World’s fastest growing assistive technology platform announces global expansion in recognition of Global Accessibility Awareness Day.
AT&T and Aira extend their agreement as Aira made AT&T its global data provider as it begins to take the service to Canada, Australia and the U.K.
This comes at a meaningful time, marking the 7th Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD). The purpose of GAAD is to get everyone talking, thinking, and learning about digital access and inclusion for people with disabilities. What better way to do that than with technology that empowers blind and low vision individuals.
First launched in 2014 for the U.S. marketplace, Aira is a service that uses a combination of augmented reality, artificial intelligence, and highly trained, professional agents to provide instant access to visual information. At just the touch of a button, Aira delivers remote visual assistance anytime and anywhere, that enables those who are blind and low vision to be more efficient with any, and every, task they undertake.
“We chose GAAD to make this announcement because bringing accessibility to everyone forms the very core of Aira’s mission,” said Suman Kanuganti, CEO of Aira. “Working with AT&T to make our service available around the globe is the next step in using this technology to improve daily lives.”
https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=YOQAXYe9I9U
The World Health Organization estimates 253 million people live with impaired vision. For over a year, AT&T and Aira have worked together in the U.S. to help many of the blind and those with low vision complete daily tasks more easily.
Connected Aira glasses have also assisted with new challenges like starting college, running the Boston Marathon, and even experiencing the solar eclipse. Now, people around the world who are blind or have low vision can use smart glasses to access public transportation, navigate busy streets, shop in stores or recognize people, without another person to physically accompany them. It opens up a world of possibilities.
The AT&T global network connects Aira’s smart glasses, worn by blind and low vision users known as “Explorers,” to trained, professional agents. Agents use a built-for-purpose dashboard that provides details such as the Explorer’s location and profile, in combination with a secure, near real-time stream of video. At just the tap of a button, this information is provided to Explorers so they can perform almost any task.
“The combination of Aira’s groundbreaking assistive technology and our highly secure global wireless connectivity helps the user ‘see’ the world around them,” said Chris Penrose, President of IoT, AT&T. “That world just got bigger. This global expansion can bring the Aira platform to millions of individuals who can benefit from this service.”
Aira worked with the AT&T Foundry for Connected Health to improve the delivery of its groundbreaking platform.
Aira will begin to market its service in Canada and Australia this month and in the U.K. later this year. Learn more about the Aira service and how to subscribe at the AT&T Marketplace.
For more information about Aira, go to aira.io.
For more information about how AT&T is using IoT for Good, go to att.com/iot.
