What is the name of your organization?
VividSense
What is the name of your solution?
The Surrounding Scanner
Provide a one-line summary or tagline for your solution.
Empowering the visually impaired with an eyeglass-based device that detects obstacles and enhances spatial awareness.
In what city, town, or region is your solution team headquartered?
South Brunswick Township, NJ, USA
In what country is your solution team headquartered?
United States
What type of organization is your solution team?
Not registered as any organization
Film your elevator pitch.
What specific problem are you solving?
The specific problem we are dealing with is the difficulty visually impaired individuals experience in safely moving traversing their surroundings. Globally, there are approximately 200 million individuals with some degree of visual impairment, and for many, it creates issues with daily activities, particularly with regard to avoiding obstacles. Current solutions, such as canes and guide dogs, have serious drawbacks. Canes only work in detecting close objects, and guide dogs, while beneficial, are expensive and require prolonged training. This means that the majority of the blind population is left without an affordable and reliable solution. Lack of accurate hazard detection in unknown conditions, such as unfamiliar ground, fuels the problem. Our device, The Surrounding Scanner, scans the surroundings of the user, and alerts them to possible threats. The technology attempts to enhance the self-sufficiency and spatial awareness of the visually impaired, offering a practical, affordable solution to existing methods.
What is your solution?
Surrounding Scanner is a detection-based alert system designed in the form of glasses to assist the blind in navigating their environment. The frame is equipped with ultrasonic sensors that sweep the surroundings for any objects and subsequently inform the user through vibrations. It is powered by a small battery and uses a basic microcontroller (UNO R3) for processing the sensor data. These sensors are housed in a lightweight, 3D-printed frame for greater durability. The sensor sends a signal to the microcontroller when it detects an object, triggering the alert system to warn the user. This provides real-time obstacle detection, enhancing users' independence and safety while moving around various environments. The simplicity and low price of this design offer an economical solution to the blind at a price of approximately $35, with a return on investment of 48% which will be invested in products in the future.
Who does your solution serve, and in what ways will the solution impact their lives?
The Surrounding Scanner serves visually impaired individuals, a group of over 200 million people globally, who currently rely on inefficient or costly solutions like canes and guide dogs. Our affordable, wearable glasses use ultrasonic sensors to detect obstacles and alert the user, enhancing safety in a cost-effective manner. At just $35, The Surrounding Scanner offers a much more financially suitable alternative to guide dogs, and much stronger performance relative to canes, improving mobility and quality of life.
