AI and Living with Blindness and Sight Impairment

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A. Wearable devices

[1] www.orcam.com/en-gb/orcam-myeye-2-pro

From website 20 April 2024. "OrCam MyEye, the most advanced wearable assistive technology for people who are blind or visually impaired, provides independence by allowing access to visual information, conveyed by audio, on a tiny camera which can be attached to any pair of eyeglasses. Using Artificial Intelligence it reads text, recognizes faces, identifies products, and more."
The FAQ page: www.orcam.com/en-gb/faq The cost seems to be in the £ 4,000 plus range at the moment.

Emotional American video selling the product (2024) - you have been warned!



[2] www.dotlumen.com

Glasses that replicate the main features of a guide dog. European company. Apparently due for release early 2025 at a price below £10,000.

This dotLumen video is from July 2024


This dotLumen video, also from July 2024, is more useful about how it works.




[3] www.letsenvision.com

From website 20 April 2024. "Read Edition, The ultimate reading device, Suitable for individuals purchasing privately for non-commercial use, Envision Glasses device, built on Google Glass Enterprise Edition 2, Envision Glasses reading features: Instant Text, Scan Text, Batch Scan, Lightweight Titanium Frames"

The cost seems to be about £1800 upwards. They do online video demos.

A far less slick video but it demonstrates some of the capability well.



[4] See also this 2024 AbilityNet report on working with the Rabbit abilitynet.org.uk/news-blogs/how-rabbit-r1-next-gen-ai-assistant-new-force-digital-inclusion



B. Smartphone Apps

[1] www.bemyeyes.com

From website 20 April 2024: "Be My Eyes connects blind and low-vision users who want sighted assistance with volunteers and companies anywhere in the world, through live video and artificial intelligence."

Also:
"With over 600,000 blind and low vision users and more than 7 million volunteers, the app is available for free across 170 countries and 180 languages, meaning connection between users and volunteers is in real-time and in their language of choice."



Seems to have started 'pre-AI' with volunteers working with remote sight-impaired people. Now with an AI component. Testing "Be My AI" functionality (whatever that is) with some businesses. Has possible focus more on company employees and customers than individuals.