Hi all OK, I just thought I'd give the group an update on my progress with the iGlasses I mentioned on list a few weeks back.
I've been using them regularly on my mobility exercises for a few weeks now, and I have to say I am very impressed indeed with how well they work. I am finding that the detection of objects is actually better than advertised and even if an object is around chest hight, the iGlasses seems to pick them up. Even my instructor has commented on how effective they seem to be for me, and they sometimes alert me to obstacles before my white cane detects them. For instance, if I cross a road and there is a parked vehicle in my path on the opposite side of the street, the glasses alert me way before the cane finds the obstacle. I know then that something is in my way, and it is much easier to navigate a course around the vehicle. As I'm sure those who use a cane will know, sometimes the cane can actually miss high vehicles whose wheels lift the bottom of the van or wagon higher than it is possible to detect with a cane, so you don't realise it's there until you are almost walking into it. In cases such as that, the iGlasses are proving to be indispensable. I'm so glad I have them now, and I find myself wondering where they've gone if I go out without them. The iGlasses are a bit heavy in terms of what you'd expect a pair of spectacles to be. But that's unavoidable I think, due to the quite complex circuitry that must be housed inside of the frame. My one gripe is the nose bridge is very narrow. I find it impossible to wear the glasses high up on the bridge of my nose because they just don't sit securely enough. So they are almost perched on the end of my nose. Well, that's a slight exaggeration, but even so, I'd have liked a wider recess in the frame. There's no option there, by the way. You just take what you're given, as they are only one size. You can adjust the length of the arms which fit over your ears. But actually that's another point. The arms don't have the same curve that most spectacles have at the ends, so they don't sit quite as firmly on the ears as normal spectacles do. all that said, I still wouldn't be without them now. The battery life is excellent. According to the specifications they give you a continuous 10-hours of vibrations. Something which is obviously not going to happen in the real world. So they last weeks and weeks on a single charge. When you switch the glasses on, they emit a series of 4 beeps, if the battery is fully charged. 3 Beeps if the battery is 75 percent charged. 2 Beeps if the battery is 50 percent charged. If the battery is almost flat you get a long beep when you power them on and the beep repeats more and more frequently as the battery becomes discharged. Charging from fully discharged to fully charged takes around two-and-a-half hours, and the charger automatically disengages when the battery is fully charged in order to conserve energy. So, there you are. I hope that somebody found some of that of interest. I'd recommend these to any blind person as a secondary mobility aid. It is very very important to stress that though. These glasses are not designed for use as a primary aid, replacing a white cane or a guide dog. They are designed to compliment your existing aid, which they do very well indeed in my opinion. Gordon ======================================= The Techno-Chat E-Mail forum is guaranteed malware, spyware, Trojan, virus and worm-free To modify your subscription options, please visit for forum's dedicated web pages located at http://mail.tft-bbs.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/techno-chat You can find an archive of all messages posted to the Techno-Chat group at either of the following websites: http://mail.tft-bbs.co.uk/pipermail/techno-chat/index.html Or: <http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]> you may also subscribe to this list via RSS. The feed is at: <http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.xml> ---------------------------------------
