盲学校の生徒に星空を。暗闇で見える暗所視支援眼鏡を届けたい。

社会福祉法人日本ライトハウス

寄付総額

3,480,000円

目標金額 3,000,000円

寄付者: 122人

募集終了日: 2019年10月31日

終了報告を読む

https://readyfor.jp/projects/MW10?sns_share_token=

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2019年08月30日 11:55

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We want to show starry skies to students who attend schools for the blind and visually impaired.

A project to donate scotopic vision eyeglasses is launched.

Hello, everyone. I’m Amane Okada of Nippon Lighthouse, a social welfare service corporation. Nippon Lighthouse provides an array of support to enable the blind and visually-impaired individuals to lead their daily lives safely and with peace of mind.

Through its activities, Nippon Lighthouse has been supporting MW10 HiKARI, the world’s first-ever scotopic vision eyeglasses (hereinafter “MW10”) released in April 2018 by medical device manufacturer HOYA Corporation, as the development and improvement advisor.

The distinctive feature of MW10 is that it allows individuals with nyctalopia, or night blindness, to see objects brightly, in their natural colors as if during the day, even in dark places. To make sure that customers can use the device with a sense of security even after making the purchase, moreover, we are working to establish a system of after-sales services to offer walking training, wearing MW.

○What are scotopic vision eyeglasses (MW10 HiKARI)?

MW10 HiKARI amplifies faint light in dark places, and displays an image brightly even at night, as if during the day. Images, captured by a high-sensitive camera placed in the center of the eyewear frame, are displayed on the head-mounted monitor screen, as a clear, bright picture.

General night vision cameras produce mostly black-and-white and monotone images, using infrared light. These eyeglasses, however, re-create vivid images in color. Even dark places appear bright and clear.

The lenses, moreover, are exchangeable, and can be replaced by wide-angle camera lenses. This means that, by using this device, individuals with visual field constriction can obtain broader fields of vision. MW10 is believed to be effective for, and welcomed by, individuals who have central visual field, and, who, despite being able to see things clearly during the day, have a difficult time seeing things after early evening (people with nyctalopia, or night blindness).

This time, we hope to deliver MW10 to schools for the blind and visual impairment throughout Japan, to root for young people who will go out into the world and play an active role in society. Because we will be donating one unit per school that has sent us requests, we will raise funds for donating these eyeglasses, beginning with the first ten schools whose requests have been confirmed.

The background of our decision was the fact that members of HOYA MW Development Team was invited to school festivals and other events at numerous schools for the blind, and held events to have the students try out MW10. The students enjoyed using the devices tremendously and rated them highly, but, on the other hand, we were asked by many teachers and students after the event if the equipment could be lent out for extensive periods. In view of this situation, we have decided to donate the devices that should be kept at the schools as permanent fixtures.

In addition, we hope that, through the cloud funding system, the program will help increase the understanding of visual impairment, and raise awareness. We would urge you to lend your support to promote our initiative.

Offering “the ability to see” to people who have a difficult time seeing things in the dark because of night blindness.

There are people who, although can see things normally during the day, can no longer see if it gets darker. This symptom is called nyctalopia, or night blindness. It restricts their activities, such as inability to participate in club activities and nighttime activities when the days grow shorter, and fear of the dark that prevents them from fully enjoying leisure establishments that have dark rooms such as aquariums and planetariums.

The reality is that these symptoms do not improve with drugs or surgical operations, and have no methods of treatment.

It was under these circumstances that MW10 HiKARI, the world’s first-ever scotopic vision eyeglasses, was developed. These items were exclusively developed by Kyushu University Hospital which collaborated with HOYA Corporation by conducting clinical researches for visually impaired individuals.

We hope that people who are having a difficult time because of nyctalopia, especially young people, try using MW10 as a tool to help them, and experience what it is like to see things in the dark, and learn that devices such as this are available.

◎ Mr. Kentaro Doi , President, Japanese Retinitis Pigmentosa Society, Tokyo (JRPS Tokyo）
“Night views that I have been watching until now consisted of a sea of dotted lights. But, by wearing MW10, I was able to see everything very clearly, even down to the structure of the factories and things around it. The device makes it easy for me to grasp the overall picture. It’s really lots of fun.”

