Helping blind people move using forehead glasses
.lumen unveils forehead glasses with cameras and sensors that can assist blind people in moving around places without a guide dog. Instead of fur and paws, the .lumen glasses use cameras, sensors, artificial intelligence, and robotics. They’re worn on the head like regular glasses and act like a ‘virtual guide dog.’ Because of the installed technologies, the device understands and ‘shows’ the world around it by building a 3D picture of what is nearby.
They can tell where walls, doors, stairs, sidewalks, roads, and even water are. They also understand how the user is moving and how everything else around them is moving too. Whereas a guide dog usually helps by gently pulling on the person’s hand through the leash, the forehead .lumen glasses guide the blind people with vibrations around the forehead. For example, if there is an obstacle on the left, the device signals the user to turn slightly right, and if there is a clear path ahead, the head feels a pull forward. The same goes for when they need to avoid bumps on the roads, make sudden turns, and cross roads: the haptic feedback vibrates around specific points on the forehead.
all images courtesy of .lumen
Device that calculate paths more than 100 times every second
The forehead glasses for the blind people calculate paths more than 100 times every second, the team says. This system, powered by AI, allows the device to figure out where it is safe to walk and where it is dangerous. It can guide someone toward a door, help them stay on the sidewalk, or keep them away from hazards like traffic or stairs. It can also use sound to point out important objects nearby, adding another layer of information. The .lumen Glasses are designed to be scalable. Unlike guide dogs, which take years to train and care for, these forehead glasses for blind people can be produced more easily and ‘at a much lower cost,’ the team adds.
The purpose is simple: to help blind people move safely and independently, without needing a guide dog. Guide dogs can help the users avoid obstacles, stop at crosswalks, and even help someone to an empty seat, but they’re also rare, and training one dog can be costly and take years of careful work. There are only about 28,000 guide dogs available for millions of blind people, the team says. By developing the forehead glasses for them, it allows for a more accessible assistive device that can give the user independence to move around places. So far, the device is scheduled to appear at the Las Vegas trade show CES 2026, which runs between January 6th and 9th.
.lumen unveils forehead glasses with cameras and sensors that can assist blind people in moving around
some users have already tested the device, giving it a positive feedback
the technology uses haptic feedback to let user know where to go
users feel a ‘pull’ on their forehead using vibrations
view of auditory testing
the device uses cameras and sensors to realize its purpose
project info:
The post forehead glasses assist blind people in moving around without a guide dog appeared first on designboom | architecture & design magazine.