General

US Gateway unveils app for the visually impaired passengers

San Francisco International Airport has unveiled a prototype version of a smartphone app, which can help visually-impaired passengers to navigate through an airport terminal.

The app was developed through San Francisco Mayor, Ed Lee’s, Entrepreneur-in-Residence Programme, which paired the Californian gateway with Indoo.rs, an indoor navigation technology firm, and was developed in the space of 16 weeks.

The blind photographer

Brenden Borrellini was born completely deaf and with limited sight that developed into complete blindness. His disability presented many obstacles for him growing up but with a lot of hard work and help from the Special Education Unit at the Cavendish Road State School in Brisbane, he became the first deaf and blind student to finish his high school education and to attend University.

In 1989 he was nationally recognised and won the young Australian of the Year award for his academic achievements. But Brenden didn't stop there.

Accessibility for the visually challenged

In its 10th year of operations, the Xavier's Resource Centre for the Visually Challenged (XRCVC) under the ADIP scheme of the Department of Disability Affairs, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, distributed SmartCanes and PlexTalk Vachak to 50 visually impaired students in the city.

New Device Lets Blind Boy See Through Sensations

A seven-year-old Chinese boy whose eyes were gouged out in an attack last year is able to see objects through a Brainport device by sending vibrations through the boy's tongue nerves.

IBM's New Brain-Like Chip Squeezes One Million Neurons Onto A Stamp

Cognitive computing has been one of our most exciting frontiers for years. It’s enticing to think that we can someday build a computer that’s as powerful and as efficient as a brain. IBM’s latest miracle chip just got us closer than ever.

Art exhibition and sale in support of Guide Dogs charity

The landscape works of art highlight the grandeur of the world through fine art print making.

‘Echoes Around The World’ is brought to life with etchings, photos intaglio, collagraphs, dry point etchings and monoprints.

The artist, who is visually impaired, has been inspired and influenced by the natural world, colours and textures after having travelled around Africa, India, China and Peru.

Brother and sister killed by Metra train in Chicago

A brother and his sister in their 50’s were struck near the Western Ave Station around 5 p.m. by a train heading inbound from LaGrange.

Witnesses on the scene identify the victims as Margaret Hudson and her brother. They say the siblings were were pushing a cart on the tracks looking for metal scraps. Margaret was her brother’s caretaker. He was partially blind.

Friends and family say Margaret and her brother were up there often.

Trains were stopped and major delays were reported by Metra throughout the evening rush hour.

SPECIAL EDUCATORS FOR UNAIDED PVT SCHOOLS

After facing the ire of the Delhi High Court, the Directorate of Education (DoE) on Monday issued a notice to all unaided private schools of Delhi to recruit special educators and make their schools premises barrier-free so as to provide movement and access to the children with disabilities. The notice has been issued by the directorate following a mandate by the High Court asking for a compliance report at the earliest.

Soon 'smart glasses' that could help the blind to see

Researchers have developed new 'Star Trek-style' smart glasses that could transform the lives of blind and partially-sighted people.
According to a report, the glasses don’t replace lost vision but assist with spatial awareness and this will also be the first large-scale test of smart glasses and augmented reality for sight enhancement worldwide.
The joint project between the University of Oxford and the Royal National Institute of Blind People, will first create 100 pairs to test on 1,000 people.