Making bank notes sing for the blind

Media release 15 November 2004

A device invented by a student in Sydney should stop the vision impaired from being shortchanged.

No one likes to be ripped off. So imagine not even knowing the denomination of the banknote you are handing over. That’s an everyday situation for those who are vision impaired. Now, a Sydney student has come up with a solution—an electronic device that sings out exactly what note you have in your hand.

“One day while paying for something, I noticed out of the corner of my eye a $20 note where there should have been a $50,” says Aimee Hinwood, a biomedical engineering student at UNSW.

“It all happened so quickly that it made me think that if it wasn’t for the bright colours of Australian bank notes, I would have been shortchanged. 

“Australian notes are designed poorly for blind people. There are no raised prints or irregular edges and they are all the same width, making it particularly difficult for them to be identified unless they can be seen.

“I suppose you could call it a small eureka moment. I decided to make something that would help in this situation.”

So Aimee has designed a small black box with a slit in the side into which you can slip a note. Several lights of different colours then shine through the note. Sensors underneath detect the amount of light of each colour that passes through the note and, depending on the value that the sensors receive, the little black box then tells the user what the note is, by saying “five” or “ten” and so on.

“It actually makes use of the bright colours that Australian banknotes are renowned for,” says Aimee. “I have managed to make it lightweight and portable. And the circuitry involved is inexpensive. I actually went to my hardware store and bought a couple of LEDs, a small plastic box and some wire and then put it together in the workshop at Uni.

“It is very early stages. I would like to test it more thoroughly with people who are vision impaired to see if it is user-friendly and how it can be improved.”

Her bright idea won Aimee a place at Fresh Innovators – a national initiative to bring the work of 16 early career innovators to public attention. Following training in Sydney, the Innovators are talking to the media, schools and business about their ideas. One of the 16 will win a study tour to the UK, courtesy of the British Council Australia.  

About the Inventor

Aimee Hinwood is in her final year of biomedical engineering at the University of New South Wales. The device was produced as part of her undergraduate thesis and the first prototype was submitted to her university in June 2004.

Photos:  Photos available online at www.freshinnovators.org Prototype available for viewing.

For interview or more information: Aimee Hinwood ph. 02 9960 5972  / 0416 059 728