On Tech & Vision With Dr. Cal Roberts

This podcast is about big ideas on how technology is making life better for people with vision loss.

Not long ago virtual assistants and VR gaming were the makings of science fiction. But today, as we see developers across the board incorporating these technologies into apps and other tech, including for people who are blind or have low vision, these breakthroughs aren't just possible, they're part of the fabric of everyday life.

In this episode Dr. Cal talks with Steve Ewell, Executive Director of the Consumer Technology Association Foundation (CTAF). Together they discuss how rapid advances in tech have made previously unimaginable products like self-driving cars, smart homes and virtual reality gaming an attainable, everyday reality for millions of people, including for those who are aging or have low vision. They talk about CES, the CTAF's annual trade show and the increasing number of consumer companies presenting accessible tech. They also discuss Steve's work with AARP, and how technology designed for older users is also accelerating… and how those users are keeping up with the pace of new tech.

The episode also features an interview with Walt Hickey, the executive editor at Sherwood News and the author of "You Are What You Watch - How Movies and TV Affect Everything." Walt discusses how scientists and engineers consume the same media as everyone else, and how the ideas from science and science fiction have fed back on one another for millennia to build our modern world.

With technology for the blind and low vision community increasingly easy to build and access, companies like Amazon and XBox are making accessibility more of a priority with every new development. In other words, when it comes to accessible technology, the future may have finally arrived.

The Big Takeaways

• The Simplest Tech Can Make a Big Difference: Steve discusses the rise of smart homes, and how something simple like a voice-activated assistant can transform the living space of someone who's blind or low vision. He talks about the natural evolution from there to doorbell cams, and the possibilities that has opened for people with low vision to maintain their privacy and security while at home.
• Are Self-Driving Cars Finally Here?: It can seem like self-driving cars have been on the horizon for decades. But with Waymo and other major technology companies recently unveiling breakthroughs, people who are blind or have low vision might finally be able to hop in a car by themselves and go wherever they want. Steve discusses what these breakthroughs mean, not just for activities like visiting the doctor, but for improved opportunities for social interaction.
• All Fun and Games: Steve talks about his work with AbleGamers and Oak Hill, two organizations dedicated to providing an accessible video game experience for people who are blind or have low vision. Gaming can combat social isolation, he says, but it can do more than that. When paired with wearables, Steve credits accessible gaming (and a healthy dose of competitiveness) with motivating people who are aging or have disabilities to stay active.
• Old School: It might be surprising to see the words "technology" and "AARP" in the same sentence. But tooday, they are indeed connected. Steve discusses the CTAF's partnership with AARP, and how recent developments along with a savvier population of seniors has led to increased rates of development and adoption for accessible tech.

Tweetables

• "One of the important things that I've seen that's changed over the last dozen years is the awareness on the company side of the needs of older adults and people with disabilities. That was one of the big challenges, companies recognizing this as a market to engage… and what we've seen is more and more companies are actively engaging this space." — Steve Ewell, CTAF Executive Director
• "Technology and movies and pop culture are ways that we express our wants and goals" — Walt Hickey, Author, "You Are What You Watch"
• "I went to one senior center and a gentleman had come up to me and he said 'I know you're going to assume I don't use technology, but I want to let you know I'm over a hundred years old and I built all the technology that your technology today is based on.'" — Steve Ewell, CTAF Executive Director

Contact Us:

• Contact us at [email protected] with your innovative new technology ideas for people with vision loss.

Pertinent Links

• Lighthouse Guild
• CTA Foundation

This podcast is about big ideas on how technology is making life better for people with vision loss.

Technology developed specifically for people with low vision has historically been bespoke, specific, and expensive, requiring the creation of new technology for a relatively small population of users. But recently we're seeing a paradigm shift from building new vision tech from scratch to building on top of existing technology that most people use daily.

In this episode, Dr. Cal talks with Karthik Mahadevan, the founder and CEO of Envision, about how his technology company builds on existing tech, like smartphones and smart glasses, to benefit users with low vision. Envision's software uses AI to recognize important visual cues in a user's environment and then relays that information to the user with computer-generated speech. Karthik's breakthrough realization early on that he didn't need to build hardware when he could just tap into the cameras of smartphones and smart glasses that people already owned, enabling Envision to reach a much wider audience.

