RooVision by Rupert Powell

Makers make life better.

Sometimes that’s in a small way and other times it is in a gargantuan way. This is the story of a custom-made piece of equipment that transformed the life of one man.

Rupert Powell is a volunteer engineer for Remap, a charity that custom-makes equipment to help disabled people live more independent lives. In 2017, Rupert met Ian. Although Ian is a Liverpool FC fan who regularly visits Anfield, before meeting Rupert he’d never seen a match – Ian has mitochondrial dysfunction, which means his sight is only good for short range and large, high-contrast, images within 20 to 30 centimetres from his eyes. So while he was able to soak up the match atmosphere, he was unable to watch the action.

After their initial meeting, Rupert established that Ian was able to watch football on TV if he sat close enough to the screen. That’s when he realised that he might be able to hack a VR type headset, a video camera and a powerful zoom lens with the help of a Raspberry Pi to recreate the Ian’s TV experience at a live match