New echolocation gloves developed to assist the blind

Engineering students from Nottingham University have created a new glove that incorporates echolocation technology in order to help blind people to navigate more effectively.

The SenSei Glove features a velcro attachment that allows an ultrasonic sensor to be fitted. Its sensor system measures the distance between the wearer and the objects around them, providing feedback in the form of vibrations of differing intensities, reports The Engineer.

Thanks to the device's innovative nature, the team won funding support via a number of fellowship schemes, and have since earned the backing of Dolphin Computer Access to help take the device to production and carry out trials.

A prototype will be developed and refined for presentation to charities and the NHS, with an eventual view to proceeding to mass production.

Raivat Luthura, one of the students responsible for creating the new device, said: "At present, the attachment is quite large, but we are working on a new system containing a microprocessor that is smaller and not as heavy. This will also make it more aesthetically pleasing."

Around two million people in the UK are estimated to be living with some sort of visual impairment, with around 365,000 of these registered as blind or partially sighted.