The episode also features an interview with Troy Otillio, the CEO of Aira. Aira's platform links users to a human visual interpreter, who can access the camera on their device and guide the user through the task, whether reading a letter, navigating a grocery store, or finding their way around an unfamiliar city.

Ultimately, the future of creating vision technology might not be in reinventing the wheel but in improving it and figuring out how to turn the tech people already use every day into easy and accessible solutions for people with low vision.

The Big Takeaways

• Building on Existing Tech: Karthik stresses that for vision tech to be impactful, it has to be accessible. He describes his inspiration as building on top of existing consumer technology to create Envision and thus create a product that millions of people already have the hardware to operate. Later, Dr. Cal discusses the "Taco Bell Phenomenon", which theorizes that while there may be no such thing as a new idea, the novel combinations of existing ideas are so infinite that they may be limitless.
• The Importance of a Visual Interpreter: Karthik discusses the limitations of communication formats such as braille and audio announcements in public places for people with vision impairment. While well-meaning, they can never really provide complete access to spaces that are meant to be navigated visually. That's where Envision comes in, allowing access to the camera on a smartphone or smart glasses to give the user a complete and accurate sense of their environment.
• Would You Like a Human for That?: To AI or not to AI? Speech-to-text technology is advanced enough that it can excel at reading something simple like a gas bill or a chicken soup recipe. But what if you got a birthday card from your grandchildren? Troy Otillio discusses how Aira recently partnered with Envision to offer their human visual interpreters as part of Envision's technology — providing camera access to a human agent who can fully understand the nuance of the user's situation.
• We Don't Make Hardware: A small market company like Envision doesn't have the capacity to build smart glasses (or smartphones) from scratch. The cost would be too high for a company that necessarily has a limited user base. Instead, the future of vision technology is likely to be in creating apps or finding novel uses for hardware that already exists. This will provide accessibility to people with vision impairments via tools they're already quite familiar with.

Tweetables

• "In the future, these AI are going to interact with other AIs… You know, someone like a Walmart will have their own AI. Someone like a Target will have their own AI. And your AI can speak to that AI and ask for specific information. And that's when it becomes super, super exciting." — Karthik Mahadevan, Envision Founder & CEO
• "So for many years, consumer electronics was evolving in one direction, and assistive technology was evolving in a different direction. But what I noticed recently is this merger of the two: that consumer electronics are becoming more accessible." — Dr. Cal Roberts, Lighthouse Guild President & CEO
• "You can look at Aira as just a layer, an accessibility layer that exists for when an automated solution, a pure software solution, doesn't work or when there is no solution, right? We're like that, call it a backstop, a more general purpose layer that you can always fall back to." — Troy Otillio, Aira CEO

Contact Us:

• Contact us at [email protected] with your innovative new technology ideas for people with vision loss.

Pertinent Links

• Lighthouse Guild
• Envision
• Aira

This podcast is about big ideas on how technology is making life better for people with vision loss.

Today, self-driving cars are all the buzz when it comes to cutting edge driving technology that could help people with vision impairmentdrive. But there are other, simpler technologies that are already helping people who are blind or visually impaired navigate behind the wheel - some of which draw on technology that's been around for hundreds of years!

In this episode, Dr. Cal talks with Dr. Henry Greene, co-founder and president of Ocutech about their bioptic driving telescopes. These simple devices fit on top of a pair of conventional eyeglasses, and provide a wider field of vision for drivers with vision impairments. This has been shown to increase driver safety and confidence.

The episode also features an interview with Dr. Bill Seiple, Lighthouse Guild's Chief Research Officer. He discusses how other technological advancements that are already in widespread use among all consumers - like GPS - are making it so everyone has to use their vision less while behind the wheel.

Ultimately, the ability to pilot a car without relying on our vision isn't there yet. But with these and other technologies discussed in this episode, the day where none of us need to see to drive may be just around the corner!

