1. AIR EYES
Syed Azaaz Ahmed
MS Industrial Design
A Smart Accessory for the Blind to Enhance Social Interaction

2. AIR EYES
A Smart Accessory for the Blind to Enhance Social Interaction
Air eyes is a fashionable smart accessory which
enables the blind to better sense the social
environment using a language of air pulses
through glasses.

3. Air System
Rigid tubing
AIR EYES
Design Features
Air Ports
Elastic tubing
To maintain sensor stability
Sensors
Detects the presence of people and
their movements
To enhance the ergonomics

4. What does Air Eyes do & how it answers the stigma of disability?
• Air Eyes would essentially provide the blind the ability to sense the social environment and assist in effective communication via body
language using a language of air pulses and provide the feel good factor.
• Getting bumped into someone with the many distractions around makes it quite embarrassing for the blind, providing the ability to
avoid such situations is a very powerful thing.
• How it answers the stigma of disability, by being a fashionable assistive device.

5. Stigma of the being projected as disabled in the new blind generation
• The younger generation with blindness wish to avoid using the cane and instead of being independent they prefer being dependent on
someone for guidance in their mobility challenges.
• The present generation of blind people dislike being projected as blind and like and wish to walk shoulder to shoulder with the sighted people.
Note: The idea is not to replace the cane

6. Development of the Design:
Initial Inspiration:

7. Development of the Design:
Initial Research:
A cortical homunculus is a physical representation of the human body, located within the brain. A cortical homunculus is a neurological "map" of the anatomical
divisions of the body. There are two types of cortical homunculus; sensory and motor.
The sensory homunculus validates the region around the eyes to be highly sensitive

8. Development of the Design
Testing location for the IR sensors-part1
Sharp GP2Y0A710K0F IR Range Sensor
-Large format: 58.0×17.6×22.5 mm
-Measuring distance range Min 100 to Max 550
cm

9. Development of the Design
Testing location for the IR sensors-part2

10. Development of the Design
Identifying other locations for the sensors and the form it could be developed into with testing it with Arduino

11. Development of the Design
Validating the iterations:
• Idea discarded, since it would prevent the blind from wearing other ornamental accessories

12. Development of the Design
More iterations and validation:
• Idea discarded, since wearable over the ear in a social environment would not be appropriate
• Head has high mobility, hence not appropriate for sensors to gather information effectively

13. Development of the Design
Setting the tubing for air around the region of the eyes and using air pumps to generate air pulses. The issue with the motorized
air pumps is the resonating sound it generates.
Motorized Air pump
-Working voltage: 1.25V~6V
-Dimensions: 1.81 in x 1.06 in x 0.47 in (4.6 cm x 2.7 cm x 1.2 cm)
Motorized Air pump System
-4 air pumps for 4 air ports with
potentiometers to
control the air pumps

14. Development of the Design
Created a harness for better stability of the sensors and to validate the suitability for the positioning of the sensors.
Wide Angle PIR motion sensor
-180˚ detection angle for widespread motion detection
-Typically detects people up to 30 ft away
Using PIR motion sensor to differentiate
people from objects, since objects are
stationary and people are not.

15. Development of the Design:
Validating the iterations:
• The uses of glasses to transmit air pulses presented itself to be the best to develop the language of air and also blends well with the norm
• The sensors on shoulder proved to provide more stability to the sensors to gather information effectively

16. Development of the Design
Design Version 1.0:
• For this version, the Air System on the upper back was not ergonomically appropriate for sitting on a chair.

17. Development of the Design:
Developing the Version 2.0:

18. Development of the Design:
Developing the Version 2.0:
The choice was metal (brass)
since I wanted to achieve jewelry
like sleekness and brass is also
much easier to work with and
can be soldered.

19. Development of the Design:
Developing the Version 2.0:

20. Development of the Design:
Developing the Version 2.0:
Highlighting air port location

21. Development of the Design:
Developing the Version 2.0:
Using high and low density Styrofoam
combination. Blue(low density), yellow
(high density)

22. Development of the Design:
Developing the Version 2.0:
Testing the ergonomics

23. Development of the Design:
Developing the Version 2.0:
Using Air wick automatic air freshener
mechanism for actuating the pumps.

24. Development of the Design:
Developing the Version 2.0:
PIR motion detector sensor with
Distance IR sensor for sensing
environment
Compressed air canister with
Arduino controller and actuators

25. Development of the Design:
Developing the Version 2.0 (Feminine style):
Metal rods inserted in foam to simulate
approximate proposed weight, about
500-600 gm

26. Development of the Design:
Developing the Version 2.0 (Feminine style):

27. Development of the Design:
Usability testing at Overbrook school for the blind:
Received positive feedback concerning
the sensation of the air pulses and the
user felt positive about the form and
the concept

28. Development of the Design:
Usability testing at Overbrook school for the Blind:

29. The Language of Air
Development of the Design:

30. Language of air:
Scene 2: Person at 3:00 clock
Scene 1: Person at 12:00 clock Scene 3: Person at 10:30
Single long pulse of air when standing
Pulsation rate increases when approaching
Pulsation rate decreases when moving away
Single long pulse of air when standing
Pulsation rate increases when approaching
Pulsation rate decreases when moving away
Single long pulse of air when standing
Pulsation rate increases when approaching
Pulsation rate decreases when moving away
Development of the Design:

31. Single long pulse of air when standing
Pulsation rate increases when approaching
Pulsation rate decreases when moving away
Person at 12:00 clock (perspective)
3 s
2 s
1 s
Development of the Design:

32. User scenarios:
Case 1: The blind person stationary and people around are
stationary and not talking.
Note: Stationary implies no change in position in space, but bodily gestures
could be present
Case 2: The blind person stationary and people around are
stationary and talking.
Case 3: The blind person stationary and people around are
moving and not talking with ambient noise.
Case 4: The blind person moving and people around are also
moving and talking with ambient noise.
Development of the Design:

33. Development of the Design:
Current tech concept:
The canister could be
given different form

34. Development of the Design:
Arduino code:

35. Development of the Design:
Arduino code:

36. Development of the Design:
Arduino code:

37. Development of the Design:
Arduino code:

38. Development of the Design:
Further development:
Thermal Imaging sensor to differentiate people from objects
Smaller distance IR sensors to measure the movement of
people
Compressed air system to
generate air pulses
Controller

39. Development of the Design:
Further development:
Use of mini
piezoelectric micro
pumps to reduce size

40. Tony Guido, University of the Arts, Head of Graduate School in Industrial Design
John Thomas ,orientation and mobility faculty (left) and Frank Irzyk, Director of Technology at the Overbrook School
for the Blind
Collaboration and Usability Testing
David Schiff, Director of Research and Development at Bresslergroup

41. Extension of Air Eyes to other disabilities along with Blindness
• Air Eyes can also assist people with Deafblindness
Texas school for the Blind and visually Impaired
• Air Eyes can also assist blind persons with condition such as Cerebral Palsy
Ronnie Rivera, with her mother Iris Rivera-Smith at left, was born legally blind, with club
feet and cerebral palsy. (Picture-The Wallstreet Journal)

42. Thanks
• Tod Corlett
• Hy Zelkowitz
• Mikael Avery
• Christina Kazakia
• Mike Leonard
• Peter Byar
• Frank Irzyk
• Stephanie Hays
• Zoe Mckinley
• Thomas Fung
• Thomas Hayes
• David Schiff
• Xin Qi
• Mehdi Abdollahzadeh
• Friends at the Overbrook School for the Blind