| Japanese scientists say they have built an electronic eye that could help blind people get around safely. People wearing the device, mounted to glasses, would be able to cross the road unaided, the Kyoto Institute of Technology team believes. It consists of a smart camera-computer combo which detects and measures things such as the colour of traffic lights and the width of the road. A voice speech system relays the information to the wearer. Lead scientist Tadayoshi Shioyama said: "The camera would be mounted at eye level, and be connected to a tiny computer. It would relay information using a voice speech system and give vocal commands and information through a small speaker placed near the ear." The device is advanced enough to not only detect the existence and location of a pedestrian crossing, but at the same time also measure the width of the road to the nearest step and detect when traffic lights change from red to green. The length of a pedestrian crossing is measured by projective geometry. |