OrCam device helps blind people read

OrCam is a miniature camera that uses optical character-recognition technology to help legally blind people recognise the world around them, a study by researchers with UC Davis Health System has found

The device recognises text and reads it to the user using an earpiece that conducts sound and can also be programmed to recognise faces and commercial products.

Using the device mounted onto glasses, study participants were better able to perform activities of daily living, according to the study, “Evaluation of a Portable Artificial Vision Device among Patients with Low Vision,” published in JAMA Ophthalmology.

The device offers new hope for the large and growing number of individuals with age-related macular degeneration or advanced-stage glaucoma, said Mark Mannis, professor and chair of the UC Davis Department of Ophthalmology and Vision Science and co-author of the study.

Mannis said: “Age-related macular degeneration is one of the most common causes of blindness in the elderly and it has no cure in its advanced stages.

“This device offers hope to patients who are beyond medical or surgical therapy for the condition.

“It is easily used and could potentially bring greater independence, particularly for older patients who are struggling with vision loss.”

The pilot study included 12 legally blind participants with low vision, six men and six women, all of whom were patients at the UC Davis Eye Center at UC Davis Health System in Sacramento, Calif.

In order to establish their baseline vision, the researchers assessed the participants’ visual functioning using a ten-item test, with patients only using their eyeglasses and no low-vision aids for the assessment.

Initially, none of the participants were able to perform five of the ten tasks: reading a message on an electronic device such as a smartphone or tablet, a newspaper article, menu, letter or page from a book.

The researchers then trained the participants to use the portable artificial vision device, which operates either by pointing at an item, tapping on it, or pressing a trigger button. A wire attaches the device to a small pack containing the device’s battery and computer. It can be carried, fit into a pocket or attached to a belt.

After using the device for one week, all of the participants were able to perform nine of the ten items on the test, with only one individual reporting a technical difficulty.

Elad Moisseiev, co-author and UC Davis vitreoretinal surgery fellow, said: “Patients with low vision often are dependent on hand-held or electronic magnifiers, which may be somewhat cumbersome to use.

“This is the first independent clinical study to evaluate this new low-vision-aid device based on novel optical-character recognition technology.

“Our results show that it can be a very useful aid for patients with low vision in performing activities of daily living and increase their functional independence.”