Drishti

What it does

To help the blind to be included in activities that may seem mundane to us, but is difficult for them. We aim to bridge that clear gap which obstructs them from leading a normal life like everyone else.

Your inspiration

We believe that at its core, the field of designing is to improve living conditions. The specially abled are among the ones who deserve this the most. Experiences from daily life and contact with visually impaired members of friends and family were the driving force for us to materialize this product. The way they lead their lives and the lifelong hardships which they face stirred us to bring Drishti for the needed . We aspire that this solution which has been shaped by personal experiences becomes a public solution.

How it works

Product Drishti houses an in-built camera, a processing unit and speakers . Live stream of the user's surroundings is captured in real-time. The processing unit is powered by a combination of powerful and scalable AI models to make a multi-tasking AI system, processes the data, hence performs the necessary operations to implement object detection, person detection, obstacle distance measurement, human expression analysis, human activity recognition and most importantly threat recognition and alarming. The output is received by the user in speech format, wherein the user is kept informed about their vicinity.

Design process

Our aim was to create a device that would not only assist the user but also ensure that they're aware of their enviornment. Keeping the fact that the visually impaired usually have a heightened sense of hearing we had to make sure that we don't create a hinderance for them. Based on the suggestions given by friends and family who were visually imapaired we had come up with a few aspects that we must keep in mind while designing, they are as follows: the device must be easily portable, comfortable to use for long hours, must not block their sense of hearing. These constraints that we kept helped us come up with the design of Drishti. The over ear design makes it non-invasive helping the user to hear both ambient sounds and the insights from the speaker, which is cleaverly placed behind the ear, perfect for those who have completly lost their vision. The speaker is attached to a corrugated section which makes it flexible and fit onto ears of different shapes. Two wide-lens camera's are used (one for each ear) to get live-stream data and is then fed through multiple AI models to get accurate results. As blindness is a wide spectrum and is not same for all, we had also come up with a spectacle type design for people who are partially blind and require shades to block out harsh light.

How it is different

Our product is a smart one, designed specifically keeping in mind the visually impaired people to help them see the world through a different set of eyes. Our design uses state-of-the art object tracking and facial detection to detect objects and human emotions which is then relayed to the person, and hence making them visualize their enviornment. The design prioritizes comfort, allowing the user to use the product for a longer duration without feeling uneasy, thus the product does not block them from the outside world but rather guides and provides information like a handy assistant available at all times. The camera attached to the body acts as eyes aiding the user to give critical information about their surrounding. The design is easily portable and fits in the palm of your hand, making our product a first of its kind. Our project caters to a larger audience with the design of two different models, the over-ear type and spectacle type making it inclusive.

Future plans

We believe that innovation and improvements never stops, Drishti can include more features and technologies. Add ons like, navigation assist, live-voice translation, SOS alert system, a minature design which would directly attach to the user's spectacles are under progress. To make this product to be a complete solution and become a support for the people is what we aspire to achieve, hence we are currently researching on how we can make this product available to all in the market. Scaling this project would be challenging but by getting sponsor's and help from NGO's we can work towards giving the society and helping towards a good cause.

Awards