Imagine a pair of smart glasses specifically designed for blind and low-vision users, allowing them to perceive the world around them. It’s no longer science fiction: it’s now a reality, thanks to artificial intelligence.
This has been made possible by Envision, a startup founded by Karthik Mahadevan, who serves as the company’s CEO, and Karthik Kannan, who serves as the CTO. Both Mahadevan and Kannan studied at the College of Engineering, with Mahadevan later earning a master’s degree in Industrial and Product Design from Delft University of Technology. Their company has partnered with eyewear brand Solos to launch a new generation of smart glasses specifically tailored for blind and low-vision users.
Dubbed Ally Solos Glasses, they can read text, describe the environment, perform web searches, and even recognize people, signs, and objects—all through audio cues delivered via built-in speakers. These glasses are built using the same frame as the AirGo Vision glasses that Solos launched last December, featuring multimodal AI and a ChatGPT-powered voice assistant.
While much of the design remains similar, the Ally Solos glasses use Envision’s own AI assistant, ‘Ally,’ instead of GPT-4o. This assistant is powered by a combination of foundational AI models, including Meta’s Llama, OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Google’s Gemini, and Perplexity, according to the Ally website.
The glasses also feature 2K resolution camera sensors on the frames to process visual information and connect via the Ally app on iOS and Android. The glasses have P67 rating for protection from dust and water, and USB-C chargeable ear stems that provide “up to 16 hours of active use” on a single charge. It takes around 90 minutes to fully charge the ear stems, with 15 minutes of fast-charging providing around three hours of battery life.
The basic idea behind the glasses is that the built-in cameras ‘see for you,’ enabling them to read menus, describe the environment, or even recognize people and objects through spoken commands. Although they are marketed primarily to blind and low-vision users, anyone can use these glasses, for example, to access translation features or scan and capture documents using the cameras.
Story continues below this ad
The Ally Solos Glasses are available for pre-order at a special launch price of $399, discounted from the regular price of $699. The frames come in two sizes (regular and large) and are available in black, gray, or brown. Shipping for pre-orders is expected to begin in October 2025.
In recent years, major tech companies have been focusing on accessibility technology by either launching dedicated products or adding accessible features to mainstream devices. For example, Apple’s Live Speech feature allows users to type what they want to say and have it spoken aloud across their Apple products, while Eye Tracking enables people to control their iPhone or iPad using just their eyes. Similarly, Google is using AI to power features like Guided Frame, which helps blind and low-vision Pixel users take well-framed photos through audio and haptic cues, as well as Lookout, which can identify objects and generate detailed image descriptions. Meta’s Ray-Ban glasses, for instance, are already helping blind users navigate the world with greater ease.
0
0
Average Rating