With a new invention from Polish researchers, blind people may no longer have to rely on a white cane or a seeing-eye dog.

The Polish designers received two medals for their Micro Look system for the blind at the latest Eureka International Invention Exhibition in Brussels. They won a gold in the Young Inventors category and a silver for the design's overall merit.

The Micro Look system is based on cellular phone technology and existing mobile operator links. Other than that, everything else is new. The device comprises a mobile phone connected to a micro-camera, as well as earphones and a microphone installed in a special pair of glasses. The image from the camera and sound from the microphone are sent via the phone to an e-guide's workstation. The e-guide sitting at a computer can see the surroundings from the blind person's eye level and can hear that person's voice. Then, using a series of pre-defined voice and electronic messages, the e-guide describes the surroundings around the blind person-the path in front of them, potential obstacles in their way and so on-and reads any documents, notice boards, maps, signs and labels that the blind person "looks at." The two people communicate in real time.

The Micro Look system takes advantage of a new generation of high-resolution micro-cameras with automatic lens focus adjustment plus a sound signal system, vibration signal system, e-guide workstation and a system of signals for communication between the blind person and the e-guide-all designed by Calsky Design studio.

'Seeing' and believing

Calsky Design is a group of young designers working as part of a "social consortium" called Strefa Designu Integracji Innowacji (Innovation, Integration and Design Zone) in the Katowice Special Economic Zone in Tychy, southern Poland. The team members, aided by Marek Plura, a wheelchair-confined deputy to the Sejm, Poland's lower house of parliament, have made a name for themselves as innovators and designers working to improve the quality of life for the disabled. Previously, they won a medal at the Brussels fair for a wheelchair-accessible minibus in which a disabled driver can transport wheelchair-confined passengers.

Micro Look is targeted at blind and visually impaired people and aims to increase their freedom in everyday life, facilitating social and professional mobility.

A blind woman named Hanna Pasterny helped the Micro Look designers promote the device at the Eureka fair in Brussels. "The boys guided me so well that some people couldn't believe I was really blind," says Pasterny. "Micro Look is an excellent idea, and gives you a substantial sense of independence. You can move around safely and with greater confidence, and deal with everyday matters more efficiently. Whenever I direct the glasses at something, the e-guide immediately describes what's there, reading the names of the products and their prices in a store, for example. Many blind people are scared to go out. Micro Look can help them overcome their fear, develop and gain more confidence in contacts with other people."

More than meets the eye

The inventors say the system can help not only blind people, but also those who are physically disabled and confined to their homes. They could be encouraged to act as e-guides for blind people.

Jarosław Kałuski, head of Calsky Design, says he wants the system to work in two ways: the e-guide would help blind people move around, while they would help the e-guide with errands that he or she cannot handle by themselves. For those willing to become "professional" e-guides this would be an opportunity to become active in the labor market, Kałuski says.

The most important quality of Micro Look, according to Kałuski, is that a blind person can use an e-guide's help in practically any situation where data transmission is possible, whether via a wire or a radio signal.

The system's designers plan to offer Micro Look to mobile phone operators across Europe. They also want to show their invention to the European Parliament and Polish institutions helping the disabled. Upgraded and more versatile versions of the invention will be produced soon, Kałuski says, with a phone, a special keyboard and different models of glasses, for both children and adults. "This is a product for mobile phone networks and has gotten them really interested," Kałuski says, adding that "the disabled population is quite large, while mobile phone operators didn't pay them much attention before."

Ewa Dereń