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Application from Google to help the visually impaired


Google is in process of test an artificial intelligence-supported application called Project Guideline that aims to help the visually impaired and the blind work alone without a guide dog or human assistant.

The app works by detecting lines drawn on the ground and guiding users with voice signals.

The feature is designed for some 466 million people worldwide with hearing loss, but it may also help people wearing headphones.

Project Guideline uses the phone's camera to track instructions and then sends voice signals to the user via speakers using bone conduction technology.

The app, which is still in the prototype phase, was developed during a Google Hackathon event last year when a struggling runner asked developers to design a program that would allow him to run independently.

A demonstration was designed to allow the phone to recognize the line on the ground and give voice signals

The app uses a belt-connected phone camera that uses Google-designed artificial intelligence worn by Panik to track instructions on the line drawn on the ground and send voice signals to it depending on its location.

"If I swerve to the left of the line, the sound rises more and more in my left ear, and if i swerve to the right, the same thing happens, but in my right ear," Panik said.

Within a few months, and some modifications, Panik was able to run through an indoor track unaided.

The developers then adapted the technology to work outdoors, where there was a whole new set of obstacles.

Project Guideline doesn't need an Internet connection to work and can calculate weather conditions.

Millions of people are suffering from vision loss and lack of guide dogs, and Google hopes project guideline will be adapted and expanded to provide independence for more people.

Google is increasingly investing in accessibility technology, unveiling in October of Sound Notifications, a new feature for Android that teaches deaf users in the event of water runoff or dog barking.

The company has also expanded the Lookout app, which can read mail aloud and identify goods orally.

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