.lumen
builds glasses that help the blind live a better life
It was founded as a research startup with the mission of empowering the blind. Every day, we build, test and validate solutions that make their life a little better. And with 40 million blind, increasing to over 100 million by 2050, this is a great challenge.
There are 40 million blind people now and increasing to 100 million by 2050. Despite all the technological advances, when it comes to the mobility of the blind, there are only 2 solutions: the guide dog and the walking cane.
The guide dog, unanimously seen as a good solution, has multiple drawbacks - high cost of training, and most blind people can't take care of guide dogs on their own. Due to this, there are only around 20,000 guide dogs for 40 million blind people.
.the issue
The .lumen glasses offer a system for the 40 million blind individuals which can’t have an advanced mobility solution. It replicates the main features a guide dog brings, in a scalable product. The .lumen glasses:
Understand the environment, objects, their position and movement in 3D
Compute interaction paths to wanted objects or generally, based on context
Transmit information to the blind using haptic and auditory impulses
.solution
The .lumen headset contains the sensory and feedback systems required to understand the environment and communicate instructions to its user.
.how it works
Headset
The Feedback System uses audio and haptic feedback to transmit information to its user. By analogy, a guide dog gives all information by pulling the hand. The .lumen glasses do the same by using Haptics and Sound.
A set of 5 cameras of varied specifications understand and map the world. They determine the user’s position, the environment in which it is and perceive contextual information.
Feedback System
Sensory System
.lumen was founded in 2020 as a research startup with the mission of empowering the blind.
Founded by Cornel Amariei, Dr. Gabriel Chindris and Mihai Ivascu, .lumen has a team of over 30 engineers, professors, disability experts, designers and scientists who use the latest AI and robotics technologies to enhance the life of the blind.
The system is soon reaching pre-production, so stay tuned for the latest on the forefront of assistive technologies.
.the story
