A new pair of smart glasses has now been launched for people who are deaf or suffer from any type of hearing loss. The new smart glasses are called ‘XRAI Glass’ and they use augmented reality to transform audio into captions that are instantly projected into the glasses lenses and straight into the wearer’s eyes.
The hardware was developed by AR glasses company Nreal through their Nreal Air glasses, XRAI Glass provided them with the software. The software will convert audio into a subtitled version of conversation which will then appear on the screen of the glasses for the wearer to read. Thanks to the voice recognition capabilities with the glasses they can even identify who’s speaking, and will soon be able to translate languages, voice tones, accents and pitch. Aside from allowing deaf people to ‘see’ conversations that are going on with other people, the glasses can also open the door to other technologies, such as smart assistants.
XRAI Glass CEO, Dan Scarfe said: “We are so proud of the ability of this innovative technology to enrich the lives of people who are deaf and have hearing loss, so that they can maximise potential.”
“Whether that means being able to have a conversation while continuing to make dinner or keeping conversation going while walking with a friend.”
Josh Fieldman, 23, was born with profound hearing loss and has had hearing aids in both ears since 18 months old he had the opportunity to test out the glasses. He tested them out without having any idea what they were literally about to do and described them as ‘quite extraordinary’. Josh said: “The impact of being able to not rely on looking at someone’s lips and being able to talk to them is clearly something which could be life changing.”
Mark Atkinson, CEO at the Royal National Institute for Deaf People (RNID), said: “This is a great example of the positive difference innovative technology can make for people who are deaf or have hearing loss. At RNID we are excited about the potential for technology to transform the lives of our communities. XRAI glass is intuitive and simple to use and could be a powerful tool in ensuring people with hearing loss don’t feel excluded in social settings.”
“We support and applaud this endeavour and are keen to play our part in connecting innovators with our diverse communities.”
The new smart glasses are now available through EE for £399.99, or for an upfront cost of £10 the £35/month for 11 months for EE customers.
