Communications: directive radio wave systems and devices (e.g. – Blind aid
Patent
1996-12-20
1998-10-06
Sotomayor, John B.
Communications: directive radio wave systems and devices (e.g.,
Blind aid
G01S 1393, G01S 1306, G01S 1356
Patent
active
058183817
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
TECHNICAL FIELD
This invention relates to an electronic viewing aid as specified in the preamble of claim 1, for example as disclosed in DE-A-29 31 837.
BACKGROUND ART
Radar systems are well known for an ability to detect and track stationary and moving targets, and have achieved wide-spread use in navigation systems for vehicles such as aircraft and shipping. The size, complexity and expense of such systems, however, preclude the small-scale use of such systems by an individual observer. Although radar systems of a smaller size have been developed for use as speed detectors in motor vehicle traffic control and as proximity detectors in motor vehicles, as disclosed in EP-A-0 531 877, for example, none of these smaller sized radar systems could be said to be easily portable by a person, particularly in view of the power requirements of such radar systems.
Portable viewing aids have been suggested in the past which use either a beam of ultra-sonic radiation, as disclosed, for example, in DE-A-29 31 837, or a beam of coherent light, as disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,654,477, to detect the presence of obstacles. Unfortunately, such viewing aids tend to have difficulty in discriminating between various obstacles detected in the range of the viewing aids, and there is a tendency for such beams to become scattered or absorbed by the surroundings of said detected obstacles. A viewing aid disclosed in FR-A- 2 562 679 utilises an optical sensor mounted on the frame of a pair of spectacles in order to detect changes in the ambient light falling upon the spectacles, these changes being conveyed as audible tones to a wearer of the spectacles. Such a viewing aid is of limited use in the detection of obstacles by a blind or partially-sighted person.
Consequently, there is a need for a small-scale portable radar system which could be used, for example, to aid blind or partially-sighted persons to adequately and readily guide themselves around their environments by providing them with a means to detect and track stationary and moving objects within their immediate vicinity.
DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION
An electronic viewing aid according to the present invention is characterised by the features specified in the characterising portion of claim 1.
Preferably the radar front end assembly is adapted to be worn on the head of the user, i.e., the person using the personal radar system, since this provides a simple scanning mechanism for the radar front end assembly as a result of the head of the user being moved up or down or to the left or to the right. Thus the radar front end assembly is mounted upon a natural two-degree of freedom platform, and there is no requirement to build into the assembly any form of powered scanning mechanism in order to render it fully operational. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the radar front end assembly is constructed in the form of a pair of spectacles, in which both a transmit antenna and a receive antenna of the radar system are carried on respective lens elements of the spectacles and analogue portions of both a transmitter circuit and a receiver circuit are carried on respective side support frames of the spectacles.
The electronic viewing aid according to the present invention is devised to operate with electromagnetic radiation whose wavelength lies in the millimetre region, with frequencies which lie between 35 and 220 gigahertz (GHz). The frequency used to operate the preferred embodiment of the present invention is 94 GHz.
The electrical power supply and the signal processing means are both mounted in a convenient package designed to be worn as either a belt-pack, a chest-pack, or a back-pack by the user.
An output signal from the signal processing means is fed by means of a suitable cable to a sensory output means, which sensory output means translates this output signal into a sensory signal which is both detectable and readily understandable to the user. Such a sensory signal could be one detectable by any one of the five human senses, namely sight,
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Roscoe C. Williams Limited
Sotomayor John B.
Zucker Leo
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