The Wearable Obstacle Detection System and Braille Cell Phone for the Blind promises to help the visually impaired detect objects within five meters, send and receive text messages, and answer calls.

MANILA, Philippines - A group of Computer Engineering students of the Mapua Institute of Technology has created a gadget that aims to help blind people.

Called the Wearable Obstacle Detection System and Braille Cell Phone for the Blind, it promises to help the visually impaired detect objects within five meters, send and receive text messages, and answer calls.

Creators Janiena Roxanne Dirain, Kristine Emy Matabang and Girly Perando said the gadget can be worn on the wrist or as a belt.

"We created this technology to give back to the blind. We often see and hear them singing and playing the guitar on the streets and, admit it or not, they really have wonderful voices. Some of the students, during a tough day at school, would go to them for a massage," Dirain said.

"We had many layouts for this device and even tried to hear suggestions from the blind until we came out with the final design of the Braille cell phone, which is placed in a box case. The sensor is connected far from the device through long wires for the blind to move it flexibly," Perando added.

The Wearable Obstacle Detection System and Braille Cell Phone for the Blind has made it to the top ten of the 8th Smart Wireless Engineering Education Program (SWEEP) Innovations and Excellence Awards.

Another entry from Mapua, the Fault Line Data Acquisition and Monitoring System, is a finalist in the said competition.

Other finalists include:

• Aquamarine Solution to Salinity and Oxygen using SMS (Bataan Peninsula State University)
• Automated Barangay Cases Filing System (Ateneo de Zamboanga University)
• Design and Implementation of a Low-Cost Breathalyzer with GSM Module Interface (University of San Carlos)
• Electronically Controlled Device for Fish Fermentation Using Hydrolysis Process for the Production of Fish Sauce (Polytechnic University of the Philippines)
• LAKEWATCH: A Water Quality Monitoring System on Taal Lake (Batangas State University)
• SMART Cares: Community Assistance on Remote Vital Signs Monitoring for Emergency Situations (University of Southeastern - Philippines)
• Smart E-Mobilized (Notre Dame of Marbel University)
• Smart Tracking and Communication System: Vital Sign and Geographical Location Monitoring via GSM (Wesleyan University - Philippines)

Mapua said the Smart SWEEP finals will be held on February 21, with the winners set to be announced the next day.