So I just got the pre-release Agiga Echo smart glasses - designed for and by the blind Monday.

[jstark@caneandable.social]

So I just got the pre-release Agiga Echo smart glasses - designed for and by the blind Monday. Have been playing with them since.. Thought I might share my 1st impressions:

Pros:
- The glasses are super light and comfortable especially compared to glasses like the meta raybands / oakleys. They fit my head which I was worried about because hats and other items often don’t
- The buttons, controls and case are well designed
- Scene and image descriptions seem solid and live AI mode also works well
- Text reading works well
- No “daddy knows best” filtering of what the AI will read [e.g. license plates, medical notes and other things some Ais like Meta will refuse to rea through the glasses

Cons:
- Beep alerts: Could you guys not have found a slightly less abrasive beep for the case? It is on par with a fire detector’s beep. It beeps every time the glasses are taken out or put in the case, for battery levels and other things. My family reacted really negatively to the sound. They cringe every time I use it and ask me if I can turn it off or do something about it. Can this be turned off, disabled or changed? If not, this means others around will react just as poorly too.
- The TTS and speech items are clear and pleasanteven when spe up
- Audio sound on the glasses is good but not on part with some of the other mainstream glasses on the market
- The Android setup process has bugs
- The live AI mode has complained about speed and other connectivity issues
- I’m not completely convinced Wifi only is the best option but will stay impassive until I’ve had more time with the unit
- Cloud AI is slow and more on device functionality should be explored

So far, seems a solid solution.

For perspective, I’ve played with most of the glasses from this and previous generations including several metas, envision, orcam, etc.

My met experience was written up here: https://blog.blackspheretech.com/?p=485

#a11y #blind #AI

[jstark@caneandable.social]

@xogium agree - although the cost wasn't nearly comparable

[jstark@caneandable.social]

@xogium Although seleste was doomed to fail from the beginning. From conception, to hardware to community engagement in development. They got an initial investment and spent like crazy which also isn't a great approach. We can only hope other companies learn from their mistakes.