Living in the wondrous future: a camera for the blind

The world of adaptive technology has brought us stunning inventions such as carbon-fiber prostheses that exceed the performance of mere bone-and-muscle legs. Therefore I was taken by not surprised by the ingenuity of a new product, the Touch Sight, a camera for the blind.

The camera, invented by Chueh Lee of Samsung China, features a flexible Braille display screen which creates a three-dimensional representation of the picture seen through the camera lens. The camera is held to the user's forehead, and he/she uses sound to estimate the distance to the object being photographed.

As it takes a snapshot, the camera also records a three-second snippet of ambient sound, so as the photographer checks out the image taken, he/she can review the distance estimate and make adjustments as needed.

The Touch Sight was recently awarded a gold medal in the International Design Excellence Awards 2008. The camera has not yet reached the market, but I can see some great products spinning off from this tech. How about game controllers?