- Walking assistant associated with things around you- Tap (W) on the touch key, will take you to walking mode. It gives a continuous alert while walking and keeps informing obstacles that are in front of you up to 2 to 4 meters away.
- Facial Recognition – It can detect the human face in ‘things around you’ mode. Not only recognise the person’s face but it can also identify a person with facial storage capacity by their respective name.
- Standby Mode – This mode helps to shift users from one mode to another mode.
Apart from the above mentioned unique feature of recognition and orientation feature, there are a few regular feature which includes the following:
- Braille coded touch keys
- Volume adjustment
- Flash for dim light
- Rechargeable battery
- Portable
What are the Unique features about Smart Vision Glasses 2.0 (3)
- Available in Indian regional language support in addition to English language.
- Can connect with an android smartphone through a data cable provided with the device.
- Has Bluetooth mode, making it easier to use earphones.
- This device has standby mode which makes it easier to shift from one mode to another mode.
- Having sensors coupled with artificial intelligence for safety purposes.
- Cost of the products is very affordable.
- Light weight due to single sided mechanism.
- It is an internet independent device.
- Emergency mode with WhatsApp integration.
- Automatically goes to standby mode when needed.
- Interesting features like voice assistant commands.
- Page alignment in reading mode to keep the documents in the field of view of Smart Vision Glasses.
Steps to connect Smart Vision Glasses 2.0 with mobile
- Download the “SMART VISION App” from Play store and connect it with Bluetooth earphones along with Smart Vision glasses, through USB.
- Turn your mobile data and wait for 30 secs to get connected.
- Follow the instructions as per asked by app like personal details registration, language spoken.
This compact design of eSight’s smart glasses 2.0 allies visually impaired to see without a reduction in mobility.
Conclusion
People with visual impairment face various problems in their daily life as the modern assistive devices are often not meeting the consumer requirements in terms of price and level of assistance. However, this device Smart Vision Glass Gen 2.0 Made in India is boon to the patients with severe visual impairments. Furthermore, this device is affordable and user friendly.
Reference:
- Pascolini D, Mariotti SP. Global estimates of visual impairment: 2010. British Journal of Ophthalmology. 2012 May 1;96(5):614-8.
- Dass, R. (2021, July 24). Smart Vision Device Launched. Smart vision device launched. Retrieved January 24, 2022, from https://www.visionaid.org [Last Accessed: 20 th Feb 23, 18:00hrs AEDT]
- https://shgtechnologies.com [Last Accessed: 20 th Feb 23, 18:10hrs AEDT]
Disclaimer – The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publication or organisation.
My father is suffering from Retinitis Pigmentosa since many yrs. He is not able to do his daily activities. He has complete vision loss And now he is suffering from Hallucinations also.
Can SMART VISION GLASSES help him.
Pls guide
Awaiting for your reply.
Thanks a ton