According to Nendo, apart from people with total blindness, people with low vision make up 1.45 million of Japan’s population.

Those people struggle with issues like lack of protection from falls on train station platforms and pedestrian related traffic accidents, as well as disadvantages related to education and employment.

These issue have become major social problems in japan and Vixion aims to help to solve them.

Their new wearable device was designed to address two conditions under the '<ow vision' umbrella: Low peripheral vision and Night Blindness (another facet of low vision).

How does it work?

Nendo placed a camera lens in the centre of the devices frame to capture images that are then processed at a high speed to increase brightness and contrast to a level easily visible by a user with night blindness.

The image is then projected onto a semi-transparent mirror display in front of the user.

The wearer can switch between black and white vision, black and white inversion, and high-contrast colors to match their visual needs.

Images captured by the camera may be sent to a smartphone via bluetooth, allowing the user to remotely navigate using directions from external third parties, or the user can receive real time assistance with sign recognition or assistance with the task of watching over children.

With the exception of the camera, the device is shielded by a front cover transparent enough to enable the user to walk around with a sense of the world outside, yet opaque enough to enable easy viewing of the display.

A wide-angle lens replaces the standard camera lens, widening the wearer’s visual field and decreasing the likelihood of those with low peripheral vision bumping into people or objects while moving about.

Corrective lenses may be installed inside for wearers requiring visual acuity correction.

The frame is made of nylon resin for a more comfortable fit and to prevent injury from broken pieces in the event of physical impact.

A line is moulded into the frame con the underside of the right temple, making it possible to distinguish left from right and right-side-up with a brush of the fingertip.

Video | A machine that creates artificial vision for the blind