Microsoft is working on headband for the blind and partially sighted

Codenamed Alice, Microsoft is working on a headband to help blind and partially sighted people recognize objects. Sensors are incorporated in the headband and the wearer is informed about the environment via an earpiece.

Microsoft is yet to release details about the Alice Band, but more details about the wearable are expected in the coming months. The headband for the blind and partially sighted is currently being tested by eight volunteers in the city of Reading, the BBC reports.

The Alice Band is a non-commercial project of Microsoft and some organizations within the framework of the British Cities Unlocked program. This programme, which also includes government funding, aims to find new ways to help people with visual impairments cope independently in modern day-to-day life.

In 2012, a British institute for the blind released a video showing a number of technological concepts that could help the blind and partially sighted. In it, another sensor and earpiece are shown in combination with a Nokia Lumia device.