Assignment in HCI

Assignment in HCI
5/7/2011 HND in Computing H.L.JANIKA SHEHANI

Assignment in HCI 2011

INTRODUCTION

This assignment is based on the Human Computer Interaction module. Disabilities can take a severe psychological toll. To be disabled means to have lost of range of functioning or to never have acquired that functioning in the first place. It can also easily mean being more isolated from others than one would like to be. And because people sometimes cruel and or clueless, disabled persons are often made to feel different by others. Grief and loss, a sense of being broken or useless and self pity can easily cascade into a diagnosable depression or related mental disorder. For the reason, it is important that persons with disabilities remember to take care of their mental health needs as well as their physical health. Blindness or being visually impaired is one of the major disabilities in this world. If one is not able to do their own day to day chores then that person will be physically as well as mentally disabled. As it is like this there are many causes for it too. Given the immense social importance of vision, there is intense effort to develop new treatments for blinding conditions. These are focusing not only on the conventional approach of developing new vaccines to prevent infection and new drugs to treat specific conditions, but also on more innovative approaches. For instance, attempts have been made to implant an array of electrodes over the surface of the visual cortex, coupled to a video camera or an optical letter reader, in the hope of bypassing the eye and providing visual sensation by direct stimulation of the cortex. Unfortunately, such stimulation produces only the sensation of tiny pin-points of light, which appear to move with movements of the eyes. Because of these reasons designing an electric eye for the blind would be more useful. The device consists of an electronic plate just three millimeters square, which is coated with 1,500 light-sensitive sensors. Each sensor triggers an electronic pulse that stimulates nerves that lead to the brain. Patients see a rough black and white image. . This project is about that Electric Eye and its Features.

Assignment in HCI 2011

CONTENTS 1) Blindness and causes for it-04 a) What is blindness?........................-05 b) Causes for blindness-07 2) Techniques for the blind...-10 a) Aids and techniques-11 b) Mobility-12 c) Reading and Magnification-12 3) Electric eye-13 a) Reason to think of an Electric eye.-14 b) Electric Eye-15 4) Test Document..-17 a) Testing..-18

Assignment in HCI 2011

BLINDNESS AND CAUSES FOR IT

Assignment in HCI 2011

WHAT IS BLINDNESS??

Blindness rarely means total absence of light perception. Most definitions of blindness are based on measurement of visual acuity (the ability to read letters at a certain distance) and assessment of the ability of the person to carry out tasks needing vision. In the UK, the National Assistance Act 1948 states that a person can be certified as blind if they are so blind that they cannot do any work for which eyesight is essential. This rather circular definition refers to any work and not just the person's normal job or one for which he has been specially trained. Visual acuity is usually tested by asking the patient to read letters of various sizes on a chart viewed from a distance of 6 m or 20 feet (the Snellen method). Acuity is expressed as a fraction, the number on top referring to the distance at which a normal person can read a particular size of letter and the lower number the distance at which the subject being tested can read that size of letter. Hence normal visual acuity is 6/6 (European) or 20/20 (American). A person should be certified blind if the visual acuity (while wearing corrective glasses) is 3/60 or below (when a letter that can be recognized from 60 meters by a normal person can be identified only from 3 meters or closer). A person should also be certified blind if their acuity is between 3/60 and 6/60 but they have completely lost the peripheral part of their visual field, hence restricting their vision to the central part of the field. Indeed, if the more useful lower part of the visual field is lost then someone with better than 6/60 acuity can be certified blind. There is no legal definition of partial sight in the UK, but a person can be certified as partially sighted if they are substantially and permanently handicapped by defective vision caused by congenital defect or illness or injury. All certification must be done by a consultant ophthalmologist. The help from Social Services should be the same for both legally blind and partially sighted groups but Social Security benefits and tax concessions differ. Definitions of blindness are not the same around the world and the vast majority depends on measured visual acuity with no allowance for any functional deficits. Consequently comparison of the incidence of blindness world-wide is inexact. The World Health Organization has proposed categories of visual impairment but these have not yet been widely adopted. The common causes of blindness vary in different countries according to the general levels of

