How a 19-year-old Bengaluru student used Google’s Gemini 2.0 Flash model to build smart glasses for the visually impaired

Nineteen-year-old engineering student Tushar Shaw from Bengaluru has developed Perceivia, a pair of smart glasses designed to help visually impaired users navigate their surroundings using sound and vibration cues. His innovation earned him a spot among the national winners of Samsung Solve for Tomorrow 2025, the tech company’s flagship innovation challenge for young problem-solvers.

A second-year student at Scaler School of Technology, Shaw built Perceivia using Google’s Gemini 2.0 Flash, an advanced multimodal model capable of interpreting images and generating contextual descriptions. The technology enables the glasses to detect objects, recognise faces and voices, and describe surroundings in real time. Users receive alerts through vibrations or voice prompts, creating a “sensory map” of their environment.

“I grew up next door to a visually impaired neighbour,” Shaw said. “Seeing how small tasks like crossing a road or recognising faces could become daily challenges made me want to build something that restores independence.”


Shaw admits he began with little experience in hardware design or computer vision. Participation in Samsung's programme helped him refine the idea into a working prototype. As one of the winners, he also received a Rs 1 crore incubation grant at IIT Delhi.

He used Gemini for screen description, building facial and object recognition features with datasets contributed by visually impaired volunteers. Their feedback, he said, helped him fine-tune the system’s responsiveness and improve real-world usability.

“Winning Samsung Solve for Tomorrow has opened doors I hadn’t even dared to knock on,” Shaw said. He now plans to collaborate with accessibility tech firms, enhance the device for indoor navigation, and make it affordable for widespread use.

His goal, he added, is to make assistive technology like Perceivia “as common and essential as spectacles — not a luxury, but a right for all.”