Sightronics

13/03/2015

10/03/2015

A Blind Man once asked a Wise man:
"Can there be anything worse than losing your Eye Sight?"

The Wise Man replied:
"Yes.. Losing your 'VISION'

03/03/2015

Our first research paper that discussed the Design and Implementation of a Wearable Interface for the Mobility Assistance of the Visually Impaired was recently presented by M.Hassan Ahmed at the 30th IEEEP STUDENT RESEARCH SEMINAR at Indus University, Karachi. We are extremely proud to announce that he secured the FIRST position, and won the Best Paper Award, Gold Medal, Trophy and a handsome cash prize!! :-D All praise to Allah Almighty! Alhumdulillah another great achievement for the team! :-)

25/01/2015

We made our second appearance at METRO Electronics Gala, Engineering Project Competition and stood second among several teams that were shortlisted. Alhumdulillah it was a big achievement, won a cash prize of Rs.50,000 :D

25/01/2015

Sightronics brings you its 6th and most interesting and user-interactive product, ScanTeeny!
ScanTeeny is a wearable finger-worn device that assists the visually impaired by reading paper-printed text effectively and efficiently, and supports seamless interaction with the surroundings on the go. Currently the commonly used interfaces are screen readers, desktop scanners, smart-phone applications, eBook readers, and embossers etc. But they are under-utilized due to large costs, large electrical power consumption, slow processing speeds or poor accuracy. Keeping all these specification in mind, Sightronics has developed a device that consists of a camera mounted as a ring on the index finger, with an embedded processor and a wireless connection to a secondary portable computation device. Several computer vision techniques are utilized to extract desired information from the images of the proximal objects taken by the camera; such as optical character recognition and detecting color/shapes of an object while providing real-time auditory feedback through a speech synthesizer supported by the computation device. It is small, socially acceptable, works coherently for disabled and non-disabled alike, mobile and portable, which enables a more manageable operation.

18/01/2015

Meet: The Helen Keller of Pakistan & Ambassador of Hope- Saima Saleem- Serving in Pakistan’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations in Geneva (Switzerland).
This will give many of you immense inspiration and motivation. We sincerely hope that after reading this, many of us understand that most of the limitations we think of might just be in our mind. Saima is a beacon of hope. She has turned all odds presented to her and time and again has proven that no matter what ‘cards’ are dealt to you, you are in control of your own destiny.
In 2008, Saima Saleem became the first blind diplomat of Pakistan. Yes, you guys read that right. Read on, it happens to be an amazing story!
Due to a genetic disease (Retinitis Pigmentosa), Saima lost her sight in her teenage. Here, where millions of people with special abilities are treated as social outcastes, face all forms of discrimination, are denied fundamental human rights, including, among others, right to education and employment, this ambassador of hope decided to turn every stumbling-block into a stepping- stone. Negative social attitudes, lack of resources, never changing rules and policies and many such obstacles could not match Saima’s unflinching resolve to do something extraordinary in life and change the perception of our society regarding persons with special abilities.
Saima rose like a phoenix. She was the most outstanding student of her school. Due to her academic excellence, she was given a gold medal in Bachelors and Master by Kinnaird College University for Women. For the first time in Pakistan, all her exams were conducted in Braille because she fought for her rights and refused to appear in exams with the help of a writer who could mar her future due to negligence and lack of capacity. After her Masters, she decided to appear in the CSS exams with the resolve to become the first blind Civil Servant of Pakistan.
At first, FPSC refused to conduct her exam because she requested for a computer-based exam which had never been conducted in Pakistan. Through a divine intervention and her relentless pursuits, her wish was granted and President of Pakistan ordered FPSC to conduct a computer-based exam. It is pertinent to mention that she uses Screen-Reader software (JAWS) for working independently on the computer and software for scanning the books and other material for reading.
The leader got sixth position in the country and first among female candidates. Through an ordinance, FPSC had only allowed disabled candidates to choose only four occupational groups-Accounts, Commerce, Information and Postal. Once again, Saima refused to accept this discriminatory treatment and chose Foreign Service for she had always wanted to become a diplomat and represent Pakistan. Rules had to face a defeat in front of her indomitable resolve and the Prime Minister of Pakistan allowed her to join Foreign Service on merit. After joining Foreign Service, she topped all trainings and exams and was given another Gold Medal by Foreign Service Academy. In addition, she won a Fulbright Scholarship and went to study at the prestigious School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University USA. Upon joining the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, due to her passion to improve human rights in the country, she developed expertise in human rights and had been working on human rights issues from the last five years.
Saima is currently serving in Pakistan’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations in Geneva (Switzerland) and is working on human rights issues. It is a matter of great pride for the nation that Pakistan is represented by an outstanding young diplomat who has fought incessantly for human rights and has overcome all challenges. Her charismatic personality and stunning achievements have given a big boost to the soft image of the country. What an awesome future prospect for our country that Helen Keller of the 21st century is the face of Pakistan!
-via My Awesome Journey