Assignment in HCI 2011

economic and physical health. The high rate of blindness in developing countries is mainly due to malnutrition and infectious diseases, coupled with the scarcity of medical care. Moor fields Eye Hospital was founded in London in 1805 to treat the Egyptian ophthalmia, a mixture of trachoma and purulent ophthalmitis brought back by British troops from Aboukir after their withdrawal from Egypt in 1803. The disease quickly spread throughout the country when the disbanded soldiers returned to their homes, taking the infection with them. Nowadays the condition is treatable with tetracycline eye ointment and tetracycline taken orally.

Assignment in HCI 2011

CAUSES FOR BLINDNESS

Lack of vitamin A has a direct effect on the eye, causing clouding and softening of the cornea (keratomalacia), but also increases the risk and severity of infections, so that measles can be a blinding or even fatal disease in children who are deficient in vitamin A. Night-blindness due to lack of vitamin A may occur in famines, and cure of this condition by eating liver, which is rich in vitamin A, has been known for over 3000 years.

Assignment in HCI 2011

Another cause of night-blindness is pigmentary degeneration of the retina (retinitis pigmentosa) which, combined with partial loss of the visual field, eventually contracting down to tunnel vision, can be most disabling. This condition is mainly inherited as an autosomal recessive condition (showing itself only when both parents carry the mutant gene), but other forms occur. A high proportion of the population of the Atlantic island Tristan da Cunha was recently discovered to be affected when they were evacuated because of volcanic activity. The disorder is progressive and untreatable.

Trachoma, an infectious disease, affects some 500 million people world-wide, of whom 7 million are blind and 10 million visually impaired. The infectious agents are bacteria known as Chlamydia.

River blindness (onchocerciasis) is the next commonest infection, where micro filarial parasites, spread by black flies, which breed in the tropical, sub-Saharan belt across the whole of Africa and at similar latitudes in Mexico, Brazil, and Ecuador, invade the retina and the supporting, vascularized middle layer of the eyeball, the choroid. Treatment was revolutionized in 1987 when ivermectin, already used in veterinary medicine, was registered for human therapy.

From 1976 the total number of people registered blind in Britain has risen, but this rise is limited to those over 75 years old. Fifty per cent of all 75-85-year-olds registered with impaired vision in this country suffer from age-related macular degeneration (ARMD). Cataracts are now second as a cause of blindness, at around 40%, but these are essentially treatable by surgery except in those cases where extraction of the cataract reveals underlying, untreatable ARMD. Damage to the retina caused by glaucoma (increased pressure in the eyeball) and by diabetes (diabetic retinopathy) makes up almost all the remaining causes of blindness. Glaucoma is insidious in onset: acuity in the central visual field is not seriously affected and a diagnosis may not be made until much of the peripheral retina has been destroyed. Diabetic retinopathy is most prevalent and severe in long-standing insulin-dependent diabetes. This emphasizes the importance of striving for optimal diabetic control. Routine screening checks for both glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy are essential, but manpower and economic considerations have led too much of this works being transferred to orthoptists and optometrists. Retinal detachment (separation of the retina from the pigment epithelium behind it) is a rarer cause of blindness.

Assignment in HCI 2011

There is a long history of visual upsets from staring directly at the sun. The high energy optically concentrated at the central part of the retina for only seconds can produce prolonged after-images and even permanent loss of central vision. This is an occupational hazard for astronomers, and for members of the public who sun-gaze in a misguided attempt to strengthen their eyes or when under the influence of hallucinogenic drugs. There is a particular hazard during solar eclipses because the reduced total amount of light makes it easier to hold fixation on the sun, but the intensity on the remaining illuminated part of the retina is just as high (and just as damaging) as when there is no eclipse: hence the term eclipse blindness.

