New smart glasses help blind people ‘see’ using sound

Researchers from Australia have developed an innovative technology termed ‘acoustic touch’, Inspired by bats’ use of echolocation, that enables individuals to ‘see’ through sound. This technology holds the potential to significantly benefit those who are visually impaired.

The advanced smart glasses, which convert visual data into specific sound icons, have been crafted by scientists from the University of Technology Sydney.

Professor Chin-Teng Lin, an expert in brain-computer interface research at the University of Technology Sydney, stated: “Traditional smart glasses employ computer vision and varied sensory data to transform the user’s environment into computer-generated speech. In contrast, acoustic touch technology provides a sonic interpretation of objects, producing distinct sound patterns as they come into the device’s visual range. For instance, the rustling of leaves might denote a plant, or a buzzing might symbolise a mobile phone.”