Miami

Technology Provides Opportunities For Visually Impaired in South Florida

What to Know

  • The high tech breakthrough is so small it fits on an eyeglass frame she wears.
  • The Orcam My Eye 2.0 instantly reads printed and digital text aloud from any surface - and that's not all.
  • Weighing less than an ounce, this wearable artificial vision communicates visual information through a tiny speaker pointed at the ear.

Virginia Jacko is a busy South Florida CEO challenged by daily tasks that come very simply to others. Jacko is completely blind, losing her eyesight to a degenerative disease 20 years ago. But now, she's trying on a new device nearly the size of her finger and it reads what she can't.

The high tech breakthrough is so small it fits on an eyeglass frame she wears. The Orcam My Eye 2.0 instantly reads printed and digital text aloud from any surface - and that's not all.

"Not being able to read is horrible,” Jacko said. "To be able to have facial recognition and train it for the people who come in my office, or that I meet at an event, or to be able to read text, it's like a miracle."

The Orcam can identify men and women, even familiar faces.

"At least it'll tell you, there's a man in the room, there's a woman in the room,” said John Garcia from Miami’s Lighthouse for the Blind. “It's programmed to tell you who that person is as well."

Weighing less than an ounce, this wearable artificial vision communicates visual information through a tiny speaker pointed at the ear.

"Having something in your pocket which is like your minicomputer, that’s all you need,” said Jacko.

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