Technology can give millions of people around the globe the ultimate gift, the opportunity to see for the first time or see again after going blind. There are a number of tech companies developing smart glasses, such as eSight, Aira, and Enchroma. Below, you can find a breakdown of how the various technologies help people regain their independence.eSight: electronic glasses that have a high speed and high-resolution camera in the middle of the frame which captures and collects everything a user looks at in real time.
Aira: Smart glasses pair users with company employees helping them navigate around their surroundings. Aira workers see what customers see on a screen; when a customer needs help, all they have to do is call the Aira agent and listen to their instructions
Enchroma: Enhances colors for people living with color blindness; the product doesn’t compromise color accuracy and alleviates the red-green color.
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“The Unlocking of Vision”
Kenny and Justin Jongsma were diagnosed with Leber hereditary optic neuropathy—a rare genetic disease. The twin brothers became legally blind at the age 21; they only have peripheral vision now. A special kind of eyeglasses made by eSight of Toronto could help the brothers lead a more normal life, allowing them to do some of the things they did before losing their central vision. The eyewear uses a high speed, high-resolution camera to project real-time images to the wearer.
Around 5 million people are completely blind because of damaged or diseased corneal tissue; another 10 million people need surgery to prevent corneal blindness. While modern medicine allows for corneal transplants, there is a severe donor shortage. Fortunately, scientists are now using 3D printers to create synthetic corneas which could help prevent millions of people from losing their eyesight. The cornea is a transparent sheath that sits over the iris and the pupil, directing light rays onto the retina.
Actress Natalie Dormer (Game of Thrones) stars in a movie playing a character living with vision loss. In order to learn more about living with blindness for her role as a blind pianist in the movie Darkness, Dormer turned to the Royal National Institute Of Blind People (RNIB). Dormer says she had several challenges playing the role.
Be My Eyes is a remarkable new app that assists blind people and those living with low vision see where they are going. The Smartphone application pairs users who have questions or need directions. People who have interest in helping the blind get around can download the app and lend their eyes.
Albinism can severely impact people’s vision making life more challenging. Ryan Huizdos is legally blind because of albinism, but that didn’t stop him from playing little league with the help of a bright yellow ball. Nobody had any objections about the ball until his team made it to a district tournament game in 2015. When Little League learned of the ball, the organization banned its use. A three-year legal battle ensued, and Huizdos can now use the ball when he's at bat, pitching or playing infield.
Myrna Hayutin sells fine art and has done so for the past three-and-a-half decades, despite the fact that she is legally blind. Retinitis pigmentosa began stealing Myrna’s vision when she was eight years old and continues to get worse. Hayutin manages a fine-art gallery and is now an art appraiser, thanks to assistive technologies.
Blindness may seem like an impediment when it comes to playing musical instruments. However, time and time again the general public witnesses remarkable feats involving visually impaired people mastering the art of music, i.e., Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder. Before Vincent Young learned how to walk, he was already making a name for himself as a musical prodigy despite his blindness. Today, Young is a professional musician who “sings by the words he lives by.”
Vivian Stancil went blind at the age of 19; at the age of 50 her doctor told her that if she wanted to live longer, she would have to start exercising. Even though Stancil didn’t know how to swim, she got into a pool in spite of her blindness. She was morbidly obese when she began learning how to swim since then she has won 220 swimming medals and now runs a foundation that teaches at-risk adults and children how to swim.
Taking care of one’s health is absolutely vital! You can lead a healthier life by utilizing various vitamins. Eating foods rich in vitamins or taking supplements, such as vitamin A, can strengthen the essential systems in the human body. In fact, consuming vitamin A can prevent vision loss and improve eyesight. Glaucoma, cataracts, night blindness, and other eye disorders can be avoided by regular consumption of foods with vitamin A.
Six-year-old Logan and 4-year-old Zoe Galloway are budding hockey players. While it’s not uncommon for people to begin skating at a young age, what makes these two children unique is the fact that they are visually impaired. Unfortunately, both children are going blind from an extremely rare form of eye disease, Leber congenital amaurosis.
Did you know that there is a gender gap in eye disease? In fact, studies indicate that women are at a more significant risk of experiencing vision loss, including age-related macular degeneration (AMD), cataracts and glaucoma. Regular eye examinations are vital to early diagnosis; during Healthy Vision Month, the American Academy of Ophthalmology wants women to prioritize vision. The Academy encourages people to get a comprehensive medical eye exam at age 40; know your family history; eat healthily; quit smoking; protect their eyes from the sun; and perform daily eyelid hygiene.
