Talking trolleys could help visually impaired shoppers

Ben Charles designed the wireless device for his final degree project on his Computer Aided Product Design course at Portsmouth University.

The device is attached to a trolley’s handle and, when a shopper scans a product, it displays product information and price in large type and says the price aloud.

Charles said: ’I wanted to design a device that makes it easier for the elderly and visually impaired to shop in supermarkets. Many of them face huge hurdles in trying to read product information, such as if a product contains nuts or if it is high in fat, and many can’t read the price labels.

According to Charles’s research, three quarters of the UK’s 13 million pensioners, or 9.5 million people, find it difficult to read prices and product information in supermarkets.

’Millions of people find it really hard − or impossible − to know what they are buying and at what price. These people are not disabled − but they are socially handicapped,’ he said.