The Big Takeaways

• Ancient Tech, Modern Design: Dr. Greene and his team succeeded in adapting telescopic technology that's existed since Galileo's time into a bioptic device that fits on top of a conventional pair of eyeglasses. Coupled with other innovations like an auto-focusing device, these bioptic driving assists can vision impaired drivers to see faraway objects with the clarity required for highway driving.
• Can Something You Use Only 1% of the Time Make You Safer? Ocutech's bioptic driving telescopes aren't designed to be used all the time while driving. In fact, Dr. Greene estimates that his patients only use them between one and two percent of the time. This means that while they're a useful tool for very specific tasks on the road, drivers still need to be competent behind the wheel without bioptics. Per Dr. Seiple, research has shown that drivers with vision impairment tend to be intentional about where and when they drive, adding another layer of safety.
• GPS Makes Everything Easier: Thanks to 5G technology that can place a user anywhere on Earth within a few feet, GPS is making it so that everyone has to use their vision less when they're on the road .
• Is Driving a Visual Thing? As Dr. Seiple points out, visual acuity isn't of greatest importance behind the wheel. More important is attentiveness, knowing where you're going, and reaction time once something crosses your way, regardless of how sharply you can see it. This suggests that while cars may soon be able to pilot themselves, getting from one place to another may always require the competent guidance of a human.

Tweetables

• "GPS doesn't tell you that there's a box on the road or a policeman or a pedestrian or an animal or a deviation for construction. GPS won't tell you that stuff. And that's the stuff that you need to be able to anticipate problems and take the appropriate action while you're driving." — Dr. Henry Greene, Ocutech Co-Founder & President
• "So, in tongue and cheek, you can say that I don't think driving is a visual thing. Turns out field is much more important than acuity for driving safety." — Dr. Bill Seiple, Lighthouse Guild Chief Research Officer
• "These bioptics, they are a game changer for people with low vision… All my life I've actually had to get a ride or wait for someone. And I'm very, very, very independent. I don't like to wait for people.." — Crystal Davis, Ocutech Employee & Bioptic Telescope User

Contact Us:

• Contact us at [email protected] with your innovative new technology ideas for people with vision loss.

Pertinent Links

• Lighthouse Guild
• Ocutech

This podcast is about big ideas on how technology is making life better for people with vision loss.

When it comes to navigation technology for people who are blind or visually impaired, many apps utilize voice commands, loud tones or beeps, or haptic feedback. In an effort to create a more natural, seamless experience, the team at BenVision has created a different type of system that allows users to navigate using musical cues instead!

For this episode, Dr. Cal spoke with BenVision's CEO and co-founder, Patrick Burton, along with its Technology Leadd, Aaditya Vaze. They shared about the inspiration behind BenVision, how they're able to create immersive soundscapes that double as navigation aids, and the exciting future applications this technology could offer.

The episode also features BenVision's other co-founder and Audio Director, Soobin Ha. Soobin described her creative process for designing BenVision's soundscapes, how she harnesses the power of AI, and her bold vision of what's to come.

Lighthouse Guild volunteer Shanell Matos tested BenVision herself and shares her thoughts on the experience. As you'll hear, this technology is transformative!

The Big Takeaways

• Why Music? Navigation technology that uses voice, tone, or haptics can create an added distraction for some users. But the brain processes music differently. Instead of overloading the senses, for some users music works alongside them, allowing them to single out separate sound cues, or take in the entire environment as a whole. Like how the different instruments correspond to various characters in "Peter and the Wolf," BenVision assigns unique musical cues to individual objects.
• User Experience: Shanell Matos appreciated how BenVision blends in more subconsciously, allowing her to navigate a space without having to be as actively engaged with the process.
• Additional Applications: BenVision began as an augmented reality program, and its creators see a potential for it to grow beyond a navigational tool to expand for use by people who are visually impaired or fully sighted. For example, it could be used to create unique soundscapes for museums, theme parks, and more, augmenting the experience in exciting new ways.
• The Role of AI: Artificial Intelligence already plays a big role in how BenVision works, and its creators see it being even more important in the future. BenVision already harnesses AI for object detection and its companion app uses AI to provide instant voice support about the immediate surroundings if needed. Moving forward, AI could be used to help instantaneously generate new sound cues or to help users customize their experience at the press of a button.

