Ecuadorian project that helps the blind takes first prize in History Channel contest

An Ecuadorian project that assists blind people has taken first place in the “Idea to change history” competition sponsored by History Channel-Latin America.

The HandEyes device that helps blind people.

Fabricio Reyes, Diego Aguinsaca, Álex Aldaz and Carlos Canacuán, students at the Military Polytechnic School in Quito, created a device called HandEyes that attaches to a blind person’s cane. The device emits and receives ultrasonic signals that produce vibrations and sounds that create a mental map of the user’s surroundings.

Reyes, Aguinsaca, Aldaz and Canacuán received $60,000 in prize money that goes to support expanding and improving HandEyes.

The second-place award went to a Colombian project that uses ceramic filters to trap the solid particles of coal generated during combustion in a coal-fired furnace, greatly reducing pollution.

The “Idea to change history” is an initiative of the cable tv History Channel that recognizes and supports entrepreneurs who contribute to the development and progress of society in Latin America.