They can provide freedom and independence to the extent that the attendant (outside help) is no longer needed.
They allow moving around on your own inside buildings, at transport hubs and doing shopping.
With the help of vOICe vision goggles, you can identify objects way before they can be touched with the cane.
Would you like to sponsor someone with the gift of sight through sound? We can assist in identifying the most deserving cases.
vOICe vision Africa’s purpose is to offer visual-to-auditory sensory substitution devices and training that can assist the blind in sensing the visual environment by translating the visual information into sound patterns, by providing the blind with self-sufficiency, pronunciation, independence and augmented reality, that was never possible before.
This statement sounds doubtful, though it is a fact proven by one of our customers - Vadim Artsev's story.
Who is he?
After an accident, he became visually impaired which negatively impacted on his livelihood as a bachata dancer, a drummer in a band and a certified massage therapist.
He is 22 years old, and for him, self-development is of the highest importance. He does not feel disabled or inadequate despite his impairment. He is always in search of new possibilities to fuel his creative power, become successful and enjoy life available to others.
How possibly can a blind person be so active and move around so freely without depending on their attendants who would normally help them move?
The major problem of blind people lies in their inability to move around as the environment is usually unpredictable and could potentially risk life and limb.
Vadim has been using vOICe vision for two years now. The device helps him find his way on the streets, go to work, attend activities that interest him, go out with friends, and participate in competitions.
Vadim moves confidently everywhere, especially when travelling with the help of the vOICe vision device and the cane. Combined, the two strongly enhance a person’s potential to orientate and enable them to read signs. With the help of vOICe vision, Vadim became more perceptive to obstacles and started feeling more confident being without an attendant.
Using the vOICe vision device, any blind person can feel more confident moving around. All you need is a willingness to learn, persistence in training and some faith in yourself.
vOICe vision helps blind people to learn the seeing with sound technique, live their own comfortable life and feel space as others do. This is an additional degree of freedom and independence for blind people.
An attribute of the cane is that it helps to navigate unfamiliar spaces, independently estimate the distance to objects and to move around.
It functions as:
- a buffer, which prevents collisions,
- a source of sound, which warns about barriers ahead,
- a sign for drivers and other people about a blind person in front of them.
These devices are designed to detect obstacles in a blind person’s way. Their main feature is to detect obstacles which appear at head and chest levels.
Information about objects is transmitted via vibration or sound impulses.
An eye implant is a prosthesis which is set into the retina, which delegates functioning of injured retina cells to electronics.
This kind of surgery is expensive, and it can guarantee only partial recovery of vision. There are restrictions applied, and complications may occur.
Today's science and medicine have not yet found the way to give vision for the congenitally-blind person or to recover it after injury.
But there is a way to teach a blind person’s brain to perceive objects via sound.
A Dutch engineer Peter Meijer, a former staff member of the Philips Corporation research department developed an algorithm of the sensory substitution of vision through sound. The device gives a sound image with up to several thousand pixels resolution, without dependence on the eye ailments condition and without any need for surgery.
A sound vision gogglesthe device with installed camera and bone conduction earphones. It helps to feel space and objects through the sound signal received as a result of encoding image from the camera. It doesn't block ears and therefore does not disturb the echolocation process.
Software An app transforms an image into sound which is perceived by the brain identically to the monochrome picture.
Free and autonomous orientation around any environment is the ability most blind people would like to have.
Enhancing surroundings' perception increases self-sufficiency and ensures safe movement around.
Getting out of the box, overcoming limits, finding interesting ways to earn a living, developing talents… An inventor, an artist, a writer - all these professions become real.
Sport is always associated with overcoming yourself. It is a way to self-realisation and an opportunity to prove your personal excellence. Use vOICe vision and keep moving forward! Don’t let other people control your life. You are the only person who knows what you are capable of.
A new profession has appeared - a sound vision trainer. Who can teach skills better than a blind person who already possesses it? Today a course which allows a person to learn a sound vision skill in only 3 months is now available.
A hobby and self-realisation. Things like Latin dance and billiard game give us lots of life fulfilment, so why don’t we just keep doing what we like and become better at it?
Blind people now travel even without sound vision, so imagine how many opportunities will open, when you are assured with safety and independence. With vOICe vision fear of new places fades away because the traditional way of perception becomes visual through sound.
vOICe vision - Sound vision device transforms an image from the camera into the encoded sound, which can be perceived similarly to a monochrome image. The goggles help a trained person to form an inner image of space and objects around them.
The device can also vocalize text on signs and numbers of buildings, automatically or by manual control. It has features to identify and announce: objects' colours, barcodes, and naming common objects in front of the camera.
A set includes bone conduction earphones and removable battery with 12 hours life with a single battery charge.
We provide training by helping blind people adapt to vOICe vision use techniques.
Online training is also available for virtual learning.
An online basic course “vOICe sound vision” which consists of two stages:
a) development of perception through interaction with objects b) development of orientation skills for inside and outside buildings.
A presence of an attendant is required. Access to online training platform is also available for unattended practice sessions.
Duration: 24 classes, 60 minutes each (3 month)
A basic course “vOICe sound vision” consists of two stages: a) development of perception through interaction with objects and
b) development of orientation skills for inside and outside buildings.
Classes are held face-to-face with a trainer.
Duration: 24 classes, 90 minutes each (3 month)
The basic course “vOICe sound vision” is conducted on an individual basis session with a trainer in the comfort of they own home. Each student gets an individual training plan and the most efficient set of exercises.
Duration: 24 classes, 90 minutes each in client’s space, 3 month.
Learning to perceive objects via sounds requires training. Our online platform was created to make this process comfortable and easy. Anyone can take a course Introduction to vOICe vision.
Yes, and you can verify through watching these videos.
No, according to the users’ reports sounds of vOICe vision don’t interrupt listening to sounds in the environment. You can control the volume of the device, and thanks to bone-conduction earphones as ear canals are not blocked and natural echolocation continues taking place.
We start teaching from 4 years of age and up.
