LEWISBURG, Pa. — A student at Bucknell University is using her visual impairment to help others.
Rebecca Rosenberg is a senior biomedical engineering student at Bucknell University in Lewisburg. She excels in her classes, but because of her visual impairment, Rebecca must sit close to her computer screen. She was born with a condition that reduces sharpness in her vision.
"There's nothing, at this point, that they can really do to fix those problems," Rebecca said.
Rebecca needs more than just glasses, but she is not blind. It's hard for her to find technology that works for her, so last summer, she created her own.
"This is an area where I could make a difference. And I really sat down and came up with the idea to integrate an assistive technology with a smartphone," she explained.
Rebecca created a tech startup called Rebokeh. It's an app tailored to people with vision problems. The app uses the phone's camera and also has external lenses.
"There are other people out there, and they could greatly benefit from this. I am really excited that I have had the opportunity to meet and talk to those people and to hopefully help them."
Last fall, Rebecca won Bucknell University's "Biz Pitch" competition and $3,000.
After that competition, she advanced to a national one where she is one of 32 finalists in the country. The competition is called Student Startup Madness.
"An opportunity to present her startup ReBokeh at South by Southwest in March among the top eight student startups in the country," said Steve Stumbris, the Director of the Small Business Development Center.
Rebecca has started taking steps to patent the system.