Erik Weihenmayer was born on Sept. 23, 1968, with a rare eye disease, retinoschisis; his vision worsened through childhood, and he went completely blind in his early teens. Despite living with vision loss, Weihenmayer was introduced to rock climbing and, as he says, was reborn. Since that time, he has climbed or attempted some of the most technical peaks in the world. 
A former equity research analyst hopes to create a tactile alphabet that echoes the Roman characters; the goal is to help people who experience vision loss later in life maintain the ability to read. It turns out that some people struggle to learn braille, Andrew Chepaitis’ grandmother had the same experience; as a result, Chepaitis founded ELIA Life Technology. Ike Presley, National Project Manager for the American Foundation for the Blind, has concerns though regarding ELIA citing inaccurate statistics about braille literacy, but he is not entirely against the idea.
Experts believe that “blue light’ can disrupt sleep patterns, diet, and people’s vision. Purdue assistant professor of biochemistry, Vikki Weake, led a blindness study in fruit flies. The findings of the vision loss study could prove useful in understanding human ocular diseases.
People in the advanced stages of diabetes are at risk of losing their vision; the disorder is known as diabetic retinopathy. Given that hundreds of millions of people around the globe, including millions of Americans, have diabetes there is an urgent need to find ways of preventing diabetic-related vision loss.
When Kathy Martinez began her career, a counselor at the California Department of Rehabilitation said that Martinez would probably never make it further than working at a lock factory. Why would someone rain on the parade of young women with aspirations? It might have to do with the fact that Kathy is blind. The counselor couldn’t have been farther from the mark! It may have taken her 13 years to finish college, but since that time Martinez has worked with the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, served under two administrations, and led Wells Fargo’s Disability and Accessibility strategy.
A couple of months ago we shared a New York Times article written by columnist Frank Bruni. Those of you who read the NYT are probably familiar with the author's op-eds. Bruni wrote an eloquent essay about discovering that he had nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy(NAION); it is often referred to as ‘a stroke of the eye.’ There isn’t a cure to the condition which usually results in blindness, but his doctor said he could take part in the world’s largest clinical trial of NAION; scientists are testing a groundbreaking injection of RNA that could prevent such patients from going blind.
In Baltimore, Maryland, high school students living with blindness are participating in a songwriting project called "Seeing Through Music." The program was created to assist young people living with vision loss share their story through songs and poetry.
Movies and TV shows that touch upon disability rarely employ actors who have the condition they are portraying. With that in mind, it is also lovely when directors and producers flip the script, hiring actors living with an impairment. Last week, the 350th episode of NCIS included a blind witness played by Woodland, California, native Marilee Talkington. Aside from being an exceptional actress, Talkington was perfect for the role because she is legally blind.
In New Caney, Texas, on the first Saturday of each month, blind and visually impaired children become budding artists as part of the "Creating with Blind Abandon" Art Club. Visual impairment teacher Kathy Trimm made a discovery; traditional art was not accessible to children living with vision loss. If you have a moment, the video is worth your time.
People who are living with diabetes often experience damage to their retinas, an eye disease known as diabetic retinopathy. According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, diabetic retinopathy is the most common cause of vision loss among people with diabetes and is the number one cause of vision problems among working-age adults. The FDA recently approved the IDx-DR program, which utilizes artificial intelligence (AI) to detect diabetic retinopathy.
Retinopathy of prematurity, or ROP, is a rare form of blindness that strikes people born prematurely. The findings of a new study showing the value of telemedicine eye screenings could lead to more blindness-preventing treatments for infants, especially babies born in areas lacking ophthalmologists. The study, published in JAMA Ophthalmology, shows that telemedicine screens can be as useful as in-person eye exams.
A 24-year-old YouTuber and motivational speaker shares her thoughts about dating when living in blindness. Molly Burke lives in Los Angeles, CA. She says she isn’t able to experience physical attraction in the same way as most people because she suffered vision loss at the age of 14.