Tweetables

• "We thought that if the human brain can learn echolocation and we have this amazing technology that's available to us in the modern day, then why can't we make echolocation a little bit more intuitive and perhaps a little bit more pleasant." — Patrick Burton, BenVision CEO & Co-Founder
• "You can think of it like a bunch of virtual speakers placed at different locations around the user. So like a speaker on a door or a couch or a chair. And then there are sounds coming from all these virtual speakers at the same time." — Aaditya Vaze, BenVision Technology Lead
• "I want to gamify this idea so that the user can actually find some interest and joy by using it, rather than just find it only helpful, but also [to create ] some pleasant feeling." — Soobin Ha, BenVision Audio Director & Co-Founder
• "So if there's a lot of people, there's a lot of conversations happening, a lot of sounds happening, a lot of movement happening. It's really difficult to keep up with what everything is doing. Whereas with music, it's not as difficult to pick out layers." – Shanell Matos, Lighthouse Guild Volunteer

Contact Us:

• Contact us at [email protected] with your innovative new technology ideas for people with vision loss.

Pertinent Links

• Lighthouse Guild
• BenVision

We appreciate your support for our show — and now, we need your help nominating the On Tech & Vision podcast for the People's Choice Podcast Awards! We are participating in these awards so we can showcase On Tech & Vision to a broader audience, gain recognition within the industry, and, most importantly, help spread the message about Lighthouse Guild and the role that technology is playing in tearing down barriers for people who are blind or visually impaired. To help us nominate On Tech & Vision, please go online to www.podcastawards.com, where you can register to vote for On Tech & Vision in both the Technology and Peoples' Choice Categories. Voting is open until July 31st. Once again, your support is greatly appreciated!

This podcast is about big ideas on how technology is making life better for people with vision loss.

For hundreds of years, health professionals have dreamed of restoring vision for people who are blind or visually impaired. However, doing so, either through transplanting a functioning eye or using technological aids, is an incredibly complex challenge. In fact, many considered it impossible. But thanks to cutting-edge research and programs, the ability to restore vision is getting closer than ever.

As a first for this podcast, this episode features an interview with Dr. Cal Roberts himself! Adapting audio from an interview on The Doctors Podcast, Dr. Cal describes his work as a program manager for a project on eye transplantation called Transplantation of Human Eye Allographs (THEA). Funded by a government initiative called ARPA-H, THEA is bringing some of the country's finest minds together to tackle the complexities of connecting a person's brain to an eye from a human donor.

This episode also features an interview with Dr. Daniel Palanker of Stanford University. Dr. Palanker is working on technology that can artificially restore sight through prosthetic replacement of photoreceptors. Having proved successful in animals, Dr. Palanker and his team are working hard to translate it to humans.

And if that can happen, then something once considered impossible could finally be accomplished!

The Big Takeaways

• The Challenges of Eye Transplants: Although eyeball transplants have been done, they've only been cosmetic. So far, nobody has been able to successfully connect a donor eyeball to a recipient's brain. Dr. Roberts's work with THEA is bringing together multiple teams to tackle the challenges associated with a whole eyeball transplant, from connecting nerves and muscles to ensuring the organ isn't rejected, and much more.

• "Artificial" Vision Restoration: Dr. Palanker is working to replace the functions of photoreceptors through technological means. His photovoltaic array is placed underneath the retina and can convert light into an electrical current that activates the cells that send visual information to the brain. While it doesn't completely restore sight for people with Age-Related Macular Degeneration, this technology shows incredible promise.

• Decoding "Brain Language": For both Dr. Roberts and Dr. Palanker, one of the biggest challenges with vision restoration is understanding how the eye and brain communicate. Dr. Roberts likens it to Morse Code — the eye speaks to the brain in "dots and dashes," which the brain then converts into vision. Right now, the language is still foreign to us, but we're closer than ever to decoding it.

