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| Photo: Google Images |
Think big, trust yourself, and make it happen
Technology is revolutionized in
the past few decades and people around the world are getting benefits from
technological advancements.
You will be surprised to read
that blind researcher from the Japanese National Museum of Emerging Science and
Innovation invented an AI-guided suitcase to help blind people travel safely
across the globe.
Dr. Chieko Asakawa, came up with the idea of generating such a suitcase when her travel bag hit a wall at an airport. She then thought that a suitcase could be used as a navigating tool to identify people and obstacles and proposed her idea in 2017.
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| Photo: Google Images |
She and her team worked on the idea and collaborated with various companies in Japan to generate a prototype. The prototype follows the average walking speed of a human and contains sensors that sense the presence of people and hurdles nearby. It is also equipped with voice guidance to direct the user toward the correct place.
In the next phase, Asakawa and
her team are working to improve the prototype so it could work better in crowded
places.
The ultimate goal of this project
is to make life easier for blind people by providing them with a tool to travel
safely.
About the inventor
Dr. Asakawa lost her eyesight in
an accident at the age of 14. She continued her studies and earned a doctoral
degree and joined the research and development division of IBM Japan Ltd. in
Tokyo in 1985.
She then worked on various
projects to help blind people and developed a voice-enabled internet browser
and a Japanese digital Braille system.
She is working on a
mission to bridge a “gap between people with disabilities and those without.”
“I hope to use the AI
suitcase to travel by myself so I can visit friends around the world,” (Asakawa).
https://www.omron.com/global/en/edge-link/news/502.html
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