With its aim to improve lives by advancing the freedom of mobility for all, Toyota has launched Project BLAID, a prototype of a wearable device developed to help blind and visually impaired people do more with greater independence, freedom and confidence.
In a statement, Toyota Motor North America Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer Simon Nagata said that Project BLAID is one example of how the company is "leading the way to the future of mobility." He also pointed out the company's aim to "extend the freedom of mobility for all, no matter their circumstance, location or ability."
According to Toyota Partner Robotics Manager Doug Moore, Toyota is more than just the great cars and trucks they build. The company also believes that it has a role to play in addressing mobility challenges, which include enabling people with limited mobility to do more.
Here are 10 things need to know about Project BLAID:
1. The device is worn around their shoulders.
2. The device helps users identify everyday features.
3. Users get more information about their surroundings from the device.
4. With the help of the device, users enjoy better navigation of indoor spaces.
5. The device has built-in cameras.
6. The device's cameras detect the user's surroundings and communicate information to the user through speakers and vibration motors.
7. Users interact with the device through voice recognition and buttons.
8. Toyota plans to eventually integrate mapping, object identification and facial recognition technologies in the device.
9. Toyota is launching an employee engagement campaign inviting team members company-wide to submit videos of common indoor landmarks as part of Project BLAID.
10. Subsequently, Project BLAID developers will use the videos to enhance the ability of the device to recognize common indoor landmarks.
In other news, Toyota also unveiled an upcoming boat at the 2016 Japan Boat Show. The Toyota-28 concept features multi-material construction.
Despite its great rigidity from Toyota's traditional aluminum hulls, the boats require advanced welding techniques making them difficult to manufacture in large numbers. Because of this, a new multi-material hull design was used to combine Toyota's aluminum and carbon fiber technology with fiberglass-reinforced plastic molding technology from Yanmar, according to Motor Authority.
Watch the video below to get more details about Project BLAID.