Japanese companies Sony and QD Laser announced a new camera kit for the visually impaired on Monday, March 13th. The DSC-HX99 RNV combines an old compact 30x zoom model with an electronic viewfinder equipped with the latest generation of lasers and projects the image directly onto the user’s retina. A first on the market.
Sony’s old Cybershot DSC-HX99 gets a second life thanks to the QD Laser electronic retina projection viewfinder. // Source: Sony and QD Laser
Sony is committed to helping the visually impaired. On Monday March 13th, the Japanese manufacturer announced the DSC-HX99 RNV, a new compact camera… or almost. However, this new product is not intended to replace the brand’s very popular RX100: Composed of an old camera from 2018 and a state-of-the-art laser electronic viewfinder, this duo aims to enable people with vision problems to take pictures.
This device was developed as part of Sony’s “With My Eyes” project, launched in 2020 in collaboration with Japanese laser semiconductor brand QD Laser, news site Engadget recalls.
Project the image directly onto the retina
As a reminder, visual impairment is different from blindness: people who suffer from it can see, but only to a limited extent. So that means daily difficulties with reading or writing, with orientation in space or with locomotion. The most common cases relate to errors in refraction or cataracts.
The DSC-HX99 RNV was therefore developed to circumvent these problems. Although this product has only just come to market, half of its components are 5 years old. This kit initially consists of a Sony Cybershot DSC-HX99 released in 2018. This device has a 1/2.3″ photo sensor with 18 megapixel resolution, integrated image stabilization and a lens whose focal length ranges from 24 mm to 720 mm (x28). One of the smallest compact travel zoom models in the world at the time of its release, according to the trade publication Digital Photography Review.
Rather, the novelty lies in the electronic viewfinder that the product is equipped with: the Retissa Neoviewer developed by QD Laser. This tool uses a technology called “retinal laser projection”. Specifically, the light captured by the camera’s sensor is diffused directly onto the user’s retina via tiny lasers that cross its eye. So this viewfinder circumvents the difficulties of visually impaired people’s eyes by doing the work for them.
See better every day… in 720p
Although this technology has been around for several years, this is the “world’s first time” that it has been implemented in a consumer product, according to Mitsuru Sugawara, CEO of QD Laser. Thanks to this new generation electronic viewfinder, all camera functions are accessible to the visually impaired, from autofocus to burst mode. Most importantly, the DSC-HX99 RNV enables people with visual impairments to observe their surroundings on a daily basis, even without taking photos. And thanks to the HX99’s 28x zoom, even from a distance.
However, everything is not perfect. Sony recognizes that the correct functioning of the product depends on the type of visual impairment of the user. The resolution transmitted by the Retissa Neoviewer is also limited to 720p and its battery, which is charged separately from the camera, only lasts about 4 hours according to the manufacturer. A problem if you want to use the kit for your daily sight.
State-of-the-art technology that remains accessible
But Sony has credit for marketing the DSC-HX99 RNV at an affordable price and absorbing most of the production costs: the kit will be released in the US in early summer 2023 and will retail for $600 versus around $500 for the kit alone HX99. Good news, especially for cutting-edge technology not intended to be sold on a large scale.
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