EyeRing is a “Point and Shoot” Camera for the Visually Impaired

MIT’s Media Lab is no stranger to innovation; from super-high-speed cameras to cameras that can see around walls, they always seem to be on the cutting edge of imaging innovation. Their newest project, the EyeRing, is yet another innovative idea that could some day revolutionize the way we take pictures and experience our world.

The EyeRing consists of a ring-mounted camera, shutter button, and bluetooth transmitter; and the current vision for the EyeRing is as a visual aid for people suffering from diminished eyesight or even children learning to read. The idea is that one could simply point the eye ring at a word or item, snap a photo, and an app on their phone would speak the word or describe the item to them. Of course the capabilities of the EyeRing as a more convenient point-and-shoot or even camera phone alternative aren’t lost on us.

The camera is still in the beginning stages of development, and when Engadget got a hands-on look they called it “buggy at best,” but improvements are being made daily. The current trend in consumer photography seems to be towards hands-free as the new frontier in convenience (think Google Glass), but even though the EyeRing isn’t exactly hands-free, what it lacks in convenience it makes up for in its potential to help people.