According to Scientific American in “Virtual Maps for the Blind,” Greek researchers have developed a system to convert videos into touchable maps for the blind. These 3-D haptic maps “use force fields to represent walls and roads so the visually impaired can better understand the layout of buildings and cities.” The researchers also built a system which converts 2-D paper maps into 3-D street maps. The systems have already been tested on a small number of users. Now, the two systems need to be integrated into a portable device before being widely distributed.

Links: Primidi, ZDNet