When Kirsty James was just thirteen years old she was informed that she would one day go blind. Before being diagnosed with a degenerative eye condition called Stargardt disease, she hid the fact that her vision was deteriorating; Kristy also came to believe that she might even be losing her mind because of the visions she was experiencing. Her hallucinations persisted without any explanation as to the cause, then she learned about Charles Bonnet Syndrome. It’s a condition that affects some people losing their vision; the brain replaces images with hallucinations because it's trying to make sense of what it is seeing.
Carol Green, a blind teacher of the visually impaired, has developed a braille code for people who know the Navajo language. She is on a mission to raise money for her cause, becoming a semifinalist considered for the Holman prize, which awards up to $25,000 for innovative projects by the blind.
Jeri Weatherholt has a college degree from Indiana State University. She works as a medical transcriptionist and lives independently, despite the fact that she has been blind since the age of 10. At first glance, it may seem like there isn’t anything Weatherholt can’t accomplish; and that might actually be the case. The Indiana U grad has had a lifelong fear of water, but the 61-year-old didn’t let that stand in her way when she decided to learn to swim a year ago.
Last week, we shared a story with you about a woodworker living with vision loss that teaches his craft to others with eye diseases residing in Northern California. Napa artist, George Wurtzel, sees life in ways that sighted people can’t begin to understand, a fact not lost on Subaru of America; the favorite car company of outdoor enthusiasts featured Wurtzel in Subaru of America’s television spot called “See the World.”
Did you know that April is Women’s Eye Health and Safety Awareness Month. Prevent Blindness is an organization on a mission to educate, prevent vision loss, and preserve people’s eyesight. A study, The Future of Vision: Forecasting the Prevalence and Costs of Vision Problems, shows that 63 percent of those that are blind and 62 percent of those that are visually impaired are women. More women than men struggle with blindness, including age-related macular degeneration, cataracts, glaucoma, and dry eye.
Body modifications like piercings and tattoos are not a new trend, millions of people around the world display some form of body art. However, there are times when body mods come at a significant, life-changing cost. More and more people are open to cosmetic procedures that can change the whites of the eye to another color. If you are thinking, ‘What could go wrong?’ Then you are not alone, in fact, such eye procedures can cause permanent damage to the eye and blindness.
Smartphones allow the visually impaired a new sense of freedom and independence, thanks to several innovative applications. Now, blind people can utilize smartwatches to improve life quality. The Dot Watch has a touch display in which 24 dots rise and fall, spelling out words in braille; users can also link the watch to a smartphone via Bluetooth. The stylish watch can relay information from social media, texting and GPS apps. The Dot Watch is available to purchase for $359.
Master woodworker, George Wurtzel, doesn’t let vision loss stand in between him and his passion. Wurtzel teaches woodworking classes to the visually impaired at the Enchanted Hills Camp, which is now owned by the Lighthouse Center for the Blind. At the Napa workshop, you will find both sighted and blind instructors.
Douglas Waters developed vision problems almost three years ago. It turns out he was suffering from with severe wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD). The eye condition causes blurred vision or a blind spot. A few months after receiving his diagnosis he was selected to take part in a clinical trial at Moorfields Eye Hospital in London. A stem cell-based treatment gave Waters his sight back; now he can read the newspaper.
New research identifies proteins that are linked to diabetic retinopathy, a common form of blindness that can result from diabetes. Two studies published recently could help healthcare providers grasp the connection and develop new intervention methods, potentially sparing patients from both vision loss and heart disease. More research is needed for better understanding the relationship triglyceride levels and the three identified protein pathways.
If eye problems are identified early enough, blindness can be prevented in many cases. The Lion’s Club has a long history of helping people living in darkness and advocating for vision loss prevention, thanks to a speech that Helen Keller gave to the organization in 1925. At the time, she was encouraging the Lions to partner with the newly formed American Foundation for the Blind. At the end of her talk she said:
World War I veterans who returned from overseas with eye injuries established the Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB) a century ago. Last week, the organization celebrated its 100th anniversary of "seeing beyond vision." As you can probably imagine, there were not many resources for people living with vision loss in the early 20th Century; thanks to advocacy groups like CNIB, countless visually impaired people can lead fulfilling lives.
On March 16, 2018, professional musicians living with vision loss will demonstrate the world’s first braille eReader at London’s Royal National Institute Of Blind People (RNIB). A “Kindle for blind people,” says Bristol Braille Technology in describing their multi-line refreshable Braille eReader. Are you are wondering why blind musicians will demonstrate using the device? It is because the Canute 360 gives musicians the ability to read multiple lines of music at once, a feature that traditional machines lack.
