Volunteers test electronic display ‘smart glasses’

Smart glasses being developed at Oxford University for the registered blind that could one day cost as little as a mobile phone are being tested out by volunteers.

Researchers are measuring how the glasses can help people with limited vision navigate and avoid walking into obstacles in public spaces.

Testing venues have been set up in Oxford and Cambridge involving 30 volunteers, with researchers controlling the lighting and introducing obstacles to avoid.

One patient, who was diagnosed with the inherited eye condition choroideremia at around the age of 12, immediately reported seeing people’s faces and the patterns on tablecloths once again during the tests.