Sensor for sight impaired individuals

A method for a visually impaired user comprising:

• transmitting a laser signal in each of a corresponding given area of a total coverage area;
• receiving laser signals reflected from objects in the total coverage area, each of the reflected laser signals being reflected from an object in the corresponding given area with each received laser signal corresponding to a respective transmitted laser signal, wherein the time between transmitted and received laser signals is indicative of the distance between the user and an object in the corresponding given area;
• processing the transmitted and received laser signals to determine the distance between the user and objects in each of the given areas;
• and
• generating a feedback signal for each of the received laser signals, each feedback signal generated as a function of the distance between the object in the corresponding given area and the user, wherein the user uses all of the feedback signals corresponding to each of the given areas to establish a mental picture of the objects in the total coverage area.

A sensory system for a visually impaired user comprising:

• an array of ultrasonic transducers for transmitting ultrasonic signals in the environment surrounding the user, each of the ultrasonic transducers further operable to receive ultrasonic signals reflected from objects in the surrounding environment;
• a processor operable with the array of ultrasonic transducers to process the reflected ultrasonic signals received by the transducers, wherein the processor processes the received signals to form a sum signal;
• and
• a feedback system operable with the processor for generating an audio feedback signal as a function of the sum signal by down shifting the frequency of the sum signal to an audible frequency, wherein the user listens to the audio feedback signal to determine objects in the surrounding environment.

A sensing system for a visually impaired user comprising:

• an array of ultrasonic transducers for transmitting and receiving ultrasonic signals in a total coverage area consisting of a plurality of given areas corresponding to each of the ultrasonic transducers, wherein the time between transmitted and received ultrasonic signals of an ultrasonic transducer is indicative of the distance between the user and an object in the corresponding given area;
• a processor operable with the array of ultrasonic transducers to process the transmitted and received ultrasonic signals to determine the distance between the user and objects in each of the given area;
• and
• a feedback system operable with the processor for generating a feedback signal for each of the ultrasonic transducers, the feedback system generating each feedback signal as a function of the distance between an object in the corresponding given area and the user, wherein the user uses all of the feedback signals corresponding to each of the given areas to establish a mental picture of the objects in the total coverage area.