From concept to market: challenges remain for developers of navigation device for visually impaired

Developing a device is one thing, translating it into an approved wearable system is another. Researchers on the EU’s Sound of Vision project have created a navigator for the visually impaired. What now needs to be done to bring it to market?

Arthur Molnar, Senior Research at InfoWorld, explains the main security obligations that have to be met.

"We were responsible for making sure that the device fulfills the legal and safety requirements of the European Union,” he says.

"We have created a scenario and we have perfected the software so that we can actually communicate remotely with it. We can ask the device to figure out whether there is a software or hardware issue, perhaps even before the end user knows it.

"The device has to be small, it shouldn’t encumber the user. It’s very important that users don't feel out of place, or people don't consider them to be wearing something strange or unfamiliar. It has to cover all environmental conditions, so it has to work during the day and during the evening, perhaps during rain or whatever you have, a blizzard of snow for example."