Assignment in HCI 2011

TECHNIQUES FOR THE BLIND

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Assignment in HCI 2011

AIDS AND TECHNIQUES FOR THE BLIND

Blind people may use talking equipment such as thermometers, watches, clocks, scales, calculators, and compasses. They may also enlarge or mark dials on devices such as ovens and thermostats to make them usable. Other techniques used by blind people to assist them in daily activities include:

Adaptations of coins and banknotes so that the value can be determined by touch. For example: In some currencies, such as the euro, the pound sterling and the Indian rupee, the size of a note increases with its value. On US coins, pennies and dimes, and nickels and quarters are similar in size. The larger denominations (dimes and quarters) have ridges along the sides (historically used to prevent the "shaving" of precious metals from the coins), which can now be used for identification. Some currencies' banknotes have a tactile feature to indicate denomination. For example, the Canadian currency tactile feature is a system of raised dots in one corner, based on Braille cells but not standard Braille. It is also possible to fold notes in different ways to assist recognition. Labeling and tagging clothing and other personal items Placing different types of food at different positions on a dinner plate Marking controls of household appliances Most people, once they have been visually impaired for long enough, devise their own adaptive strategies in all areas of personal and professional management.

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Assignment in HCI 2011

MOBILITY

Many people with serious visual impairments can travel independently, using a wide range of tools and techniques. Orientation and mobility specialists are professionals who are specifically trained to teach people with visual impairments how to travel safely, confidently, and independently in the home and the community. These professionals can also help blind people to practice travelling on specific routes which they may use often, such as the route from one's house to a convenience store. Becoming familiar with an environment or route can make it much easier for a blind person to navigate successfully.

READING AND MAGNIFICATION

Most visually impaired people who are not totally blind read print, either of a regular size or enlarged by magnification devices. Many also read large-print, which is easier for them to read without such devices. A variety of magnifying glasses, some handheld, and some on desktops, can make reading easier for them. Others read Braille (or the infrequently used Moon type), or rely on talking books and readers or reading machines, which convert printed text to speech or Braille. They use computers with special hardware such as scanners and refreshable Braille displays as well as software written specifically for the blind, such as optical character recognition applications and screen readers.

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Assignment in HCI 2011

ELECTRIC EYE

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Assignment in HCI 2011

REASON TO THINK OF AN ELECTRONIC EYE

In the developing world, it is given the immense social importance of vision, there is intense effort to develop new treatments for blinding conditions. These are focusing not only on the conventional approach of developing new vaccines to prevent infection and new drugs to treat specific conditions, but also on more innovative approaches. For instance, attempts have been made to implant an array of electrodes over the surface of the visual cortex, coupled to a video camera or an optical letter reader, in the hope of bypassing the eye and providing visual sensation by direct stimulation of the cortex. Unfortunately, such stimulation produces only the sensation of tiny pin-points of light, which appear to move with movements of the eyes.

As the blind people are in a great trouble to face to the ongoing actions of this developing world I thought of a way to prevent the troubles they are facing. If a blind could see and identify at least the things around and do the day to day chores it is a wonderful thing for them. According to Helen Keller the U.S. author and educator who were blind and deaf. Keller was deprived by illness of sight and hearing at the age of 19 months, and her speech development soon ceased as well. Five years later she began to be instructed by Anne Sullivan (1866 1936), who taught her the names of objects by pressing the manual alphabet into her palm. Eventually Keller learned to read and write in Braille. She wrote several books, including The Story of My Life (1902). Her childhood was dramatized in William Gibson's play The Miracle Worker (1959; film, 1962), once said that "What a blind person needs is not a teacher but another self."

