Glasses-mounted camera helps the visually impaired

New York Times : An Israeli company has developed a device that can read aloud text and identify objects. Designed for the visually impaired, OrCam consists of a camera mounted on a pair of glasses, a small computer that is worn in a pocket, and a bone-conduction earpiece. According to OrCam’s website, all you have to do is point and OrCam “will understand what you want on its own, whether it’s to read, find an item, catch a bus or cross the road.” It can read newspapers and books, labels on medicine bottles, and text on computers and phones. OrCam can also be taught by the wearer to recognize personal items, credit cards, and currency as well as the faces of family and friends. The device uses computer vision algorithms developed by Amnon Shashua, a computer science professor at Hebrew University; fellow faculty member Shai Shalev-Shwartz; and former grad student Yonatan Wexler. Shashua has also supplied similar camera technology to the automobile industry. OrCam is one of a half-dozen devices currently being developed in the field of computer vision.