A vest called "Eyeronman" detects nearby people and things and relays this information to a visually impaired user via the sense of touch.

The group of scientists behind Eyeronman formed a company called Tactile Navigation Tools to develop the vest embedded with sensors so a user can sense objects or people in the path of the user.These sensors convert data into vibrations that alert its user to surounding objects. Eyeronman can be called a "seeing-eye vest."

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The device was displayed from November 6 to 8 at the New York Festival of Light. According to Dr. J.R. Rizzo, a rehabilitation doctor at the NYU Langone Medical Center and the founder of the group, his team wanted to build a tool that could help blind people navigate and walk around even in the most crowded places without assistance from anyone.

The details of the device haven't yet been revealed but photos of the prototype show wires and electronics visible in the vest. The sensors and the vibrating devices work together to alert the vest's user to moving people or things near him.

The vest has different types of sensors. These include Lidar, which is a laser-based system usually used in unmanned cars; an ultrasound, sensor that generates a sound similar to that emitted by bats and other animals to fix their locations and an infrared sensor to detect body heat.

Aside from Eyeronman, the team has built shirts equipped with sensors and vibrators. Another company called AmbuTech from Canada has developed and launched vibrating eyeglasses called "iGlasses" that vibrate if it detects an object in the path of the user.

The device will become fully functional by the end of 2015. It should be marketed by late 2015 or early 2016.

TagsEye Vest, Navigate, vibration, blind, Eyeronman, sense of touch, visually impaired