About 50 blind Georgia veterans received free glasses powered by artificial intelligence that can help them move through the world more freely.
By Orlando Montoya, GPB News
Artificial intelligence is transforming lives for people who are blind or have low vision.
People who can’t see now can ask camera- and microphone-equipped “smart glasses” what’s in front of them.
Last month, about 50 blind Georgia veterans got free glasses powered by Meta.
The tech giant is giving away more than 100,000 of the glasses through partnerships with low vision and blindness centers across the country.
Dennis Darnes is a 70-year-old Marine Corps veteran with glaucoma and cataracts who lives in Atlanta.
He said that the glasses — and the “Be My Eyes” app that comes with it — help him move more freely through his everyday life.
“It’ll tell you what’s on your plate,” he said. “It’ll tell you what color clothes that you have or ‘What type of shoes are these?’ or what’s in the room. ‘Describe this room. Tell me where the potato chips are.’”
AI-powered glasses also can do things like read mail or prescription labels, identify obstacles and even help a blind person run a marathon.
Darnes says that he got his smart glasses through the Department of Veterans Affairs.
But he was on hand when the Georgia Center for the Visually Impaired gave away the glasses at an event to mark White Cane Safety Day, an annual October celebration of independence for blind Americans.
“The Meta glasses have been a game changer for me,” Darnes said.
The Atlanta-based center trains people on how to use the glasses and other assistive technology.
It also offers clinical care and other support across a 28-county region.
For more information about the glasses and other resources, find the Georgia Center for the Visually Impaired at cviga.org.
This story comes to CVI through a reporting partnership with GPB News, a non-profit newsroom covering the state of Georgia.