Four Naperville teens have designed a product that could revolutionize exercise for the visually impaired.
Kyle Wang, Allen Xu, Aiden Xie and Steven He collaborated to create Eyerobic, an assistive headband that helps the visually impaired swim and in the future, run.
Assistive headband utilizes camera and audio to keep swimmers on track
Paired with an app to initiate a workout, the headband has a camera that tracks the T-marker in pools, helping the swimmer remain centered and on course by communicating with them through bone conduction headphones.
“Based on the user’s deviation from that path, we’ll send communication through the left headphone or the right headphone to redirect them onto the correct path,” said He. “And once the camera senses that the user is past the T marker, there’s a line at the end. We’ll notify the user, ‘Hey, it’s time to make a turn. You’re approaching a wall.’”
Eyerobic inspired by local visually-impaired swimmer
The teens decided to create the product last summer after Xu, a local swimmer, had an experience coaching a young girl who was sight-impaired.
Despite having the ability to swim, she lacked the resources to do so independently, often relying on others around her.
“We knew there had to be a better way and a better tool for helping swimmers like her exercise independently and safely without any guides or tappers, and we really wanted to use innovation and technology to help make that possible in the pool,” said Xu.
Prototype came together after months of research and testing
The students quickly went to work, spending approximately nine months going through trial-and-error stages before developing the final Eyerobic prototype.
In addition to a camera and headphones, the finished product has a Raspberry Pi, which allows all the features to work together.
“The Raspberry Pi, which is what runs the computer algorithms, is what looks at the surroundings and interprets what’s there,” said Wang.“The headband is used to interpret these things and send signals to the bone conduction headphones, which are then the vibrational feedback that tells the user whether to go left or right.”
Once it’s time to turn, the user hears clicks in the bone conduction headphones, which, unlike traditional headphones, work underwater.
Initially, ensuring that the headband worked underwater proved to be a challenge, according to the group members.
They discussed having to test different materials before being able to achieve a comfortable, waterproof device.
“We ended up settling on a hard outer shell made of a plastic called PLA with softer EV foam inserts inside. To ensure that the contact surface with the person’s head isn’t too rough,” said Xie.
“I tried to make sure that the walls of the 3D printed chassis were thick enough to the point where water wouldn’t seep in, and then any place where we had joints, I would make sure to glue them shut and then cover it in a layer of RTV silicone, which is room temperature silicone.”
As for running, He explained that they are still in the early stages of developing the product for that purpose, specifically improving the device’s object detection.
Teens earn recognition in global competitions
The group entered the invention into the global Conrad Challenge and, earlier this year, learned they were one of 25 finalists out of nearly 5,000 groups. The competition challenges students to propose innovative solutions to problems using science and technology.
With five different submission categories, Eyerobic was selected as one of the top five inventions in the cyber-technology and security sector.
He and Xie were able to attend the Conrad Innovation Summit, representing the whole group, where they presented their prototype to industry leaders.
“Getting to know them, hearing their feedback and learning from their experiences was just really helpful. And it really made me think about what I want to do when I grow up,” said He
They also ranked in the top 30 in the BlueOcean competition, another global competition that drew more than 12,000 participants this year.
Next steps for Eyerobic
This summer, the boys hope to finally test out the device on visually impaired athletes in the community, using their feedback to improve the product.
“We hope to keep prototyping and keep testing and hopefully make this product a reality in the near future,” said Xu.
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