Introduction to Emeline Lakrout
Emeline Lakrout, a busy New Yorker with a passion for walking, climbing, and swimming, refuses to let her legal blindness hold her back from living an active lifestyle. Despite being declared blind at the age of 8, Lakrout has taken on numerous challenges, including participating in the New York Marathon and joining the US National Paraclimbing team. Her latest tool to maintain an active and independent lifestyle is a pair of AI glasses from Meta.
The Benefits of AI Glasses
"The glasses make life easier for me," said the 27-year-old Lakrout. "They make things faster and let me do more during the day because it is simply faster and easier to do things and I feel less tired at the end of the day." The AI glasses, originally designed to allow users to stream video on the go and interact with AI, have been found to be highly beneficial by members of the blind community.
Connecting with the "Be My Eyes" App
Users can connect their glasses with the "Be My Eyes" app, which pairs blind and visually impaired users with volunteers who can assist with object recognition and everyday tasks in real-time. This app can also help with tasks such as sorting through mail or providing support to individuals. Additionally, the AI glasses utilize optical character detection (OCR), which can read out text from menus, receipts, and emails, providing users with access to text-based information.
Accessibility and Limitations
For Lakrout, the AI glasses have brought her closer to accessing information that was previously difficult to obtain, such as signs in subway stations or on street corners. However, Mark Riccobono, President of the National Federation of the Blind, notes that the glasses are not without their limitations. "(They) work well for some things, it doesn’t work well in other situations," he said. Lakrout has also experienced some of these limitations, including the glasses’ inability to read out prices for specific items on a menu and the battery dying when using certain AI-driven features.
The Importance of Collaboration and Human Capacity
Riccobono emphasizes the importance of Meta working with the blind community to improve the technology and make it more sensible for the experience of the blind. Lakrout and Riccobono agree that the AI technology and glasses from Meta are a useful step towards improving the independence of the blind and visually impaired community. However, they also acknowledge that the glasses do not replace the need for human capacity and that blind individuals still need to develop the skills necessary to be successful.
