Blind and Low Vision Prototype Development

According to the World 25 Health Organization, there are 285 million people who are visually impaired worldwide. Of those, 39 million people are blind, and 246 million have low or impaired vision. In the U.S. alone, according to the American Academy of Ophthalmology, more than 4.4 million people over 40 years of age are visually impaired and more than one million people of identified as being legally blind. Given the large number of individuals worldwide who suffer from blindness and visual impairment, there is a continued need for improved tools to assist the blind to navigate life and to mitigate some of the inherent difficulties that are associated with blindness and visual impairment. Current tools for the blind are still archaic in comparison to the rapid changing smart phone, Ipad and laptop computer.

A 55 QUESTION SURVEY AND FOCUS GROUP TO DEFINE TECHNOLOGY, HEALTHCARE AND NAVIGATION NEEDS FOR THE BLIND AND LOW VISION