Young entrepreneurs from Ballakermeen High School have demonstrated a visual impairment assistance product to the CEO of Manx Care.

The Junior Achievement team called ‘Creed’ pitched the ‘Sensoguard’, a glove that uses ultrasonic sensors to detect objects in the environment, relaying signals to haptic motors on the fingertips.

This means that the closer a person is to an object, the more the haptic motors will vibrate.

The team (Krishna Ramesh, Ben Thomas and Miltos Provatakis) designed the product, which is currently in its prototype stage, to assist people in navigating their environments.

Creed have included a camera on the device, and are aiming to make use of an object detection algorithm to help users detect exactly what object they are approaching, using mathematics to detect corners and coding to recognise as many items as possible.

A spokesperson from Manx Care said: ‘The team are in the process of streamlining the Sensoguard to ensure it is discreet and easy to use, whilst also maintaining safety as their number one priority.’

Miltos Provatakis, Creed’s managing and operations director, said: ‘This is an untapped market, and we’re excited to be bringing the Sensoguard to life.

‘We’re using our range of skills and interests to research, design and market our product, and are determined that it will help people in the future.

‘Our slogan is “guiding each step”, and we hope that our device will instil more confidence in those who use it.’

Representatives from Manx Care and Sight Matters got the opportunity to test the product. Teresa Cope, CEO of Manx Care, commented: ‘I’m looking forward to following the journey of this project – the team’s commitment to safety and inclusivity is clear, and they have a strong focus on the experience of the end user.

‘Thank you for a fascinating meeting!’

You can follow Creed’s progress online by visiting the website www.creediomjacompany.com/ or on Instagram at @Creed_IOM.