Above all, I am glad to have become familiar with some of the very promising and innovative ideas and projects of great social value that have already been in use or soon will be.
The whole concept of event assembles young people which are trying to make the world a better place, through developing possible solutions for some of the burning global problems; but the project I was most interested in was the Eyelight project – that handles with 3d real-time surface for partially sighted and blinds.
Based on the substitution of sight by hearing and touch, the app helps people to interact independently in their surroundings. This idea handles with helping people with sight disabilities, in a way that yet has not been developed, which I find really extraordinary. Eyelight is a product similar to a plate, based on inputs from a wearable 3D camera that captures the situation in front of the user. I strongly believe and hope that this idea can help to make the world a more human and friendly place for those who deal with this kind of problems on a daily basis.
Also, I think there is a lot of space in this project for developing different ways of approach to reach an aim.
Investing in this idea would definitely mean progress in humanity because we have to think not only about difficulties within the society, then also we have to consider other facts of existing solutions for our target group. In this particular case, people with vision disabilities were offered only common solutions like guide canes and dogs, which cost too much and can lead to or be disabled due to the other problems like fear of animals, allergies, etc.
Eyelight would also affect the indoor activities of our target group, which could be faster done, which means a person using the product could become more independent. Achieving an acceptable price for the majority of the potential users should also be considered.
I still can not tell for sure if I would apply to the program next year, but if I in meantime find a way to contribute to this exceptional event, I would be more than happy to do it.