Tag: technology

RayBan Meta glasses — how I use them every day

by Pam Harris, "blind" writer

This photo is AI generated, so if you want to see what my glasses look like, go to my YouTube channel Journey to Sight.

These smart glasses can be used by anyone, but they are the latest hot topic in the VIP (Visually Impaired Persons) community. Why? Because at prices ranging from $300 to $379, they are much less expensive than most aids for people with low vision, and they work better than many apps designed for people who cannot see.

You may be wondering how they work, and that’s what I’m going to attempt to explain in this post.

First, I’ll answer the question I’m asked most often. No, they do not help me see. If you are someone who wears glasses and wants to use your prescription, your doctor can put lenses in the frames, but for people like me who are not helped by glasses, we just leave the glasses as they are.

Second, you can p purchase them with clear lenses, shaded lenses, or, as in my case, with transition lenses so they are clear indoors but transition to sunglasses when in the sun.

Third, you can buy them online on Amazon or even directly from a RayBan online store. You can select your style by doing a virtual try-on if you go to the RayBan site, and once you order them, you will receive them in a few days.

The set-up is easy. You download an app to your phone and pair the glasses to whatever you would like–phone, messages, music, audio books, etc.

The glasses have a case in which they are stored and charge while storing. You charge the case just as you would a phone, but the glasses get their power from a small charging area inside the glasses case.

You can find videos about the glasses on YouTube, but I am going to share my personal experiences and how I use them.

The glasses have a camera that enables the app to see things for you. The frames contain speakers that allow you to speak and to listen. When I walk my dog, I wear the glasses so I can listen to audio books, but I also notice if my dog seems to be on high alert and see something I can’t. I simply say, “Hey, Meta, look and tell me if there’s an animal or human ahead of me.” Or, “Hey, Meta, look and tell me what is in the middle of the road.”I talk on the phone while wearing them even though my phone is in my pocket. I listen to text messages using them. I You get the idea.

I use them to read things for me like cards people send to me (they can even read cursive handwriting), typed correspondence from organizations, street signs, and more. They help me locate things like where I placed something, or they tell me what an object is that I can’t recognize from a distance. The other day I couldn’t find the TV remote. I said “Hey, Meta, where is the TV remote?” The first time Meta could not tell me. I looked at a different area of the room and asked again. Meta told me where it was.

Allow men to explain. I was at the wellness center this morning and was forced to use a treadmill with which I’m not familiar since my preferred treadmill was out of order. I said: “Hey, Meta. what color is the ‘Start’ button and where is it located?” She told me, and then I asked, “Hey, Meta, how do I set the speed on this treadmill?” Her response was the various options I had to set the speed.

A few days after I got my glasses, I was at a local restaurant where my book club meets each month. At lunch, you place and pay for your order at the register and get your own beverage. The servers bring your food once it’s ready. (Okay, I’ll say it so locals know. We meet at Blake’s!) That particular day, I didn’t have to ask any of my friends what was available on the menu. I like getting something different each time. So I held up the menu and said, “Hey, Meta, what salads are on the menu?” I decided on the house salad and said, “Hey, Meta, can I add chicken to the house salad?” She (I have a female voice set for my glasses) told me I could. When I took my glass to the beverage station, there were three tea dispensers. I said, “Hey, Meta, where is the unsweetened tea located?” She told me, “The unsweetened tea is located on the far right.”

It felt wonderful not to have to ask someone for help.

The glasses do a great job of answering your questions so you don’t have to search the old-fashioned way. This morning I asked the glasses for the phone number of the library in a neighboring town.

I ask the glasses for recipes. I have the glasses read directions to me when cooking. I can ask the glasses what temperature the oven is on. I use bump dots to label the buttons I need to use, but I can’t read the digital numbers unless I lean way over above the stove-top and get my face a few inches from the screen. With the glasses, I don’t have to do that.

I use the glasses to make videos and take photographs. You just say, “Hey, Meta, make a video recording” and when you’re finished, you say, “Hey, Meta, stop.” Go to my YouTube channel (Journey to Sight in case you forgot) and you will see several videos I made while wearing the glasses. After you make the videos or photos, you will open the Meta AI app and follow the prompts to import them to your gallery on your phone.

Your phone will need to be within 30 feet of the glasses for the glasses to work since they operate via the app.

No, they won’t help you see. But they will help you live a more normal, independent life. And no, RayBan is not paying me to do this. They don’t even know I exist, and I doubt they need someone like me promoting their product.

The product speaks for itself.

Amazing Amazon Alexa

by Pam Harris, "blind" writer

Let’s face it. I have some computer skills. But a gal born at a time when black and white photographs were the only options, most people were just then being able to afford televisions, and telephones had party lines, technology still amazes me.

I’m continuing to learn about assistive technology for the visually impaired, and as a lover of books, I wonder how many other people don’t know, as I didn’t, that Alexa can read any ebook I purchased on Kindle.

That’s right. I don’t have to get a more expensive audio book on Audible. I don’t have to be unable to read books that have no audio format. Thanks to Alexa, if the book is sold on Amazon, I can buy the ebook and have it read to me for free.

I realize you younger or more tech-savvy readers already know much of what I’m sharing, but for the benefit of the “older generation” who may not know these things, I’ll share what Alexa can do to make life easier. As a visually impaired person, I use the Echo dot daily, usually several times a day.

I know some people have concerns that the dot is listening to them, but guess what? So is your phone.

I use Alexa to: ask the time, the weather, the UV index, hear recipes, ask medical questions, ask nutrition information, play games (Jeopardy, Question of the Day, Song Quiz), learn, listen to podcasts, listen to music (including Sirius radio), ask about celebrities, and more. I use Alexa for learning activities. Alexa can call anyone in my contact list. If I were to fall and not have my phone, I can ask Alexa to call someone or 911 for help.

If the information is on the Internet, Alexa knows it. Sometimes I say, “Alexa, I’m bored,” and she suggests some games I might like. If I misplace my phone, I can ask her to call it (although I have an iPhone and can just say, “Siri, where are you?”).

I especially like using Alexa for recipes since I hear the instructions and don’t have to use a magnifier to struggle to read one.

Back to the reading a book to you topic. If you’re listening to a book and tell her to stop, when you decide to go back to it, even days later, she will pick up where she stopped.

So for someone who grew up with no cable, black and white TV until I was 15, no microwave until I was in college, no cell phone until I was middle-aged, and no way to record something on TV until I was in my thirties, Alexa is pretty amazing. I would hate to be without it!