Кристина Цветанова Bulgarian woman Christina Tsvetanova won the European Union Award for a rising entrepreneur for creating the world's first blind tablet.
At a ceremony in Brussels on International Women's Day, the Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation, Carlos Moedas and Vice-President of the European Parliament, Marray McGuinness, announced the four winners of the EU-funded Women's Innovation Award for Horizon 2020 2017, the press center of the European Commission announced. In addition to the three first prizes (see below), another one was set up this year - for a rising entrepreneur awarded for the excellence of female entrepreneurs aged 30 or less. The first winner of this prize of € 20,000 is Christina Tsvetanova from Bulgaria - CEO and co-founder of the Austrian BLITAB Technology Company, the first BLITAB tablet for blind people. Tsvetanova, who lives and works in Vienna, has created the software and hardware with the help of another Bulgarian - Slavi Slavev. Their company was named the most innovative company in Austria in 2014, as BNT informed. "If a USB with files stored on it is attached to itq the software automatically reads these files and converts them into braille, and braille symbols come out of the surface and can be read so that a whole page can be read by a blind person" , said Tsvetanova, who explained that the blind will not only be able to read but also write on the tablet. The winners of this year's three awards for women in innovation are: • First prize (€ 100,000): Micla Magas, a Croatian and UK national, founded the Stromatolite UK innovations and design studio, which, together with a studio in Sweden, is setting up a new generation of incubators and tools in creative innovation technology. • Second prize (50,000 euros): Petra Wadström from Sweden, founded the Solvatten company, which produces a portable solar powered water purifier and heater. • Third prize (€ 30,000): Claudia Gertner of Germany, founded the microfluidic ChipShop, which produces lab-on-a-chip miniatures for better diagnostics.

Source: Dir.bg

Nowadays technology can replacehuman senses. New discoveries return vision to blind people, for example - and this was demonstrated by fully-functioning devices.

Scientists around the world are working hard on retina prostheses that people call "artificial eye". The leading development in this category is called Argus II and the American company Second Sight has been set up, Martin Beltov from Smartnews.bg tells. The implant is worth $ 145,000 and is currently being used by about 80 people with vision impairment. Argus II is a two-part system: a retinal implant and a camera that is mounted in the eyeglass frames. The camera uses a small chip that handles the images it captures. They are sent wirelessly to the implant, which has 60 electrodes that transmit the data to the optic nerve. Unfortunately, the current state of Argus II allows only the contours of objects to be distinguished. Color vision is also not possible. Damaged cells in the retina do not allow colors to be seen, but the brain has the ability to adapt to Argus II. Over time, implant users have been able to read text (albeit in large letters), as well as crossing streets and boulevards on their own. The next generation of Argus will allow for color recognition as well as for more detailed images.

In Germany, a similar product is being developed in parallel. It is called Alpha IMS and is a complete artificial eye. Its sensor has 25 times more electrodes than Argus II and sends a signal directly to the optical nerve. The next step is to skip the "mediator" - the eye, and create a device that works directly with the brain. This will allow to remove the limitation of interaction with damaged retinal cells. Such technology will give people with damaged retina (retinopathy) a greater chance of seeing. The future will surely give a chance to visually impaired people. There is even talk of adding extra features such as infrared vision. Source: https://vesti.bg/tehnologii/nauka-i-tehnika/mozhe-li-slepi-da-proglednat-chrez-tehnologiite-6029006

The Rehabilitation Center started the new school year. We continue to train blind people in traditional rehabilitation subjects, as well as to introduce innovations in the learning process. In 2017 you will be able to learn about Orientation and Mobility, Useful Skills, Braille, Cooking, Visual Rehabilitation and Information Technology. You'll be able to see a 3D printer as a tool to help visually impaired learners and provide you with a new and more functional design on our site. We are expecting you this year too! :)

From 1 October 2016, the NRCB will be a partner under the 2016-1-PT01-KA202-022736 - VAPET-VIP project, funded by the Erasmus + program. Project Coordinator is the Rachel and Martin Sain Foundation - Lisbon, Portugal. The project includes partners from Bulgaria, France, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Portugal and Spain. Two on-line training courses: "Orientation and Mobility Training" and "Development of Social Skills for Visually Impaired" will be developed by the project through the LMS Learning Management System. the project is 30 months.

National Center for Rehabilitation of the Blind announces May 28 and May 29 days for interviews with interviewed visually impaired persons wishing to be trained in a professional course for Massagers in the NRCB during the school year 2013. The training is carried out within the framework of the officially approved by the National Agency for Vocational Training and Orientation (NAVET) with a corresponding number of hours and disciplines. Visually impaired candidates need to have completed eighth grade. Candidates should provide doctors commission paper, a copy of the completed education diploma, as well as a note from the GP. We invite all interested persons to contact the office of the NRCB or the Regional Organization of the UBB in which they are members for more detailed information.