News

Senior Engineer Bill Gerrey Honored with a Named Room at New LightHouse Building

San Francisco's LightHouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired recently moved to its new facility at 1155 Market Street, 10th Floor, San Francisco, California.   One of the rooms at this new LightHouse is named “Bill Gerrey, WA6NPC Amateur Radio Station.”  It is a state-of-the-art amateur radio station that is named in honor of Bill Gerrey, a blind engineer, who is a researcher and engineer at The Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute.  Bill Gerrey earned a Bachelor’s degree in Electronics Engineering from California Polytechnic University.

Smith-Kettlewell Announces New Wayfinding App for Blind and Visually-Impaired Travelers

Remote Infrared Signage (also known as “Talking Signs”) was invented at The Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute in San Francisco. This powerful system used infrared beams to provide blind travelers with information about the location of transmitters marking bathrooms, bus stops, businesses, buildings, and beyond. Users could point hand-held receivers to accurately locate and identify the “signs” in that direction.

Scientists Receive NEI Grant Aiding Blind Interaction with Physical Objects

James Coughlan, PhD, Senior Scientist at the Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute, San Francisco, California, was recently awarded a four-year grant from NIH-NEI (R01EY025332) entitled, “Enabling Audio-Haptic Interaction with Physical Objects for the Visually Impaired Summary".