Japanese smart glasses convert text to voice for the visually impaired

By Jean-Jacques DeLisle, contributing writer

Introducing the Oton Glass, a new pair of smart glasses that can convert text directly into spoken words. Outfitted with two tiny cameras, the glasses capture the text information and convert it into speech played over a headset. According to Oton Glass CEO Keisuke Shimakage, the key to it all is how users experience the device as a part of their own body.

“Holding up a smartphone is not an instinctive human action, and it looks odd from the standpoint of other people as well,” said Shimakage. “But seeing something through glasses is closer to people’s instinctive behavior. People often start to feel like glasses are part of their body as they use them.” However, the Oton Glass is not only for the blind. Shimakage started working on the design in 2012 in order to aid his father’s dyslexia.

The Oton Glass is a pair of glasses with two tiny cameras and earphones on the sides. Image source: Oton Glass.

So how do the glasses work? The technology behind them isn’t necessarily new, and the Oton Glass is already in use in Google Translate and various other smartphone apps. Most credit goes to the Raspberry Pi system in place, which is used to capture images of text. The text is then sent to a dedicated cloud system, where it’s read and converted into speech by a computer program. Next, the speech is sent back to the headset and played over the earpiece that’s installed in the pair of glasses.

Fortunately, operating the Oton Glass is simple and can be done hands-free. On the back of one of the lenses is a small mirror that reflects the wearer’s eye back into a camera. Once the system is on, the camera tracks the eye movement of the user, and impressively, the glasses can then be controlled by just blinking your eyes. When you blink, a signal is sent by the Raspberry Pi to the other camera, which takes a snapshot of the text in front of it. This hands-free operation allows the Oton Glass to be smoothly integrated into the daily lives of the visually impaired.

The glasses are being crowdfunded on the Japanese crowdfunding platform Campfire, and crowdfunders can get a pair for as little as JP¥5,000 ($47.07). The low price is due to the inexpensive components, such as Raspberry Pi, and the simplicity of its design and function. Where other smart glasses of the past have tried to do too much too fast, leading to extravagant prices, the Oton Glass has kept it simple, focusing on helping those in need to have a better life rather than expanding profit margins.