An Australian tech startup is using augmented reality to empower people living with vision disability.
ARIA Research, short for Augmented Reality in Audio, is employing spatial computing and AI to create a pair of glasses which can help visually impaired people to navigate the world without the need for canes or guide dogs. It’s still in the development and testing stage, but already exciting steps have been taken to make this technology into an accessible product.
A global concern
According to Vision Australia, there are around 39 million blind people in the world, and an additional 246 million people with low vision. While uncorrected refractive errors are the leading cause of visual impairment, there are a range of factors contributing to rates of blindness and visual impairment including cataracts, glaucoma and age-related macular degeneration.
Sighted assumptions about blindness often lead to the development of tools which don’t work as they should. This means people living with visual impairment could be receiving better support and treatment if the broader public was further educated on the issues they face.
Drawing from a deeper understanding of the specific obstacles faced by the blind community, ARIA Research set out with several key aims. They wanted to solve the issue of spatial perception, which impacts vision impaired people as they move through a world built for people with vision. They also wanted to develop an ‘under the radar’ device, which could be almost imperceptible in the community, allowing those using the glasses to decide how to treat their disability. As most social interactions are non-verbal – instead using hand signals, facial expressions and postures – ARIA wanted to find a way to translate these cues into a social connection interface.
Experts initially hope that ARIA glasses can be used alongside guide dogs or canes, with the eventual aim of acting as a substitute.
Tech at its best
ARIA is a pair of smart sunglasses, interpreting what is visible in an individual’s surroundings into a complex three-dimensional auditory landscape. In other words, it enables the wearer to maintain a high level of spatial awareness without needing to see.
The startup was founded in 2019 by good friends Rob Yearsley and Mark Harrison, taking almost 3 years of research and experimentation before the concept even became a feasible reality. ARIA has already gone through 23 prototype iterations, and more than 300 human trials. A third of the company’s senior staff are blind, meaning they understand what needs to be built and why.
In fact, ARIA Research was named the Australian Technology Company of the Year in 2023, as part of the Australian Technologies Competition (ATC). The team is currently working with leading eye research centres, disability support providers and government agencies to test and improve the device before it is released to the public.
Today, ARIA is Australia’s only AR glass maker. They work with over 20 researchers from leading universities including UTS and University of Sydney to test new technologies including millimetre wave raiders and event cameras. In the lab, experts can make use of the Human Augmentation Lab, which employs 36 motion tracking cameras, a 64 channel spatial audio simulator, lighting controls, heart rate tracking and more to create repeatable experiments which deliver an accurate estimation of ARIA’s performance.
Not always a smooth road
ARIA glasses rapidly process information at a rate of 20 to 40 times a second, resulting in a consistent illusion of objects even when the wearer is moving quickly. VI-SLAM is a camera-based technology which incorporates depth perception and human movement to localise and map an individual in their surroundings. This allows the glasses to deliver a first-person audio perspective of the environment to the user.
However, it’s not as simple as it sounds. The glasses need to accurately complete approximately five trillion operations every second, while maintaining a power budget of around two watts and weighing less than 70 grams. It’s a tough job, but if successful could change millions of lives around the globe.
Other challenges include making sure the sound design is intuitive, ensuring the audible cues used to guide a wearer are easy-to-learn. However, ARIA Research and its collaborators are confident that the glasses are going to revolutionise vision support for blind and visually impaired individuals. As a new way to engage with surroundings, they hold massive potential.
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Opening image © ARIA Research