Eyebotic
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Dale Milcetich, a University of Florida engineering senior, shows off “Eyebotic,” a helmet he designed as a lab class project as a navigational aid for the blind. The helmet is equipped with three infrared sensors that detect objects as far as five feet away. The sensors are connected through a microprocessor to four vibrating motors and an earpiece. When the helmet is in the sound mode, the earpiece makes a tone that increases in pitch as the wearer nears an object. In vibration mode, the motors vibrate in different sequences based on object’s proximity. Milcetich said he got the idea from his internship this past summer at a St. Petersburg company, Henter-Joyce, that makes software for the visually impaired. Many of the employees of the company, he said. “They navigated around the office pretty well, but I think the helmet would be useful for people who just recently became blind or were just getting used to a new area,” he said.
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