A pillow jacket warns deaf people of dangers at night.
Meanwhile in Toronto a research team has combined with international partners to develop a vest that could enable a deaf-blind woman from London to safely scale Mount Everest.
The vest translates her guide’s hand gestures into vibration signals. These are created through the presence of four motors, one on each shoulder and two above the hips.
Meaning directions such as ‘up’, ‘down’, ‘left’ and ‘right’ can be understood by the female climber whose limited vision prevents her from lipreading instructions. The type of vibration can be adapted to transmit more specific messages.
Help could soon be available for blind dogs while a robotic hand provides translations for the deaf-blind community.
