Blind News

Barcode recognition system to help blind people shop By Tim Sandle A new barcode recognition system has been designed to help blind and visually impaired people to navigate around stores and to assist them with shopping.

Blind singers break through Bangkok's sound barrier By AFP Bangkok - Strumming his guitar with ease and backed by a drummer, Singhkum Boonriang belts out covers of Thai ballads as strangers pass by on a busy Bangkok afternoon.

Blind Colombian women 'seeing' cancer with their fingertips By AFP Cali - Leidy Garcia awoke one morning in 2011 to discover she could no longer see. By then, Francia Papamija was already blind.

Microsoft launches app that uses AI to help blind people 'see' By James Walker Microsoft has publicly launched an app that narrates the environment around its user to help blind people "see." Using artificial intelligence, it identifies people, documents and images in the surroundings and narrates their details, empowering the user.

How virtual reality is helping medicine By Tim Sandle Virtual reality is beginning to make progress in the field of medicine. Two recent examples are helping visually impaired users navigate and with easing phantom limb pain.

Nano-implant set to restore sight By Tim Sandle In a major breakthrough scientists from University of California San Diego and the company Nanovision Biosciences Inc., are on the cusp of developing nano-sized implants that can restore sight to a blind person.

New drive to eliminate trachoma blindness By Tim Sandle The campaign to eliminate the bacterial blindness disease trachoma has received a boost with a $11.7 million donate from the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation. The funding, for research, will be handled by The Carter Center among other bodies.

Blind NHS patients to receive bionic eyes By Owen Weldon The NHS, England's national healthcare system, will pay for 10 blind patients to have bionic eyes. The eyes will treat them for an inherited form of blindness.

Playing video games helps the visually impaired By Tim Sandle While many sociologists raise concerns about the excessive playing of video games, for the visually impaired the active engagement with video game may actually be a good thing, helping vision to improve.

Woman going blind after drinking 28 Red Bulls every single day By Owen Weldon Newtownabbey - Lena Lupari, 26, from Northern Ireland, is slowly going blind after she consumed an average of 28 cans of Red Bull every single day.

An artsy solution provides disabled artists employment Special By Robert Kingett Chicago - One of the biggest ongoing advocacy efforts by anyone in the disability community is employment awareness. Activists promote the message that disabled people are just as competent, sometimes better, workers than their non disabled colleagues

Blind woman can see again after hitting her head on a table By Owen Weldon Auckland - A New Zealand woman who hasn't been able to see since she was 11 can see again after she hit her head on a coffee table.

Study: Blind have more nightmares than sighted people By Martin Laine A team of researchers in Denmark has compared the dreams of sighted and blind individuals. Their findings show that the blind have four times as many nightmares as sighted individuals, and they are more sensory than visual.

Justice Department expands Americans With Disabilities Act By Robert Kingett Washington - The Justice Department announced today that Attorney General Eric Holder has signed a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to amend the Title III regulation for the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

World's first Braille phone goes on sale By Tim Sandle London - A U.K. company called OwnFone has launched what is said to be the world's first Braille phone. The front and back of the phone has been constructed using 3D printing techniques.

New insight into how blind people 'see with sound' By Tim Sandle New research shows how, by converting sights to sounds, the brains of congenitally blind people respond similarly to various objects in a similar way to people who can see.

Blindness boosts hearing ability By Tim Sandle New research shows that hearing improves in mice that were deprived of visual stimulus for a week. The experiment was designed to measure 'sensory compensation'.

Spain blind association puts disabled to work By AFP Madrid - After completing high school, 46-year-old Spaniard Ricardo Velesar struggled to hold down a job as a degenerative eye disease slowly robbed him of his sight.

Op-Ed: Remembering a teacher of the blind — Amanda Labbe Perry Special By Robert Kingett Saint Augustine - Everyone remembers the teacher that has changed their lives. At The Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind I had many influential teachers but one stood out for me.

Light activates brain even in blind people By Robert Weller Montreal - Pay attention when your spouse tells you to turn off the bedside lamp. He or she may not be able to sleep because the light is keeping the brain awake.

Blindness doesn't stop Robert Kingett from becoming a Digital Journalist Special By David Silverberg Chicago - His school didn't have a newspaper so he created one. His journalistic reportage tackles the oft-neglected stories on disabilities. Welcome to the world of Robert Kingett, a blind Digital Journalist whose reporting aims to educate and inspire.

Dr. Abraham Nemeth, inventor of the Braille math code, dies at 94 By Robert Kingett Nemeth Code is the code for mathematics and scientific notation in North America. It's regularly taught as a form of Braille study, bringing new independence into student's lives. The creator of this life-changing code died today.

Kindle Fire HDX 7' Tablet to have built in accessibility features By Robert Kingett Chicago - Amazon has provided minimal accessibility in the development of their previous Kindle devices. For the first time a Kindle device will have built in accessibility for a number of disabilities

Iowa now allows visually impaired citizens to carry guns legally By Robert Kingett Iowa - Recently a state law was passed that would allow blind and visually impaired people in Iowa to carry firearms. Residents and advocacy agents have varying opinions on the issue.

Metro police arrest blind busker in Cape Town (Video) By Anne Sewell Cape Town - Onlookers were shocked and outraged as a famed blind guitarist, busking in Greenmarket Square, was manhandled and arrested by metro police in Cape Town, South Africa. His wife screamed for them to stop and they even smashed his treasured guitar.

FCC proposes making TV menus accessible to blind By Robert Kingett Federal regulators are unveiling draft rules to make cable and television menus accessible to the blind and visually impaired, leaving accessibility doors open

Review: Goodman Theater gives audio description to its blind patrons Special By Robert Kingett Chicago - Audio description for the blind and the visually impaired brings new vision to the poplar play, giving new care for accessibility

Image generating bionic contact lens for the blind in development By Lesley Lanir Tel Aviv - The blind may have a way to see in the near future. Israeli scientists at Bar-Ilan University have developed a non-evasive technological device that could help people born blind at birth to see using a bionic contact lens.

Gadget breakthrough: Braille smartphone for the blind By Eko Armunanto For this prototype, a touchscreen transforms images and text into touchable patterns, enabling users to interpret facial expressions, maps, and graphics.

Belgium doctors euthanize twin brothers who were going blind By Greta McClain Brussel - A case involving two identical twin brothers who requested to be euthanized by doctors in Brussels prompted officials with the Belgium government to postpone a proposed amendment to the country's euthanasia laws.

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