Indian-Origin Engineers create AI Smart Glasses for Visually Challenged (Blind) People

Smart glasses have emerged as truly captivating tech-wearables, with their potential increasingly explored since their introduction. While tech giants like Apple, Google, and BMW hint at using them to enhance our real-world interactions and simplify tasks, one Netherlands-based company has uniquely focused on leveraging smart glasses to profoundly benefit individuals with visual impairments.

This innovative Netherlands-based assistive technology company, Envision, is dedicated to empowering people with no or low vision by helping them perceive the world through AI-powered smart glasses.

Founded in 2017 by Indian-origin engineers Karthik Kannan and Karthik Mahadevan, both alumni of the College of Engineering, Guindy, Envision recently introduced its groundbreaking smart glasses. These AI-powered glasses enable blind individuals to better understand their surroundings, offering features like document reading, face scanning, and navigation assistance.

**Karthik Kannan** (with beard) and **Karthik Mahadevan** (without beard)

Envision’s Mission: Empowering the Visually Impaired with Assistive Technology

These innovative smart glasses were unveiled globally at a conference hosted by California State University, Northridge. Essentially, by leveraging artificial intelligence, the glasses verbally interpret the surrounding world for individuals who are blind.

Key Features of Envision AI Smart Glasses

When worn, the Envision Smart Glass captures a broad field of view through its integrated 8-megapixel camera. These Envision Glasses then employ advanced AI to extract diverse information from the captured images. Crucially, its optical character recognition (OCR) technology can interpret millions of data points, verbally relaying this information to users in over 60 different languages. The camera is specifically enhanced to read both digital and handwritten text from virtually any surface.

Beyond reading text, these glasses further enrich a user’s perception of the world with additional functionalities such as color detection, light detection, facial recognition, and object recognition. This means the glasses can help users identify a black shirt on a shelf, determine if a lamp is illuminated, recognize familiar faces, and locate personal items quickly.

Powered by a Qualcomm quad-core processor, the Envision Smart Glass offers seamless connectivity with both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. It includes a built-in speaker for audio feedback and boasts a battery life of five to six hours, ensuring extended use.

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Designed for comfort, the glasses are remarkably lightweight, weighing just 50 grams. They can be operated either via a smartphone or independently. Its robust app ecosystem facilitates integration with various external services, including navigation. Furthermore, with the specialized Cash Reader app, the glasses can accurately recognize over 100 currencies.

Enhanced Communication: Secure Video Calling for Guidance

Envision’s advanced technology offers broad compatibility, supporting both Android and iOS systems. Notably, it seamlessly integrates with Google Glass, as the Envision glasses are built upon the Google Glass Enterprise Edition 2 platform.