Game-Changing Technology: A Review of the Horizon Smart Glasses from Aira

7/30/18

Game-Changing Technology: A Review of the Horizon Smart Glasses from Aira; Deborah Kendrick

Product Reviews and Guides

What do ant hills, printer jams, and new neighbors have in common? They represent moments when Aira agents helped me with an otherwise impossible task or, at the very least, reduced to a mere fraction the time required to get where I wanted to go.

Three years ago, Aira was introduced to consumers with visual impairments, debuting initially at the CSUN conference in San Diego. I did what I usually do when a new technology comes to town. I read releases, observed quietly in audiences, lurked on a few email lists. The first thing that caught my attention was Michael Hingson, well-known advocate and a personal friend, writing that an Aira agent had guided him from jetway to luggage carousel at LAX, the Los Angeles International Airport. I have an almost visceral reaction (rejection) to all the hands that get into my life in the business of airport navigation. Well-meaning people grab my arm, touch my back, want to seat me in a wheelchair. The notion of being able to flee from this well-intentioned octopus-like band of helpers sounded pretty blissful. But… I delayed.

I attended more demonstrations, lurked on more phone calls and email lists, and, finally, signed up a full two years after Aira’s debut.

Read the full story here: http://www.afb.org/afbpress/pubnew.asp?DocID=aw190603