Tag Archives: blind

New iPhone App for the Visually Impaired

EyeNote™ LogoThe US Bureau of Engraving and Printing has developed EyeNote™  a free, new iPhone app to aid the visually impaired or blind in identifying US paper currency. Essentially, the app is designed to allow the user to hold the bill in one hand and the iPhone in the other while scanning the paper currency. After a few seconds the iPhone will tell the user the denomination of the currency in English or Spanish. EyeNote™ can also operate in privacy mode with a different number of beeps signaling the value of the currency.

The app runs independent of a data connection. EyeNote™ can not differentiate between genuine and fake currency.  EyeNote™ works on the following devices

  • iPhone 3G
  • iPhone 3Gs
  • iPhone 4
  • 4th Generation iPod Touch
  • iPad2EyeNote QR Code URL

Scan the QR code to the right with your iPhone to go to the iTunes EyeNote™ page.

The Connection Between Light and Migraines

It seems that virtually everyone that has experienced a migraine wants to crawl into a dark room.  The February 2010 issue of the journal Nature Neuroscience has published a study that explains why this phenomena may occur.

The study links a possible connection between light sensitive retinal nerve cells and nerve cells in the brain that are responsible for the perception of migraine pain.  The study noted that blind patients also avoided light when suffering from a migraine, however blind patients that had lost their eye did not avoid light.  The authors concluded that some of the retinal axons, included some light sensitive axons were sending signals to the hypothalamus, a part of the brain that is responsible for the perception of headache pain.