The debate. When technology improves the quality of life of the blind and visually impaired: this is briefly the topic that was discussed on Friday afternoon, December 13th 2019, in the main hall of the Chamber of Commerce in Trieste, during the conference organized by the regional AEIT section, that is the Italian Association of Electrotechnics, Information Technology and Telecommunications, which celebrated its centenary this year, by the Italian Union for the Blind, with the collaboration of the University of Trieste. “Among the events of the centenary – explained Fulvio Sbroiavacca, president of the regional section of AEIT – we wanted to devote a specific one to those technologies that support disability, in this case visual disability, such as the LETIsmart device”.
But what is LETIsmart in detail? Produced, as an ethical project, by the Scen, “The tool – explained Marino Attini, electronics expert and president of the Trieste section of the Italian Union for the Blind, who designed it – represents a solution to enhance the blind person’s personal autonomy in the urban environment”. It consists basically of two devices that are integrated into the white cane without affecting its ergonomics and weight. The stick’s tip turns bright, and therefore highly visible, and its handle speaks: “We want to give the chance to the blind and visually impaired to receive all those vocal information they are not capable of reading. All the above – concludes the president of the Trieste section of the Italian Union for the Blind – occurs through a network of small radio beacons installed on public transport, in the call button of traffic lights, at the entrance of shops and in other different areas equipped with radio beacons which communicate with the stick, providing vocal information”.
Il Piccolo of Trieste of 15.12.2019, written by Luigi Putignano