Chieko Asakawa is the Chief Executive Director of the Japanese National Museum of Emerging Science & Innovation and also the IBM Distinguished Science professor at Carnegie Mellon University. At the age of 11, she started losing her sight because of a swimming pool accident and lost her sight completely by the time she was 14. Since then she has been on a quest to bring independence to the lives of blind people and over the years has significantly contributed to advancing web accessibility, including ground breaking work in digital braille and voice browser.
More recently, she has been focusing on improving navigation and communication for blind individuals using Artificial Intelligence (AI). Her latest invention is an AI enabled suitcase that uses cameras and sensors to find the optimal path for the person to get to their destination, detect obstacles on their way, alert them of nearby stores, and also help with required actions, like joining a line.
Chieko thinks this is a game changer since someone like her can navigate independently without asking for help from anyone. Her plan is to make the suitcase smaller and lighter in the future so it can be taken everywhere without hassle.
Watch the videos below to learn more about this AI enabled suitcase.
Source: Asia News
Interested in learning more about Chieko Asakawa’s work? Don’t miss the demos in her TED Talk below!
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