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Oxsight gives sight to the visually impaired through virtual reality glasses

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1% of the world's population is blind, by birth or because of an illness or accident. That's so many people who may be looking for a miracle solution to help them regain their sight or at least a viable alternative. This one could come from Oxford. A British start-up, named Oxsight has launched glasses named Smart Specs that use virtual reality to reproduce the real view.

Oxsight replicates reality

This is a technology that no one can blame for unnecessary gadget. Oxsight's Smart Specs glasses could change the lives of millions of blind people. The company born in the start-up incubator of the University of Oxford relies on virtual reality to at least partially restore the sight to the blind.

The idea is eventually to replace canes or guide dogs. These warn you of what is right in front of you but provide you with a general picture of your environment. Oxsight eyewear is based on technologies designed to understand the virtual reality environment. No need for neural connection, operation … Everything happens in the glasses that automatically transmit to the eyes, the image generated.

For now, this technology has mostly been tested on people who have suffered a partial loss of vision. It builds on what is left of vision (detection of light, objects, movement) and amplifies it. Oxsigh adds additional levels of images as a drawing to improve the quality of view. For the moment, no date of arrival on the market nor prices are still known. But the founders are optimistic. They hope eventually to use the same kind of technology to treat the victims of dementia, autism or dyslexia.

Objects smart health connected to the rescue of the blind

In recent years, several objects have arrived on the market to simplify the lives of the blind. None of them, however, seems as revolutionary as the Oxsight glasses. It's mainly about helping them to read. Thus, Orcan MyEye, a small camera allows to analyze and read an object. At the MWC 2016, the start-up Dot had positioned itself on a very close concept. She was proposing a smart health connected watch … in braille.

More surprisingly, Toyota is also active in this market. The "Blaid project" launched a year ago is a wearable designed to facilitate the movement of the blind. Thanks to a system of cameras and sensors, it allows them to move more easily in a small space. Directly inspired by the technology of autonomous cars, Blaid is still in the prototype stage.

Discover the latest news and innovations in the term smart health connected health through our dedicated section.

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