Computer-aided glasses could help the visually impaired

Independent : A pair of lightweight glasses with built-in stereoscopic cameras similar to those used in computer games consoles could soon be helping people with visual impairment to see again, writes Steve Connor for the Independent. The materials and software used in the device are similar to those used in smart phones and computer games. Tiny stereo cameras in the glasses capture simplified images of a scene and send them to a series of small LEDs set into the surfaces of the lenses. As people with limited vision look through the lenses, they are able to distinguish between objects in their field of vision that would otherwise be unrecognizable, said Stephen Hicks of the University of Oxford. The research is one of 22 projects being highlighted at the summer exhibition of the UK’s Royal Society.