In Mozambique, a young robotics student has developed smart glasses that vibrate when an obstacle is nearby.
Joao Antonio Rego, 24, created electronic glasses for the visually impaired in Mozambique. His invention, inspired by an incident in Maputo, could help millions of Mozambicans with visual impairments gain greater independence.
A new invention designed to improve the daily lives of the visually impaired.
Armando Ernesto Chau is the prototype tester for Joao Antonio Rego. When Chau puts on the smart glasses developed by this robotics student from his family’s dining room, he finally glimpses a life beyond the modest confines of his home.
Since losing his sight 20 years ago, this 45-year-old father has not worked and rarely leaves his home in Matola, near the capital Maputo.
Rego’s electronic glasses—battery-powered devices equipped with sensors that detect obstacles and alert the wearer through vibrations—are opening new horizons.
“It’s vibrating… those are bushes,” explains Chau as he demonstrates Joao Antonio Rego’s Vision Hope 0.2 for AFP.
“Maybe there’s a window here… yes.”