• The Evolution of the Brain-Machine Interface: Dr. Palanker imagines incredible possibilities in the interaction between the brain and technology. If we can find a way to truly translate the brain's signals into information, Dr. Palanker envisions the possibility of direct brain-to-brain communication without verbalization. In a way, this could make people telepathic, able to understand and digest vast amounts of information in an instant.

Tweetables:

• So ideally in medicine, at least the ideal therapy is the restoration of full functionality. If we can grow back photoreceptors and make them reconnect to bipolar cells, undo all the rewiring that right now underwent during degeneration, and restore the full extent of vision, that would be the ideal outcome. — Dr. Daniel Palanker, Professor of Ophthalmology, Stanford University
• We can think about other aspects of brain-machine interface, which takes you maybe into the realm of capabilities that humans never had. If you enable artificial senses or enable brain-to-brain connectivity so you can communicate without verbalization that would open completely new capabilities that humanity never had. — Dr. Palanker
• Forty-two years after the implantation of the first mechanical heart, there's not a single person in the world walking around with a mechanical heart. All that work, all that research, and all that effort to come up with mechanical heart transplants are still state-of-the-art. And so, while I believe that there is a role for a bionic eye or mechanical eye, what I really believe is that everything that we learn from doing an eye transplant will just make it better and easier when we do eventually come up with a bionic or a mechanical eye. — Dr. Calvin Roberts, ARPA-H Health Science Futures Program Manager (President and CEO of Lighthouse Guild and Host of On Tech & Vision!)

Contact Us:

• Contact us at [email protected] with your innovative new technology ideas for people with vision loss.

Pertinent Links

• Lighthouse Guild
• THEA Program
• Prima System

People's Choice Podcast Awards

• We appreciate your support for our show — and now, we need your help nominating the On Tech & Vision podcast for the People's Choice Podcast Awards! We are participating in these awards so we can showcase On Tech & Vision to a broader audience, gain recognition within the industry, and, most importantly, help spread the message about Lighthouse Guild and the role that technology is playing in tearing down barriers for people who are blind or visually impaired. To help us nominate On Tech & Vision, please go online to www.podcastawards.com, where you can register to vote for On Tech & Vision in both the Technology and Peoples' Choice Categories. Voting is open until July 31st. Once again, your support is greatly appreciated!

This podcast is about big ideas on how technology is making life better for people with vision loss.

This episode is about how biosensor technology is revolutionizing the field of diagnostic and preventive medicine. Biosensors can take many forms — wearable, implantable, and even ingestible. And they can serve many different functions as well, most notably when it comes to detecting the various pressure levels in our bodies.

This episode features interviews with several luminaries working with biosensors. One of them is Doug Adams, a revolutionary entrepreneur who became inspired to create a biosensor that can assist in the treatment of glaucoma patients, initially focusing on a sensor for intraocular pressure. More recently, Doug founded a company called QURA, whose current efforts are focused on a biosensor that detects blood pressure.

To elaborate on QURA's initiatives, this episode also includes insights from its Chief Business Officer, David Hendren. He and Dr. Cal discuss the current state of biosensor technology, the benefits of implantable biosensors, and how they work.

Finally, this episode includes a conversation with Max Ostermeier, co-founder and General Manager of Implandata Ophthalmic Products. Max was previously interviewed by Dr. Cal for the episode "Innovations in Intraocular Pressure and Closed Loop Drug Delivery Systems." This time, Max joins Dr. Cal to discuss the possibilities of biosensor technology and his company's Eyemate system — which includes biosensor technology for glaucoma patients.

All three guests also offer their thoughts on the future of biosensors and their endless possibilities. While it may seem like science fiction, it truly is science reality!

The Big Takeaways

• What Biosensors Do: Currently, biosensors primarily sense the various pressures in the human body. QURA's current sensor detects blood pressure and assists with hypertension. Meanwhile, Implandata's Eyemate technology serves glaucoma patients by gathering data on intraocular pressure.
• The Rapid Shrinking of Biosensors: When Doug Adams first started working on biosensors, the model he saw was the size of a microwave. Now, it's shrunk to the size of a grain of rice! By making biosensors smaller, they are easier to implant and place in different spots within the body. And by doing so, they can gather more and more data.
• The Benefits of AI: One drawback of gathering so much data is that it can sometimes be hard to analyze it. However, improvements in AI technology are making it easier to sort through all that data, giving doctors and patients valuable information for medical diagnostics and treatments.
• The Future of Biosensors: As implantable biosensors become smaller and more sophisticated, all our guests see them becoming a crucial part of healthcare. In addition to gathering data on all sorts of functions within the body, biosensors could provide therapies and treatments with minimal human intervention.

