Engineering Seniors Take 2nd Place in NIH BME Undergrad Competition
From: Boston University - 2014
By: Mark Dwortzan

Project Enhances Mobility for the Visually Impaired

One of this year’s BME senior design teams took second place in the National
Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) Design by
Undergraduate Biomedical Engineering Teams (DEBUT) competition. The team,
which created a high-tech glove to enhance the capabilities of the
traditional white cane used by people with visual impairments, will receive
$15,000 at a ceremony at the Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES) conference
in October.

The BME team's entry, a "Sensory Substitution Glove for the Visually
Impaired," is designed to enable users to detect obstacles at head-height as
well as sudden drop-offs, and do so early enough to change course and prevent
injury. Equipped with ultrasound and infrared sensors, an accelerometer, a
microprocessor and a small speaker, the backside of the glove scans the
user’s surroundings and produces vibrational signals that cue him or her to
avoid impediments within a one-to-two-meter range.

Read the entire article at:
http://www.bu.edu/phpbin/news-cms/news/?dept=666&id=61755

Links:
NIBIB
http://www.nibib.nih.gov/

DEBUT
http://www.nibib.nih.gov/news-events/newsroom/nih-announces-winners-2014-undergraduate-biomedical-engineering-competition

Design Entry
https://www.nibib.nih.gov/sites/default/files/Sensory%20Substitution%20Glove.pdf

Related entry:
The TBeye Tool, North Carolina State University
Design Entry: https://www.nibib.nih.gov/sites/default/files/The%20TBeye%20Tool.pdf
Video (1:31): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDoqseRW9a8&feature=youtu.be