According to the International Guide Dog Federation, humans have been relying on dogs for help for thousands of years, with the first systematic attempt to train dogs to aid blind people happening around 1780 in Paris.
According to estimates, about two percent of people who are blind or visually impaired in the U.S. have guide dogs, which is about 60,000 people. And according to Guide Dogs of America, training a dog for service costs about $48,000.
A new technological option was announced earlier this year by a Romanian start-up company, .lumen. The company’s glasses use self-driving technology within a scalable, wearable headset. While a guide dog pulls your hand, the .lumen Glasses pull your head.
The glasses integrate depth cameras with a hardware and software platform, offering the potential to revolutionize how the visually impaired interact with their environment. The glasses use advanced sensors to detect objects and obstacles, mimicking the functionality of a guide dog.
Computing 100 times a second, the glasses understand and identify obstacles above or below the ground and help users avoid them. The glasses indicate safe walking paths and help users avoid roads, puddles or other objects. The company estimates that the glasses are compatible with 80 percent of adult heads.
The company’s website states the glasses will be available in the second half of 2024. No cost is currently listed on the site.
With continuous software updates, the glasses learn to help users more, whether it’s with reading, shopping, hiking or empowering new jobs for people who are blind or visually impaired. The possibilities are vast.
For more information, visit https://www.dotlumen.com/.