ORLANDO, Fla. — One Orlando teenager hopes to change how the blind interact with the world around them.

Tiffani Gay, 16, is trying to make the world a better place for those with vision impairments. She has spent the past two years working on a prototype visor that would assist those with vision problems.

The visor has sensors that inform the person wearing it that something is approaching them, or an object is in front of them.

It uses similar technology found in self-driving cars and in smartphones.

“All these windows you see here are lidar sensors, electronically understanding the environment. So, if this sensor here is detecting an obstacle, it will begin to vibrate on the other side of the device,” said Gay.

She has created 25 prototypes of the visor before getting to the finished model, which she hopes to take to market soon.

The visor could someday replace a white cane that many blind people use.

Gay attends the Orlando Science School and has won several science fair competitions.

She won first place and the grand award in physical sciences at the state competition last week.

This is the second year in a row she won these honors.

Judy Bright, one of Gay’s teachers at the science school, said she is thrilled about her invention. 

“I’m excited. I have worked with a few students and the white cane. And I see this as an amazing potential for them,” said Bright, who is a biomedical research teacher.

Bright also traveled with her to Taiwan for a science fair competition that she won.

According to the World Health Organization, over 2 billion people have near or distance vision impairment.

Out of those, 284 million people are blind.