Seamless indoor navigator for visually challenged

RDL Visible Light Communication and Research Centre at Sahyadri Innovation Hub at Sahyadri Institute of Engineering and Management has developed VL glass for visually challenged.

RDL Technologies Pvt Ltd CEO Raghavendra G Shetty said that it is a seamless indoor navigator and a visually challenged person can navigate around obstacles avoiding mishaps and dangerous objects. It enables the individual to move around with confidence and independence allowing a person to retain his self-respect. Also called Versatile Personal Mobility Assistant, it enables the individual to move around with confidence. To enable the visually challenged to move around freely within indoor environments like home or office or any unfamiliar spaces, RDL has invented a product by using visible light communication.

On the new innovation, he said it is a pair of spectacles and a frame. In the frame between the glasses, there is a bridge on which a sensor is implanted. This sensor is a VIRL (Visible Light Infrared Receiver) which receives the signals through visible light communication. On the frames connecting the glasses to the earlobe, there are vibrators on both sides. At the end of the frames, speakers are connected which act as earphones. On the frames connecting the earlobes, there is a battery on the left frame and a navigator on the right frame. When the person walks under the LED lights which are strategically fixed on the roof of the room, the sensor scans the indoor environment and sends the signal through the vibrator who wears the glasses and passes instructions through the speaker which are placed at the end of the frame which fits in the ears of the person. As the person walks under the light cones, the visible light communication enables the communications through the sensor.

It has 3 D positioning system to find one’s location. If manufactured in bulk, then the glass will be available at reasonable price, he said.

He said that real-time activity monitoring and alerting system embedded in the technology is one of the advantages. In case of any difficulty faced by the person in a room, it immediately alerts the person concerned to take action by rushing in or availing quick help, he added.