A wearable device that allows you to see things with your hands is developed
A wearable device has been developed that converts objects captured by a camera into tactile sensations and transmits them to the wearer. It is expected to support the daily lives of people with poor eyesight or who are blind.
Seeing with the Hands | A sensory substitution that supports manual interactions
Microsoft Word - preprint.docx - SeeingWithTheHands_CHI25_Preprint.pdf
(PDF file) https://seeingwiththehands.com/assets/SeeingWithTheHands_CHI25_Preprint.pdf
The wearable device created by the University of Chicago research team looks like this. It has a camera on the wrist and an 'electronic tactile display' on the back of the hand.
The images captured by the camera are converted into tactile sensations and transmitted to an electro-tactile display, where electrodes stimulate tactile receptors beneath the skin, giving the wearer the sensation of touching an object.
This allows you to accurately determine the shape and position of an electric kettle's handle just by holding your hand over it.
In addition, by wearing it on your head, you will be able to 'see' things from a new perspective.
When participants, including those who are blind or have low vision, tried the device, they found it easier to use than conventional assistive devices.
It seems to make it easier to accomplish the intended action.
The main intended use case is 'finding a handrail while walking down a flight of stairs.'
A preprint for the device has already been published, and it is scheduled to be formally unveiled at the ACM CHI 2025 Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, which will be held from April 26 to 29, 2025.
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