How AI glasses are helping one blind couple to live a more independent life

A PAIR of smart glasses best known for selfies and hands-free calls are quickly becoming something else entirely for one Carlow couple living with severe sight loss: a practical, pocket-sized assistant that can read labels, describe rooms and take the stress out of everyday tasks.

Noreen Carter and her partner Will McGuill want to share their experience ahead of World Glaucoma Day on 12 March, using their story to urge people to get their eye pressure checked before it’s too late.

“Bringing a little bit of light into a dark place,” is how Noreen describes the impact of the Ray-Ban Meta AI glasses – a wearable device that pairs with a smartphone app and uses built-in speakers and voice controls to respond to questions about what’s in front of the wearer.

“It was recommended to myself and my partner. I’m severely visually impaired and a cane user. My partner is also a cane user and he has glaucoma. I have a condition called retinitis pigmentosa, and he lost his sight when he was 39,” Noreen explained.

For Will, the loss of vision was gradual and the diagnosis came too late – and the couple say it’s exactly why they’re speaking out now.

“His glaucoma was overlooked by the medics and he was pushed from Billy to Jack, and by the time it was diagnosed it was too late,” Noreen said.

“People constantly get their blood pressure checked, but they never think of getting the pressure checked in their eyes. And the thing about glaucoma is by the time you realise you have a problem, there’s no going back … once the damage is done by the high pressure, there’s no going back. It’s the thief in the night.”

The glasses were first put on their radar through Vision Ireland (formerly the National Council for the Blind of Ireland), where a tech support worker introduced them to the Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses.

“They have become a real talking point in the blind community because what they can do for us is quite amazing,” Noreen said.

The couple couldn’t find a supplier in Carlow but tracked down a nearby option in Portlaoise after watching demonstrations online and deciding to go for it.

When they spoke to The Nationalist, Noreen had only had the glasses for a day but was already rethinking what’s possible at home.

“I’ve only just used them to read the digital display on my washing machine,” she said, still sounding delighted at the simple win.

The glasses don’t come ‘out of the box’ as an accessibility device, she explained, but she credited a tech-savvy staff member with helping to download the relevant app, enable the right settings and pair the glasses with her phone. They also required special lenses to protect their eyes.

“I live alone and I need to be able to access things. I discovered that it reads handwriting for me, which I was really surprised by. I took out a shopping receipt and it read that, too.”

She also praised their ease of use. “Once you put the glasses on, they come on, and once you take the glasses off, they turn off. You don’t have to be worrying about trying to work it through the app. It’s very easy.”

And unlike many assistive set-ups, the audio comes through built-in, open-ear speakers in the arms of the glasses – no separate earphones needed.

One of the most immediate changes, the couple said, is how the glasses reduce the need to constantly ask other people for help.

Even straightforward things such as reading a menu can turn into an awkward encounter – now the glasses can read it aloud. Noreen is looking forward to trying it out when they next visit Teach Dolmain.

“And, more importantly, be able to read the prices,” Will added with a chuckle.

At home, the couple have already found themselves laughing at the unexpected moments the technology creates.

“My partner was here for dinner today and he asked what was on the plate in front of him and it said ‘it appears to be chicken’. I said, ‘that’s how good my cooking is.’ It didn’t even look like chicken. It appears to be chicken,” Noreen said, bursting out laughing.

For Will, who is almost completely blind and has only light perception, the ‘what’s in front of me’ function is more than a novelty. The glasses can call out obstacles and describe a room. When he tried it, Noreen said it described “a white door that was open and behind that, a stairs going upwards.”

Noreen has already begun spreading the word to local eye-care professionals.

“I was talking to Dr Micheál Gallagher, a glaucoma specialist and researcher in Carlow Eye Clinic, and he was unaware of these glasses and what they could do for the blind. He was very pleased that I’d shared that information with him and said he was going to share it with his clients.”

She believes there’s also a public awareness gap. “When people listen to the ads, there’s no mention of how the glasses can assist those who are blind and visually impaired. I think this is a good way of reaching out to the public and making them aware of it.”

The glasses are not cheap, the couple acknowledged, but they feel they had little alternative.

“Both of us had magnification systems, which have now become obsolete due to the deterioration of our sight. We were looking for an audio reader to read our post and different things and we weren’t getting anywhere with the HSE, so that’s why we’ve taken things into our own hands.”

Noreen said she and Will had been waiting on a device called an easy reader from the HSE –and made a stark claim from within the sight-loss community: “In the last nine years, no blind person in the south-east area has received any technical aids from the HSE. Not one single person.”

For Noreen and Will, the ability to ask the glasses a question out loud and get an answer back has made all the difference in just 24 hours. And as World Glaucoma Day approaches on 12 March, their message is simple: don’t wait until it’s too late to check your eyes.