Nikolaos Bourbakis, Ph.D., Ohio Board of Regents Distinguished Professor of Information Technology at Wright State's College of Engineering and Computer Science is the principal investigator. The project is a cooperative venture with Arizona State University (ASU).

"Our object is to develop intelligent assistants that can help blind and visually impaired individuals efficiently conduct daily tasks, such as reading a book or newspaper and efficiently accessing the Web and participating in classes," explained Bourbakis, who has been involved in computer engineering eye research for 20 years.

Tyflos, the Greek word for blind, is the name of the portable, wearable device Bourbakis has developed. The partnering project at ASU is called iLearn. A tiny camera is mounted to glasses and connected by a thin wire to a modified lap-top computer the individual carries on his or her back. The Tyflos system operates by identifying the images "seen" by the camera and converting this to audio information the subject hears from small wires connected from the backpack to the ear. A small microphone is attached for receiving commands or requests from the user.

Bourbakis, who started on this project in 1995, plans to work with the WSU Office of Disability Services to test the device's capabilities on visually impaired students. In addition, he is working on an extension of the Tyflos system that enables blind individuals to independently navigate their working and living environments. Two future extensions of the Tyflos system will offer writing and drawing assistance that will enable the visually impaired to visually express their artistic talent beyond the usual levels.

"The Tyflos camera captures images from the surroundings, and the portable computer reconstructs the 3D space for motion detection, body t
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Contact: Nikolaos Bourbakis, Ph.D.
bourbaki@cs.wright.edu
937-775-5138
Wright State University
18-Mar-2004