Tweetables:

• So, we are measuring the absolute pressure inside the eye with this kind of technology. It originates from the automotive industry. Tire pressure sensors, where you also have to measure the pressure inside the tire. And so basically we took set technology and advanced it and made it so small that you can also implant this kind of sensor in an eye. — Max Ostermeier, co-founder and General Manager of Implandata Ophthalmic Products
• So I had a physical a month ago, and along with the physical, they draw blood, and they send that blood off to a lab. I have a feeling in the next decade, that goes away. Why do you have to send a vial of blood to the lab? Because if I had a sensor, not even in an artery, but on top of an artery, I could do a complete analysis of everything in that blood that you're doing from the lab. — Doug Adams, entrepreneur and founder of QURA
• The important thing is that you are automatically getting data to the care group that is taking care of these patients, where they are able to see what's happening. They're able to see not just a snapshot once in a while, as you'd have from an external pressure cuff, but [get] continuous data longitudinally. — David Hendren, Chief Business Officer of QURA

Contact Us:

• Contact us at [email protected] with your innovative new technology ideas for people with vision loss.

Pertinent Links

• Lighthouse Guild
• QURA
• Implandata Ophthalmic Products

When it comes to emerging technology, there's no hotter topic than artificial intelligence. Programs like ChatGPT and Midjourney are becoming more popular and are inspiring people to explore the possibilities of what AI can achieve — including when it comes to accessible technology for people who are blind or visually impaired.

One of those people is Saqib Shaikh, an engineering manager at Microsoft. Saqib leads the team that developed an app called Seeing AI, which utilizes the latest generation of artificial intelligence, known as generative AI Dr. Cal spoke with Saqib about how Generative AI works, his firsthand experience using an app like Seeing AI, and how it helped improve his daily life.

This episode also features Alice Massa, an occupational therapist at Lighthouse Guild. Alice described the many benefits of generative AI, and how it helps her clients better engage in their world.

Saqib and Alice also both agreed that the current state of AI is only the beginning of its potential. They shared their visions of what it could achieve in the future — and it doesn't seem that far off.

The Big Takeaways:

• The Power of Generative AI: Saqib discussed the present condition of artificial intelligence and why generative AI is a massive leap from what came before it. With a deep data pool to draw from, generative AI can do so much more than identify items or come up with an essay prompt. It can understand and interpret the world with startling depth and expediency.

• Seeing AI: This app can truly put the world in the palm of your hand. It can perform essential tasks like reading a prescription or the sign at a bus stop — and even more than that! It can describe all the colorful details of sea life in a fish tank at the aquarium or help you order dinner off a menu. The app doesn't just provide people who are blind or visually impaired greater access to the world — it expands it.

• Embrace Change: There's understandably a lot of uncertainty about what role AI should play in society. However, Saqib Shaikh and Alice Massa insist that there's nothing to fear from AI, that the benefits far outweigh any potential drawbacks, and that as long as it's handled responsibly, there's a lot AI can do to help improve our lives.

Tweetables:

