The inspiration for the XRAI Glass began when one of the founders observed a family member who was hard of hearing.
AI-powered smart glasses will change the game for the deaf or hard of hearing as they provide real-time subtitles during conversations.
The technology, used with a phone app, can remember conversations, too — helpful for those who are forgetful. They also translate languages. The inspiration for the XRAI Glass began when one of the founders observed a family member who was hearing-impaired.
Mitchell Feldman, co-founder of XRAI, said in an interview, “So the inspiration for XRAI Glass was born from my partner and co-founder Dan Scarfe, whose grandfather is 97 years old, cognitively as sharp as a nail, but unfortunately, like most people of his age, his hearing has started to let him down….So Dan thought to himself, if he's enjoying subtitles, why can we not subtitle his life? And that was the genesis of how this product started.”
Feldman said that the XRAI can help with basic things that some take for granted.
“For example, ‘Hey XRAI, remind me what my wife told me to buy from the shops yesterday,’ or ‘Hey XRAI, tell me what the lecturer was talking about today when we were talking about protons,’ or ‘Hey XRAI, tell me what the doctor said I needed to do tomorrow morning,’” he said. “That will work in all kinds of life, you know, think of immigration issues where people are having to deal with people who speak different languages, or people in hospitals and having to rely on translators coming in. Instantly that resolves that issue.”
The project’s co-founder says this is only just the beginning.
“We've just opened Pandora's box,” he said. “For us, the end state is that this will eventually end up on some form of contact lens where it just becomes invisible to everybody, and the user can just get the benefit of using our technology for betterment.”
