

Show HN: Touch-based Virtual Reality for the blind – Color Me Black - psathvik
https://imgur.com/a/178y4

======
psathvik
We built a wearable device that can help people sense a virtual object (like a
square or a map of India or a cube or an entire solar system), through a small
vibrating motor on their hand by moving their hand around in the air.

This would be particularly helpful for the blind and the visually impaired as
it can help them better visualize shapes, learn geography and access images
like they never could before.

And I'm very proud to tell you that our team at Color Me Black
([http://www.colormeblack.co.in/](http://www.colormeblack.co.in/)) won the
Education themed Startup Weekend Hyderabad, India last night!

~~~
psathvik
To elaborate further, the prototype is a glove that people can wear, and when
they move their hand around, an arduino onboard detects that and turns on a
small vibrator-motor on the glove when their hand is at a position where an
imaginary object is supposed to be, allowing them to get an understanding of
what the object might be shaped like.

For example if we have the computer simulate the shape of a square, the glove-
wearer would feel a vibration on their hand as they move it along it's
imagined boundaries, allowing them to get a sense of it's shape.

Blind students and blind people in general have a tough time visualizing,
understanding and using images, but with the help of this smart-glove, we can
give them a sense of what things in the image might be shaped like, enabling
them to better use that information.

