Smart glasses for blind and partially sighted people have been chosen as one of the winners at the final of the Google Impact Challenge 2014 – with the RNIB-backed project winning £500,000 in funding.
The RNIB and Oxford University worked together to develop the glasses, which maximise what remaining vision a person has.
Neil Heslop, managing director RNIB Solutions, said: ‘We are absolutely delighted to be the winner of the Google Impact Challenge 2014 public vote. Thank you so much to everyone who voted for the smart glasses.
‘These glasses have the potential to transform the way blind and partially sighted people can go about their everyday lives. One gentleman with sight loss who tried the glasses reacted with 'wow, I can see your face'.
‘With this funding we can now increase the number of pairs of glasses in production and set up bigger user testing trials. We want more people to try them, to see the difference they make and let us know how we can make them even better.’
The glasses work by capturing images with a 3D camera. This information is used to separate out nearby shapes and objects and highlight them clearly on the inside of small transparent displays forming part of the lenses of the glasses.
The funding will enable RNIB and Oxford University to create 100 pairs of the smart glasses and test them with 1,000 people, a statement added.