A frequent question I have been asked about the vOICe is “what can you do with it”? This is a good question. Many blind people are well adapted so can readily do most things sighted people do so this question can also be considered as finding a use case for vision. As of this writing, we cannot drive and depth detection is a challenge until we get affordable off-the-shelf video glasses with stereo cameras. I am compiling a list of tasks that need sight to do. Ideally, there should not be any other way to accomplish said task.
I asked the question on the seeing with sound mailing list and here are some of the tasks that members have suggested. Please add more to the comments section.
- Painting and checking that the surface is fully covered without
having to touch and thereby ruin the wet paint. - Street cleaning, “seeing” thrown-away garbage from a distance such
that you can go an pick it up. - Cleaning up the garbage left behind in other indoor and outdoor
places such as cinemas, conference centers, markets, etc. - Mowing the lawn (as a paid job), tracking the edges of parts that
have already been mown. This can be tricky because of low contrast
between mown and non-mown areas. Little bright flowers such as
daisies can sometimes make the task much easier. - Farming, seeing non-uniformities in crop growth from a distance,
or locating (silently standing) cattle from a distance. - Shorelining the pavement and familiar environments without touch.
This may also be helpful in carrying goods around by having both
hands free for carrying. - Signing your name
- Locating objects that you have dropped or locating objects by color
