Smart glasses for the blind: Tech that's actually helpful
Smart glasses are making life easier for blind and visually impaired people, offering hands-free help with things like reading menus or finding bus stops.
With 43 million blind and nearly 300 million visually impaired people worldwide, these devices are getting a lot of attention—especially after some cool new launches at CES.
What's on the market?
Meta's Ray-Ban AI glasses ($299) use the Be My Eyes app to connect users with volunteers for real-time assistance.
Agiga's EchoVision, coming early 2026 at $599 (plus subscription), features a wide-angle camera and even had input from Stevie Wonder.
Envision and Solos teamed up on a $699 pair that brings AI narration and includes Ally software for the first year (subscription required thereafter).
Big growth—and bigger partnerships
The assistive tech market for the blind is set to hit $7.13 billion by late 2025, while AR smart glasses overall could skyrocket to $111 billion by 2034.
Tech giants like Google and Samsung are expected to release upcoming models, and companies like HapWare are adding haptic feedback to convey nonverbal cues and emotions through touch.