◎ Mr. Naoyuki Abe, President, Japanese Retinitis Pigmentosa Society, Kanagawa (JRPS Kanagawa）
“I can see things clearly, with sharpness, and, at the same time, naturally. The surrounding areas are also wide and clearly visible.”

◎ Ms. Tsuemi Ito, Board Director, Japanese Retinitis Pigmentosa Society, Kanagawa (JRPS Kanagawa）
“Inside the concert hall, I was able to confirm the Seat Number. I also used the zoom feature and was able to see, very clearly, the singers’ dresses, musical instruments, the performers’ facial expressions, and other fine parts.”

◎ Mr. Kensuke Nomura, violinist
“My life changed. I’m no longer afraid about day turning into night. By owning this device, I’m even looking forward to when it gets darker, and enjoying it. Aquariums and art museums which, until now, I’ve found boring because I couldn’t see very well, brought me joys and moving experiences, like, ‘Wow, I never dreamed that there was such a thing as this!’ My biggest joy was that I was able to share, with people around me, things which I had not been able to see so far.”

Deliver the joy of being able to see things to students who attend schools for the blind throughout Japan

A type of disability called nyctalopia, or night blindness, is innate in many cases: people are born with it. There are many children who have never seen the evening sky, or even a night scenery.

・We want children to see all sorts of things during periods in their lives when they are the most sensitive.
・As an employment support or to push these people to get the jobs they want to do
・Others: To have people learn the possibilities of activities carried out in the dark

For reasons such as these, we hope to deliver MW10 to students who attend schools for the blind and the visually impaired.

MW10 began be sold, in April 2018, at Nippon Lighthouse and a number of eyewear shops. However, the current status shows that, because of its high price, those capable of purchasing it is limited.

As starters, we have set up a minimum goal of raising funds to buy ten such units (to be supplied to ten schools). Once this project has been established, we intend to continue the program each year until MW10 is supplied to all nationwide schools for the blind that wish to receive MW10 donations.

Iwate Prefectural Morioka School for the Blind
Chiba Blind School
Fukui Prefectural School for the Blind
Kyoto Prefectural School for the Visually Impaired
Wakayama Prefecture Wakayama School for the Blind
Nara Prefectural School for the Blind
Osaka Prefecture Osaka South School for the Blind
Osaka Prefecture Osaka North School for the Blind
Hyogo Prefectural School for Students with Special Visual Needs
Kobe School for the Blind

*We plan to complete making donations by December 2019.

Purchase of ten scotopic vision eyeglasses: Japanese Yen 2,513,000
Commission to Readyfor (including tax): Japanese Yen 550,800
Postage for sending donation certificates: Japanese Yen 66,000
Total amount of money required: Japanese Yen 3,129,800

*We also received support from HOYA Corporation. The company cooperated to make it possible to donate ten MW10 units with this target amount.

Create an environment where the visually impaired can take up various challenges!

We hope to continue creating an environment that encourages young people with visual impairment to go out into the world and become an active player in society. In terms of product development support, our goal is to enable them to overcome diverse symptoms that may hamper their daily lives.

Through providing employment and academic assistance, moreover, we will enable them to study and work even more pleasantly and comfortably. We will also make proposals to improve the environments surrounding the visually impaired, and aim at building a foundation for them to make use of their potential and take up various challenges. This project is the first step towards achieving this goal. We would ask for your generous support.

Amane Okada (Nippon Lighthouse, a social welfare service corporation）

Nippon Lighthouse, a social welfare service corporation and a welfare center for the blind

Established in 1922 based on the strong friendship and trust built between founder Takeo Iwahashi, who was totally blind, and Ms. Helen Keller, Nippon Lighthouse is Japan’s first-ever social welfare juridical person to provide assistance to the visually impaired.

Nippon Lighthouse operates four activity bases in Osaka Prefecture, and offer comprehensive welfare services to the visually impaired: the head office and Rehabilitation Center for the Visually Impaired (Tsurumi-ward, Osaka City), Information and Culture Center (Nishi-ward, Osaka City), Technical Center of the Tactual Information (TeCTI; Higashi-Osaka City), and Guide Dog Training Center (Chihaya-Akasaka Village).

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