IDX, a company in Iowa City, created an instrument that the Food and Drug Administration calls a breakthrough device. The machine can autonomously detect diabetic retinopathy by taking photos of the eye. Diabetic retinopathy is the leading cause of blindness, causing vision loss in roughly 24,000 Americans each year. Given that more than 30 million Americans have diabetes, preventing vision loss is critical. Early detection can prevent vision loss, and the IDX device can help.
Diane Krek is a graphic designer who began losing her vision 25 years ago. Like many people living with blindness, Krek refuses to let her condition stand in the way of making art and helping others. In 2016, she launched BLT Art for a Cause; it serves as a platform to sell her artwork. Krek donates a portion of the profits she makes selling prints to vision loss organizations, such as Foundation Fighting Blindness, Pennsylvania Council for the Blind and Lions Club’s Leader Dogs for the Blind program. 
Blindness was a part of Hoby Wedler’s life from day one, and yet he still manages to accomplish remarkable feats. In high school, Wedler he enrolled in honors chemistry and chose to pursue a career in the field as a food and beverage sensory expert. He studied at the University of California, Davis, earning a doctorate in organic chemistry. In 2011, with the help of Francis Ford Coppola, he created 'Tasting in the Dark;' the program takes sighted people through a wine tasting experience in total darkness. A truly blind event!
Each day in the United States, about 2,000 workers sustain a job-related eye injury that requires medical treatment, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Did you know that March is Workplace Eye Wellness Month? Sponsored by Prevent Blindness, the nation’s oldest volunteer eye health and safety group, the goal of Workplace Eye Wellness Month is to educate employers on how to keep vision healthy in the workplace.
Brad Snyder lost his vision when he came in contact with an improvised explosive device (IED) while serving in Afghanistan. His story is one of inspiration, to be sure, a year after going blind he won the gold in swimming at the Paralympics; he has a loving family, great friends, and an excellent job. While, on the surface, he maintains a healthy perspective on life and it may seem like he’s got it pretty good (all things considered), he says that there is more to his story:
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Seeing-eye dogs significantly improve the quality of life for people living with blindness. Unfortunately, BBC journalist, Mohammed Salim Patel, has a phobia of dogs which led him to give up on the assistance of a service animal, until he met Digby. It turns out that dogs are not the only animals that can serve as guides for the visually impaired, Digby is an eight-month-old, two feet tall American miniature horse.
If you’ve ever listened to the voice of the Tuscan tenor, Andrea Bocelli, you might think you were hearing the voice of an angel. Bocelli’s story is one of inspiration; he was born with glaucoma, lost his eyesight at the age of 12, and went on to sell more than 80 million albums worldwide. His memoir was adapted into a biopic, The Music of Silence; the film was directed by Michael Radford (Il Postino) and stars Game of Thrones’ Toby Sebastian.
Blindness, or being visually impaired in any way, makes it extremely difficult to navigate through life, especially without help and compassion. Many people don’t understand just how hard it is or the kinds of discrimination that the visually impaired tolerate on a day to day basis. A video that has gone viral shows just what blind people are subjected to, often times.
Students at a public charter school in Utah had the opportunity to experience simulated deafness and blindness. Vista School students who participated in the simulation learned what it was like to live with deaf-blindness and how to interact with those affected by such conditions. The demonstration was organized and instructed by teachers from the Deaf-Blind Services division of the Utah Schools for the Deaf & the Blind.
Usher syndrome, the leading cause of combined deafness and blindness. ProQR, a RNA-based medicines developer, is joining forces with the Foundation Fighting Blindness to make QR-421a, which targets blindness resulting from Usher Syndrome. QR-421a corrects the mutation that causes blindness. The FFB has awarded €6M to ProQR for research and development.
Gail (McGuckin) Cornwell, 61, published her first book in a six-book series titled “The Gates of Avalon.” While she is unable to drive a car, technology allows her to write her novels on the computer, despite being legally blind. She is a testament to the fact that vision loss doesn’t need to deter you from fulfilling your dreams.
It’s fair to say that every adult stares at their smartphone far too often; some people spend over six hours a day on their phone. Smartphones are still relatively new, which means researchers are still learning the costs of having convenience at our fingertips. Well, troubling news for people who use their phones excessively, LED lights in device screens could damage the retina leading to eventual blindness.