vlog

Skip to content
NOWCAST vlog News at 10pm Weeknights
Watch on Demand
Advertisement

Orlando teen develops device to aid visually impaired

Orlando teen develops device to aid visually impaired
For *** long time. You know, the poor blind guy. That's the way it was in the 18 hundreds and you know, going way, way back. But um we, we proved that that's not what it is and that's not what it is for most disabled folks, whatever disability they might have. Welcome to the Perkins School for the blind in Watertown Massachusetts, *** school Corey kick once called home as *** student and today has returned as its assistive technology manager. Over the past 10, 5, 10 years, accessibility has become something of just *** daily thing. It's not no longer this after afterthought, it happens sometimes still. Sure. But now it's becoming what *** lot of us had wanted it to be, which was built from the back from the ground up on this day. Cat participated in perkins' Assistive Technology Expo which displayed tools like *** multi line digital braille device and *** phone app that uses *** I to read *** photo description. Picture shows *** man with short hair, wear *** black shirt. He appears to be indoors. The be my *** I app helped kick determine the color of the clothing he put on this morning instead of having to ask *** neighbor for help because my wife's blind, I'm blind. My kid's 16 months old. So I wouldn't have had the opportunity to get yelled at by my wife when I was picking my clothes out this morning, feeling like, you know, you should have done that last night. Yeah. Yeah, I know. Typical male. What do you want me? Catholic says, while technology has expanded accessibility tremendously in the last 10 years, there's still room to grow. But with *** I that group is set to expand drastically. We need to find *** way to eliminate the ideas of making things inaccessible so that when something is built, no matter what it's accessible by default, the world's your oyster. There's no, there's nothing but up for you if you choose to.
Advertisement
Orlando teen develops device to aid visually impaired
Many teenagers spend their free time hanging out with friends or scrolling through social media, but Tiffani Gay, an 18-year-old student at Orlando Science Schools, spent hers developing a device that could potentially help millions of people.Related video above: Artificial intelligence opening doors for people with disabilities"Growing up, I actually lived with my aunt who had a visual impairment, and I watched as her vision degenerated over time. And seeing that made me realize that there was a lack of technologies out there that were able to help those with visual impairments adapt to their circumstance," said Gay, a senior at Orlando Science Schools.Through years of trial and error, Gay developed a wearable device that uses vibrations to alert people when they are about to run into something. As they get closer, the vibrations get stronger."So I worked to develop this device that uses lidar sensors to topographically map an area, and then ERM motors to send a vibration signal to somebody who's visually impaired and essentially help them understand their environment," said Gay.Lidar, or light detection and ranging, is a very common type of sensor. It uses a light spectrum that lets out a nonvisible light."So, imagine there's, like, a light protruding out of this sensor. ... We call this a time-of-flight sensor — it determines the amount of time it takes for this light to hit my hand and come back. And it factors that in to determine the distance you are away from that object," said Gay.The technology on Gay's visor appeals to more than just the sense of touch."So, I have the lights to indicate distance and proximity. As you get closer, you'll see the light turn red. As you get moderately far away, you'll see the light turn blue. And as you get really far away, it should turn green. And the different lights symbolize how intense the vibration may be," said Gay.Gay has been working on this project for the past three years. She tested dozens of different materials for comfort, ease of access and functionality."A lot of really crazy ideas, but in that time, I was able to prototype and create different models as you see here. I've been able to make it a lot more efficient over these past three years, and I'm also working on receiving funding to get my patent and take this to a level where it's more accessible for more people," said Gay."What I really want to work on is making it accessible to the countries where we have the highest percentage of people who are visually impaired, and these are countries where we also see not a lot of funding," said Gay.

Many teenagers spend their free time hanging out with friends or scrolling through social media, but Tiffani Gay, an 18-year-old student at Orlando Science Schools, spent hers developing a device that could potentially help millions of people.

Related video above: Artificial intelligence opening doors for people with disabilities

Advertisement

"Growing up, I actually lived with my aunt who had a visual impairment, and I watched as her vision degenerated over time. And seeing that made me realize that there was a lack of technologies out there that were able to help those with visual impairments adapt to their circumstance," said Gay, a senior at Orlando Science Schools.

Through years of trial and error, Gay developed a wearable device that uses vibrations to alert people when they are about to run into something. As they get closer, the vibrations get stronger.

"So I worked to develop this device that uses lidar sensors to topographically map an area, and then ERM motors to send a vibration signal to somebody who's visually impaired and essentially help them understand their environment," said Gay.

Lidar, or light detection and ranging, is a very common type of sensor. It uses a light spectrum that lets out a nonvisible light.

"So, imagine there's, like, a light protruding out of this sensor. ... We call this a time-of-flight sensor — it determines the amount of time it takes for this light to hit my hand and come back. And it factors that in to determine the distance you are away from that object," said Gay.

The technology on Gay's visor appeals to more than just the sense of touch.

"So, I have the lights to indicate distance and proximity. As you get closer, you'll see the light turn red. As you get moderately far away, you'll see the light turn blue. And as you get really far away, it should turn green. And the different lights symbolize how intense the vibration may be," said Gay.

Gay has been working on this project for the past three years. She tested dozens of different materials for comfort, ease of access and functionality.

"A lot of really crazy ideas, but in that time, I was able to prototype and create different models as you see here. I've been able to make it a lot more efficient over these past three years, and I'm also working on receiving funding to get my patent and take this to a level where it's more accessible for more people," said Gay.

"What I really want to work on is making it accessible to the countries where we have the highest percentage of people who are visually impaired, and these are countries where we also see not a lot of funding," said Gay.