Advancements in technology have led to improvements in many people’s lives. Recently, some of these technological advancements have benefited people with disabilities.

The following are two devices that were created to help deaf and blind people, respectively.

Glasses for Deaf People

A new pair of augmented reality (AR)* glasses is being developed for people who are deaf or hard of hearing. The British startup firm, XRAI Glass, is currently testing out the prototype and working out the bugs.

The glasses work by connecting to the voice recognition software on the user’s smartphone. During conversations, the software converts the speech of people into text.

This text gets streamed to a special screen inside the glasses, where it is presented like subtitles to the user. This way, the user can “read” the ongoing conversation in real time.

XR AI Glass hopes to bring its product to the worldwide market later this year.

Tablets for Blind People

Much of modern life revolves around the ability to use the internet. The product, Dot Pad, offers a tablet-like device that enables visually impaired people to access the digital world.

The product consists of 2,400 pins set up in a pixel*-like grid. These pins can move up and down to make different shapes and braille letters.

The smart device connects to smartphones and tablets and interprets the information for its tactile screen. The blind or low-vision user can then touch the screen and maneuver around the digital information.

The Dot Pad was created by the Korean company, Dot Inc., and was introduced to some online communities and early adopters* in March.

* augmented reality (AR) 증강현실

* pixel 화소, 픽셀 (텔레비전 혹은 컴퓨터 화면의 화상을 구성하는 최소 단위)

* early adopter 얼리 어답터 (남들보다 먼저 신제품을 사서 써 보는 사람)

출처-https://www.ebse.co.kr/apps/online/paperView.do?course_id=ECLIP000001983