If a person who was in dark could come to the light then it would be a miracle for him\her. But if we could do it through technology using electric items such as micro chips and cameras then it will be the best invention in this entire world. The reaction of the public to handicapped and disabled people remains capricious, and often prejudiced. The deaf have long been figures of fun: they are often ignored and easily retreat into solitude. However, the blind generally receive more sympathy, even admiration. Social Services for the blind unfortunately are not uniformly good. I hope the electronic camera will be a miracle like thing for the blind.

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Assignment in HCI 2011

ELECTRIC EYE

This electric eye could help many people in the world that had problem with their sight like blindness to regain their sight. Even though it will not be a perfect sight regain but at least people being help with this device to recognize faces or environment. This incredible electric eye works with the help of a chip. This chip will be implanted to people eye. A glass with camera also needed here, this glass will transfer the images data to the chip that has been implanted. And this chip works to received data and transmit it to the brain. The Electric Eye is a microchip that will give a blind person the capacity to recognize faces and even navigate a room. In effect, the blind person will gain partial eyesight. The microchip is encased in titanium to prevent water damage and is implanted onto a patients eyeball. The user wears special glasses with a camera that transmits images to the microchip implant and fires an electrode under the retina, stimulating the optic nerve. The Electric Eye tackles the two leading causes of blindness, retinitis pigmentosa and age-related muscular degeneration. This microchip implant is a significant development in science, proving just how much benefit advancements in science can bring to health.

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Assignment in HCI 2011

A tiny camera is attached to the glass and a micro chip is inserted to the eye ball of the patient. The micro chip is just a three millimeter square and contains of one thousand five hundred sensor lights. Each sensor triggers an electronic pulse that stimulates nerves that lead to the brain. Patients see a rough black and white image. The visual functions of patients can in principle be restored to a degree sufficient for use in daily life. The level of vision is rudimentary but, talking about making someone who is completely blind see well enough to walk around without a guide dog.

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Assignment in HCI 2011

TEST DOCUMENT

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Assignment in HCI 2011

TESTING

Within days of the implantation of the incredible electric eye the doctor can give some objects, keep them with a space on a table and ask the implanted patient to pick them from the table. Though the patient is not able to have the vision of the whole object colorfully, he\she could see it partially in a rough grey color. So if the patient could pick the objects on the table then we can consider the invention as a success. There are 1500 light sensors coated to the micro chip. Each sensor triggers an electronic pulse that stimulates nerves that lead to the brain. Patients see a rough black and white image.

Also we can test whether the patient is able to walk through out the room without any assistance. We could test whether the patient is enabling of reading. We can give some black letters in a white background. Because it will be contrastive like that.

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Assignment in HCI 2011

MARKETING

Give this device to a leading scientific company and get the report to the device whether it is usable and what kind of items should be taken to produce it and all. Choose a leading technology company to make this device for the future use.

As that we can market the device and get the best use of this incredible electric eye. This is brilliant just because, The Electric Eye tackles the two leading causes of blindness, retinitis pigmentosa and age-related muscular degeneration. This microchip implant is a significant development in science, proving just how much benefit advancements in science can bring to health.

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Assignment in HCI 2011

REFERENCES

http://www.answers.com/topic/blindness#ixzz1LDGH5zlZ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blindness

http://www.businessinsider.com/million-dollar-idea-electric-eye-that-enables-the-blindto-partially-see-2010-10

http://www.myfoxdc.com/dpp/news/offbeat/electronic-eye-implant-allows-blind-to-see-ncxdc110310

http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/UK-News/Electronic-Eye-Implant-Tested-In-GermanyAllows-Blind-Patients-To-SeeAgain/Article/201011115791549?lpos=UK_News_Third_Home_Page_Feature_Teaser_Region_0 &lid=ARTICLE_15791549_Electronic_Eye_Implant_Tested_In_Germany_Allows_Blind_Patients_ To_See_Again

http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/209178/Miracle-eye-implant-gives-sight-back-to-

http://robotionary.com/robotics/mit-incredible-electric-eye.php

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