Be My Eyes leading the Blind

Denmark – Being able to see the nutritional value of your next meal, or the layout of your home is impossible for the visually impaired. However, that might all change with a new application that could give the user a new pair of eyes to see.

A new smartphone application created to aid the blind has been introduced by a technology team hailing from Copenhagen, Denmark.

This ingenious form of software allows a visually impaired user to access a network in which the average person can act as a set of eyes for them. Through use of the smartphone’s front-facing camera, the user will ask a sighted participant to aid in completing mundane tasks and to help with anything visual related.

According to the website for Be My Eyes, “The volunteer helper receives a notification for help and a live video connection is established. From the live video the volunteer can help the blind person by answering the question they need answered.”

This concept not only contributes to an entire audience that could greatly benefit from it, but also gives credence to a trend in philanthropy. People can then spread kindness through their smartphones and be compassionate with those less fortunate. Each session also ends with an opportunity for the user to report misuse of the system, to which the punishment would be exclusion from the network. An example would be using the application to gain private information for the use of theft or other crimes.

With his own visual impairment as a form of motivation, Be My Eyes was founded by Hans Jorgen Wiberg in 2012, when he introduced the concept at the Startup Weekend event in Denmark. This event led to the creation of Robocat, a Danish software studio team that prides itself in creating and distributing useful, as well as unique hardware and software products out of Copenhagen.

The application has only currently been made available for the Apple operating system, but the team says that they are aware of the potential for Android and Windows phone users being capable of contribution. The organisation is non-profit and need funds to keep it running. As of September this year, their initial funding comes to an end. A subscription model, as well as donations are being considered to keep it running.

For support and any other queries we advise you to visit their website at: http://www.bemyeyes.org/

Physics constant Debunked

Modern physics theorises that the speed of light is a constant which has gone on to provide technology and society with multiple advancements. However a new study might prove that this is not the case, possibly changing the landscape of nanotechnology.

A recent study done by scientists on the validity of the speed of light was released online through the Cornell University Library, proving that the constant should be thought of as a limit of speed rather than an invariable rate of light passing through a vacuum. Experiments were led by optical physicist Miles Padgett by doing tests on photon velocity through both a Bessel Beam as well as a Gaussian Beam. The result was a slightly delayed speed through focus or manipulation of light pulses, even in vacuum conditions.

According to Einstein’s theory of relativity and our physics textbooks, the speed of light was specified to be a constant of around 299 792 458 metres per second, however the new findings have brought to light that when a light pulses through a medium that tampers with its structure, the light wave goes through a minor decrease in velocity.

The experiment conducted saw pairs of photons sent to a detector – with one photon gliding through a fibre and the other through a pair of devices designed to manipulate the structure of the light and then revert it back to the original. The result was a slight delay in arrival from the influenced photon, altering Einstein’s theory of relativity.

Researchers say that the findings won’t change the way most technological applications operate and that it is not recognisable in everyday life. However, it will change the way in which physicists study extremely short light pulses. Especially considering the advancements in photonic circuitry, where light-based circuits replace those of electrical ones. These findings will see progress in the use of nanotechnology.