• "I had a client at the Lighthouse who really was very disinterested in doing anything. The only thing he did on his phone was answer a call from his pastor and call his pastor. And I was able to put Seeing AI on his phone. And his wife said the first time in two years, she saw a smile on his face because now he could read his Bible by himself." — Alice Massa, Occupational Therapist at Lighthouse Guild
• "What if AI could understand you as a human? What are your capabilities? What are your limitations at any moment in time? Whether that's due to a disability or your preferences or something else, and understand the environment, the world you're in, or the task you're doing on the computer or whatever. And then we can use the AI to close that gap and enable everyone to do more and realize their full potential." — Saqib Shaikh, Engineering Manager at Microsoft
• "I call my phone my sister because my phone is the person I go to when I'm on the street if I'm walking in Manhattan. The other day I was meeting someone on 47th Street. I wasn't sure which block I was on. All I did was open Seeing AI short text, hold it up to the street sign, and it told me I was on West 46th Street." — Alice Massa
• "Some of the interesting things powered by generative AI is going from taking a photo, say from your photo gallery if you're reliving memories from your vacation, or even just what's in front of you right now. It can go from saying it's a man sitting on a chair in a room to actually giving you maybe a whole paragraph describing what's in the room, what's on the shelf, what's In the background, what's through the window, even. And it's just remarkable. I work on this every day. I understand the technology, yet as an end user, I still am surprised and delighted by what this generation of AI is capable of telling me." — Saqib Shaikh

Contact Us:

Contact us at [email protected] with your innovative new technology ideas for people with vision loss.

Pertinent Links:

• Lighthouse Guild
• Together, Tacit
• Retissa Neoviewer
• State Tactile Omero Museum
• Emily Metauten Artist Page (Herminia Blue)

This podcast is about big ideas on how technology is making life better for people with vision loss.

When it comes to art, a common phrase is "look, don't touch." Many think of art as a purely visual medium, and that can make it difficult for people who are blind or visually impaired to engage with it. But in recent years, people have begun to reimagine what it means to experience and express art.

For this episode, Dr. Cal spoke to El-Deane Naude from Sony Electronics. El-Deane discussed the Retissa NeoViewer, a project developed with QD Laser that projects images taken on a camera directly onto the photographer's retina. This technology allows people who are visually impaired to see their work much more clearly and with greater ease.

Dr. Cal also spoke with Bonnie Collura, a sculptor and professor at Penn State University about her project, "Together, Tacit." Bonnie and her team developed a haptic glove that allows artists who are blind or visually impaired to sculpt with virtual clay. They work in conjunction with a sighted partner wearing a VR headset, allowing both to engage with each other and gain a new understanding of the artistic process.

This episode also includes an interview with Greta Sturm, who works for the State Tactile Omero Museum in Italy. Greta described how the museum's founders created an experience solely centered around interacting with art through touch. Not only is it accessible for people who are blind or visually impaired, but it allows everyone to engage with the museum's collection in a fascinating new way.

Finally, a painter and makeup artist named Emily Metauten described how useful accessible technology has been for her career. But she also discussed the challenges artists who are blind or visually impaired face when it comes to gaining access to this valuable technology.

The Big Takeaways:

• The Value of Versatility: Many photographers who are visually impaired require the use of large, unwieldy accessories in order to properly capture their work. Sony and QD Laser are determined to solve this problem with the Retissa NeoViewer, which can replace cumbersome accessories like screen magnifiers and optical scopes.
• Sculpting Virtual Clay: The aim of Together, Tacit, is to "foster creative collaboration between blind, low-vision, and sighted individuals." A major way this is accomplished is by using the haptic glove to sculpt virtual, rather than physical, clay. Working in VR makes it harder for the sighted partner to unintentionally influence the work of the artist who is blind or visually impaired. As a result, the experience for both users is more authentic and enriching.
• Reimagining the Museum Experience: The Tactile Omero Museum is much more than an opportunity for people who are blind or visually impaired to interact with art – it's reimagining how that art is fundamentally experienced. By giving visitors a chance to engage with pieces on a tactile level, the museum allows everyone a chance to reconnect with a vital sense that many take for granted.
• Expanding Ability to Access Technology: For artists like Emily Metauten who are visually impaired, accessible technology makes it much easier to do their jobs. However, many governmental organizations don't have the infrastructure to provide this technology to them. Emily wants to raise awareness of how valuable this technology can be, and why providing it to people is so important.

