If you’re blind, well then you’re probably not reading this, but if you know someone who is blind then you might be familiar with the click and whistle system which helps the short on seeing to identify the location of objects, similar to how a bat navigates.  Now researchers at the University of Bristol in England have put the method into a helmet, which automates the process.

It works by capturing the surrounding area’s objects within a 60 degree range and helps the wearer identify obstacles up to 15 feet away by transferring the imagery into sound that is heard through a set of headphones.  The next step is to integrate GPS into the system to help users plot courses, such as a trip to the grocery store.  Most certainly the system would benefit from crowd sourcing, which in aggregate could create a database of trees, fire hydrants and more.

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