Lucknow: Artificial intelligence-powered smart vision glasses helped visually impaired students at Dr Shakuntala Misra National Rehabilitation University come out with flying colours and 12 blind and low-vision students are set to receive gold, silver and bronze medals at the university’s 13th convocation ceremony on Friday.DSMNRU vice-chancellor Prof Sanjay Singh said on Thursday that the university had introduced AI-enabled smart vision glasses as part of its efforts to strengthen inclusive education and technologically empower students with disabilities.“The smart vision glasses have also enabled visually impaired students navigate the campus independently and participate more effectively in academic activities,” he said.The wearable device is equipped with AI, camera sensors and an audio feedback system that identifies nearby objects, pathways, staircases, doors and obstacles and provides real-time voice alerts to users, besides supporting text reading, signboard recognition, face recognition and object detection, allowing students to read books, understand notes and actively participate in classroom learning with greater independence.The spectacles use optical character recognition (OCR) technology to instantly convert printed text into speech, enabling students to read question papers in real time during examinations and complete their answers more efficiently.Students using the device said it reduced their dependence on human assistance for routine academic tasks while boosting their confidence during lectures, self-study and examinations.DSMNRU spokesperson Yashwant Virodai said, “Unlike screen readers, smart glasses provide real-time reading of printed material, improving answer-writing speed during examinations while also enhancing overall classroom participation and independent learning,” he said.The initiative complements the university’s technology-driven examination reforms, including laptop-based exams without scribes for visually impaired students using NVDA screen reader.
