A new wearable artificial vision device developed by researchers at University of California, Davis may help people who are legally blind "read" and recognize faces, according to a study recently presented at the 2016 meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO).
Called the Orcam My Eye, the device reportedly clips to glasses and uses a miniature camera to recognize whether it is seeing text or a face. If it is text, the device reads what it is seeing to the user through a small bone-conduction earpiece.
Researchers reportedly studied the device on 12 legally blind participants. When asked to use the Orcam My Eye on 10 tasks simulating daily activities — such as reading emails and signs — the average score was a 9.5 out of 10 when participants first used the device following a 90 to 120-minute training. After a week of wearing the device, the average participant score improved to a 9.8 out of 10. Without wearing the device, the average participant score was a 2.5 out of 10.
Click here to read the full press release.
Source: American Academy of Ophthalmology