Microsoft Kinect has been hacked to build other interesting devices. The latest known hack of the Microsoft Kinect is a device called NAVI which stands for Navigational Aids for the Visually Impaired. The device does as what its name suggests, helps the blind, which is currently just a prototype, built as a student project.
The NAVI is meant for helping the blind navigate around a room. The prototype of the device definitely looks cumbersome, needing the user to wear like a backpack. But a ready product should be very much smaller in size, with much smaller components packed it.
The users need to wear the Kinect set on their head, which is able to detect obstacles while they’re walking around in a room. There is a little computer that receives the info about the obstacles and feeds the info back to the user by a Bluetooth headset. Users will receive simple voice instructions such as “obstacle ahead, stay left”.
The Kinect is used to detect depth of objects in a room, and object info is fed back to the user via a belt that has vibration motors, allowing the user to know where objects are in regards to his location. Watch the video below showing the NAVI in action.
via gadgetvenue
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