Tweetables:

• "When we're little kids, we want to touch everything … and then soon after that, we're told, no, no, no, you shouldn't touch. You should look and not touch. And so, it becomes the reality and it becomes what you're supposed to do." – Greta Sturm, Operator at State Tactile Omero Museum
• "I carry a Monocular little optical scope. But it becomes extremely difficult when you're out and about and you're trying to take a photograph, trying to change your settings. This method, the laser projection, I can actually read, the tiniest little settings." – El-Deane Naude, Senior Project Manager at Sony Electronics Imaging Division
• "The VR glasses definitely unlock an ability to see more details more easily for me. Because peripheral vision isn't designed to see fine details. That's what the central vision is responsible for. So that's what I have trouble with. But it made what I was already doing easier, and also did give me inspiration. Because we're trying to unlock the greater things in life, that aren't just beyond the basics for people with vision loss." – Emily Metauten, professional painter and makeup artist
• "I've learned through teaching that if a visually impaired or blind person was to use real clay … a sighted person would inevitably start to signify it in terms of what it can be called … And already, immediately, that begins to change the power dynamic on how something is created." – Bonnie Collura, Professor of Art, Penn State University

Contact Us:

• Contact us at [email protected] with your innovative new technology ideas for people with vision loss.

Pertinent Links

• Lighthouse Guild
• Together, Tacit
• Retissa Neoviewer
• State Tactile Omero Museum
• Emily Metauten Artist Page (Herminia Blue)

This podcast is about big ideas on how technology is making life better for people with vision loss.

When we buy a product off the shelf, we rarely think about how much work went into getting it there. Between initial conception and going to market, life-changing technology requires a rigorous testing and development process. That is especially true when it comes to accessible technology for people who are blind or visually impaired.

For this episode, Dr. Cal spoke to Jay Cormier, the President and CEO of Eyedaptic, a company that specializes in vision-enhancement technology. Their flagship product, the EYE5, provides immense benefits to people with Age-Related Macular Degeneration, Diabetic Retinopathy, and other low-vision diseases. But this product didn't arrive by magic. It took years of planning, testing, and internal development to bring this technology to market.

This episode also features JR Rizzo, who is a professor and researcher of medicine and engineering at NYU — and a medical doctor. JR and his research team are developing a wearable "backpack" navigation system that uses sophisticated camera, computer, and sensor technology. JR discussed both the practical and technological challenges of creating such a sophisticated project, along with the importance of beta testing and feedback.

The Big Takeaways:

• The importance of testing: There's no straight line between the initial idea and the final product. It's more of a wheel, that rolls along with the power of testing and feedback. It's extremely important to have a wide range of beta testers engage with the product. Their experience with it can highlight unexpected blind spots and create opportunities to make something even greater than originally anticipated.
• Anticipating needs: When it comes to products like the EYE5, developers need to anticipate that its users will have evolving needs as their visual acuity deteriorates. So part of the development process involves anticipating what those needs will be and finding a way to deliver new features as users need them.
• Changing on the fly: Sometimes, we receive feedback we were never expecting. When JR Rizzo received some surprise reactions to his backpack device, he had to reconsider his approach and re-examine his fundamental design.
• Future-Casting: When Jay Cormier and his team at Eyedaptic first started designing the EYE5 device, they were already considering what the product would look like in the future, and how it would evolve. To that end, they submitted certain patents many years ahead of when they thought they'd need them — and now, they're finally being put to use.

Tweetables:

• "I'm no Steve Jobs and I don't know better than our users. So the best thing to do is give them a choice and see what happens." — Jay Cormier, President & CEO of Eyedaptic
• "I started to think a little bit more about … assistive technologies. … And, I thought about trying to build in and integrate other sensory inputs that we may not have natively … to augment our existing capabilities." — JR Rizzo, NYU Professor of Medicine and Engineering
• "I think the way we've always looked at it is the right way, which is you put the user, the end user, front and center, and they're really your guide, if you will. And we've always done that even in the beginning when we start development of a project." – Jay Cormier
• "When we put a 10-pound backpack on some colleagues, they offered some fairly critical feedback that it was way too heavy and they would never wear it. … They were like … it's a non-starter." — JR Rizzo

Contact Us:

• Contact us at [email protected] with your innovative new technology ideas for people with vision loss.

Pertinent Links

• Lighthouse Guild
• Eyedaptic
• Rizzo Lab