10/01/2015

The Sightronics team is currently engaged in some necessary activities. We will be back shortly and will surprise you with our upcoming products :D your patience is requested. Stay tuned :)

08/01/2015

Our next product, is an electronic mobility aid for visually impaired people. The cane emits ultrasonic waves, just like the echolocation system used by bats and dolphins. Ultrasonic waves are emitted through two ultrasonic range finders on the handle of the UltraCane that bounce off objects and obstructions in the path of the user. The lower transducer detects obstacles within 4 metres of the handle. The upper transducer can locate objects approximately 1.6 metres from the handle. Feedback about these obstacles is provided through two vibrating motors located on the handle; indicating the proximity of the object, and whether it is low down and in front of the user, or whether it is at or above head height. It is particularly useful for warning of hazards at head height. The UltraCane gives the user more knowledge about their environment and enables them to make decisions much more quickly, thus allowing them to move around more safely, confidently and effectively.

06/01/2015

In October 2014, Sightronics made its first public appearance in the Engineering Project Competition at the World Space Week '14, organized by SUPARCO.

Our team show-cased the interfaces in the exhibition. Sightronics got a lot of acclaim by the jury as well as the public. Our product's innovation, design novelty & commitment to the cause helped us in earning the in the competition.

05/01/2015

The famous Int3ger has blogged about our portfolio and promoted our efforts in their recent post.

Thankyou for such recognition (y)

Sight has the greatest influence on our global perception. For the blind, the lack of sight is a major barrier in daily living: information access, mobility, finding their way, interaction with the environment and with other people. Although schools for blind people have been opened with better curr…

04/01/2015

-- Navigating through a dynamic environment can be very hectic and dangerous if the user cannot rely upon his eyes. Hence, in order to perceive and localize the obstacles in the vicinity of the blind person when they are walking, a wrist-mounted assistive device called the ‘Wrist Assist” is made. The device uses two ultrasonic sensors mounted above the knuckles that can pick up the distance of objects from one inch to 10 feet away and then translate that distance to vibro-tactile feedback on the wrist--the closer the object, the more vibration on the wrist. Three vibrating motors, located on the right, left and top of the wrist, are actuated to help the user determine where the obstacle is located. The device may not be extremely accurate as our previous interfaces, but it is extremely small, cheap, can be strapped on to either hand and one-size-fits-most. The device shows a fast response time and its learning curve is small. The blind can sense what is in the immediate area with a sweep of the hand. The tactile feedback informs the user about potential dangers and helps the blind move around safely in complex environments.

02/01/2015

Here is a video of our HapCap interface in action. The user is blind-folded with plugs in his ear, so he may not interact with the surroundings. The corridor is filled with chairs, haphazardly arranged to simulate static obstacles to the users. Student volunteers are asked to move around the user so that dynamic obstacles can also be encountered by the user wearing the HapCap.

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B8uxtxVmSdMtdk9kUDI3RmlQZk0/edit

Venue: EE Corridoor, E&M Block, FAST-NU

Team Sightronics pays its gratitude to Mr Amir Salman, Mr Hassan Ahmed and Mr Usman Maqsood for volunteering to participate in the activity.

A special thanks and applause to Mr. Saad Ehsan for conducting the test-case by wearing the blind-fold, the ear-plugs and the interface. It took a lot of guts to familiarize and then rely solely upon the HapCap interface while walking in a crowded environment. Your efforts are extremely appreciated.