Source: Courtesy

Over the years, many gadgets have been made to help people who are visually impaired, changing lives for the better. For the first time in Bangladesh three students from Khulna University of Engineering and Technology (KUET) designed a pair of glasses especially for the blind. The students behind this project are Abu Ibne Bayazid, Md Mostafa Kamal and Nazmul Hasan. What started off as a thesis project became one of the most talked about inventions from KUET.
“We actually started this project a year ago, says Abu Ibne Bayazid. "For various reasons we couldn't implement what we had in mind.” They spent a year fixing glitches and making the glasses more user-friendly. “Finally we presented our implementation to our academic thesis and needless to say we had the happiest faces on campus when it got approved!” says Bayazid.
The glasses work in two ways-- a sensor detects obstacles around the user while another sensor detects surface smoothness, an attribute which was added later on. A smart phone is used to guide the user through voice instruction and also update the weather condition, time and date. The glasses are run by simple mobile batteries which could be used for 12 to 15 hours once it's fully charged. They also have backup battery power connected to the user's smart phone.

“What we really want to do was to solve a social problem," say the inventors. "The response, after the invention went viral, was amazing. For this we have to thank our media platforms and our fellow students.”
At present, the young inventors are looking for ways and platforms to make the glasses commercially available to everyone. Many have shown interest; they hope the glasses will be available to the mass, very soon.