Innovative electronic eyewear product eSight allows people who are visually impaired regain the ability to see without the need of a surgical procedure. For the estimated 22.5 million Americans with vision loss, eSight could help restore the ability to see faces, read, and in one reported case, fly a plane.
eSight works for people who have low vision or are considered legally blind. The device is placed directly over the eyes, and it projects images captured by a high-speed camera. This portable hands-free device has the ability to help improve the overall quality of life for those who have lost their independence due to vision loss.
eSight Technology and Blindness
eSight only works for people with low vision, which makes up roughly 86% of the world’s visually impaired globally. However, eSight does not work on those who are completely blind. Blindness in people can be caused by an array of health conditions that range from eye diseases like muscular degeneration, glaucoma, and sudden health events like strokes. For those with vision loss, abilities like peripheral vision, contrast sensitivity, visual processing, and depth perception are affected to a degree where they lose the ability to be fully independent.
The bioptic technology in eSight works by optimizing the remaining central vision of the eyes and the peripheral vision. The camera used in eSight captures live video as the user wears the device and then renders each pixel of the video using proprietary software. The user then sees the images on two powerful organic-LED screens in real time, without noticeable lag time. The real-time video rendering allows the user to switch from tasks such as reading to long vision tasks such as looking at an outdoor landscape.
Eyesight is a complex system, and the technology in the eSight glasses device allows blind people to use peripheral vision to determine where they are located, where they want go, and whether movement is happening around them. The advanced bioptic technology also allows the visually impaired to tilt the device up on the head to see further detail of nearby or distant objects within range in one single device.
The cost of one single eSight unit is around $15,000, and demos are available to help patients determine if the device works on their low vision. There are also financing options for individuals who cannot afford to pay the eSight eyewear device up front. For the thousands of visually impaired, this device can significantly improve the quality of life and help regain lost independence.
