AI-powered smart glasses for the blind can read and recognize faces

an empowering smart device

‘Everyone is entitled to live in a world without boundaries,’ says Karthik Kannan, co-founder of a company called Envision that designs smart glasses for blind and visually impaired users. ‘Our mission is to improve the lives of the world’s two billion people who are blind or visually impaired by providing them with life-changing assistive technologies, products and services.’

images by Sadjad Frogh

Envision glasses

Developed on the Enterprise Edition of Google Glass, the smart glasses harness the power of artificial intelligence to extract different kinds of information from images then speak it back to users in over 60 different languages. With its 8MP camera, the glasses can scan digital and handwritten text from any surface such as books, letters or labels and turn it into speech. The device can also give detailed descriptions of outdoor scenes and make private and secure video calls to trusted users. Additional features include color detection, light detection, object recognition and facial recognition, meaning users can pick out red socks from their white laundry, know when a lamp is still on, find personal belongings, and identify colleagues in an instant.

the glasses can scan and read back recipes

Built like a platform, the Envision glasses are continuously updated with new features and functionalities. Kannan explains, ‘By analyzing real time user data and direct feedback from across our communities, we are able to constantly enrich the Envision experience and innovate our products, most recently with the addition of our new capture and context features.’

In addition to the smart glasses, Envision’s visual recognition software is also available as an iOS and Android App.

Envision was founded in 2017 by Karthik Mahadevan and Karthik Kannan. The company, which is based in The Hague in the Netherlands, raised €1.5 Million of investment in May 2021 to scale up its team, develop its products, and make them available worldwide.

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