Creators

CHEUNG Yiu Chung, Albert Department of Electronic Engineering

LAI Ho Chi, Joseph Department of Biomedical Engineering

About the Work

The aim of ISFS glasses is to enhance the quality of life of people with Parkinson’s disease (PD). The designers wanted to apply what they had learnt in university to making something that can help people in real life. Since PD patients may have difficulty moving forward, called freezing of gait (FOG), the creators designed a pair of glasses with assistive functionality to help them cope with this issue and walk more normally, thus gaining independence.

Mechanism

ISFS Glasses are a medical device made specifically for PD patients to tackle FOG. They combine visual and audio cues on an augmented reality platform to help patients overcome FOG. The glasses also contain a safety feedback system to monitor user movement. They can immediately notify the relevant parties if they detect that an accident has happened.

Two OLED films in the glasses display stripes, which are reflected by small rectangular optical components above the nose pads into the user’s eyes. The stripes mimic real stripes on the ground, which indicate the normal gait width. Normal gait can be restored in some cases if the user moves according to the stripes displayed. Bone conduction transducers are also built into the glasses for audio cues, which only the user can hear. A steady rhythm can be played back which the user can follow to help coordinate appropriate leg movement.

This design won the Special Award of Association of Thai Innovation and Invention Promotion in the International Invention Innovation Competition in Canada (iCAN) 2018.