People who are blind or visually impaired may soon have a way to make their day-to-day life easier: Glasses equipped with AI technology that read menus and classwork and let users know of obstacles in their path.
Fovionics, founded by Mike Romano and Gabriel Habech [pictured above], is seeking people for its pilot program for the first round of the glasses. Romano graduated from FIU with a degree in engineering and Habech is a current student there studying engineering. “Our goal with this technology is to make it so that the blind community never has to feel the need or feel reliant on their sighted peers again,” says Romano.
Habech’s childhood friend was blind and witnessing his struggles, he wanted to come up with a way to help solve everyday problems for the blind. Romano and Habech also knew the financial toll often posed a barrier for those who needed services. “The reason that we really got inspired was that this same kid couldn’t buy devices because they cost thousands of dollars,” says Romano.
Both knew from their engineering experience that sight-assisting devices didn’t have to come with such hefty price tags. “Now we’re designing one that’s actually affordable,” says Romano.
The duo founded the Miami-based startup, originally called BeyondSight, in 2023, but it was officially incorporated in February. Fovionics received a $120,000 investment from Techstars last month, and the company presented at the Florida Venture Capital Conference in March. The founders are seeking to raise $1.5 million to further develop and fine-tune the glasses’ AI features and to hire engineers, AI specialists and a marketing specialist. As of now, Romano and Habech are the team.
Romano says the glasses will come equipped with sensors that will let the user know if they’re about to hit something or if something is in their way. Users can ask questions like “How do I get to the nearest door?” and the AI will tell them how to get there and if any obstacles may be in their path.
If an obstacle is on their left side, the left frame of the glasses will vibrate and speakers, with directionalized audio, will specify what the object is and its proximity to the user. “We’re not trying to replace a cane or a seeing-eye-dog – we’re trying to complement it,” he says. The glasses will also tell users what any written or typed content says.
The founders are currently working with FIU to get the glasses to all of their visually impaired students. The deal with FIU is pending.
The glasses function by connecting to an iOS app through Bluetooth. The iOS app connects to Cloud features. The glasses will come equipped with two buttons, one to activate object detection sensors and one to make verbal requests, which will take a photo of your surroundings and your voice and will send it up to the Cloud to be processed. Users will then receive the AI voice response to their questions via tiny speakers on the glasses.
“We want to develop [the AI] to where it’s constantly learning from your environment and knows when to blurt out that you’re coming up on some stairs,” says Romano, whose work background includes experience in persistent surveillance devices with the US Army’s Intelligence and Electronic Warfare and Sensor’s Department.
“We’d love to get people in Miami on this pilot list,” says Romano, adding that the pilot will be available to 200 to 300 people. He and Habech have been working with non-profits such as the Miami Lighthouse for the Blind as well as eye hospitals, eye clinics and ophthalmologists.
“It’s a pretty sad situation where this technology can change your life and there’s only a chance that you can get your hands on it,” Romano says of the current market’s cost restrictions of sight assisted technology. “We want to reverse that.”
Those interested in participating in the pilot test can contact the company through the website, www.fovionics.com.
Photo at the top of this post: Mike Romano, at left, and Gabriel Habech, co-founders of Fovionics.
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Caitlin Granfield is a freelance journalist in South Florida. In addition to Refresh Miami, her articles, covering a variety of topics, can be found in the Miami Herald, Aventura Magazine, Miami New Times, WLRN and the Biscayne Times.