David Bradburn, President of Zoomax USA, on BBQ 153
Provided us with some details about a new product coming to the wearable video magnifier line. He also amazed us with stories of his gastronomy adventures from his travels around the world. Now, from the ATIA Exhibit Hall floor in Orlando, David gives J.J. an update and launch specifics regarding the newly renamed Acesight. But sadly, there was no time to discuss the finer points of convention cuisine. To learn more about this new unit, visit the Acesight website
ATIA 2019 coverage is Brought to you by AFB AccessWorld.
For the latest news and accessibility information on mainstream and access technology, Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Amazon offerings, access technology book reviews, and mobile apps, and how they can enhance entertainment, education and employment, log on to AccessWorld, the American Foundation for the Blind's free, monthly, online technology magazine. Visit www.afb.org/aw.
Transcript
We strive to provide an accurate transcription, though errors may occur.
Hide transcriptTranscribed by Grecia Ramirez
From beautiful Orlando, Florida, it’s blindbargains.com coverage of ATIA 2019, brought to you by AFB AccessWorld.
For the latest news and accessibility information on mainstream and access technology; Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Amazon offerings; access technology; book reviews; and mobile apps and how they can enhance entertainment, education, and employment, log onto AccessWorld, the American Foundation for the Blind's free monthly online technology magazine. www.AFB.org/AW.
Now, here’s J.J. Meddaugh
J.J. MEDDAUGH: ATIA 2019. David Bradburn, president of Zoomax, showing me a new wearable that uses augmented reality called the Acesight.
David, welcome back to the podcast.
DAVID BRADBURN: Hey, J.J. It’s great to be here. Thanks for coming by.
JM: What exactly is the Acesight? I think we might have talked about a similar thing before, but this is brand new and out there?
DB: Right. So as some of your listeners may recall, actually, at CSUN2018, when you guys came and interviewed me there, we were showing a prototype of a product which, at that time, we were calling RevoSight. Acesight, physically and technically, is identical. We changed the name late last year.
Long story short, there was a copyright infringement on the name, even though the U.S. patent office had awarded us the trademark of RevoSight. And someone with part of that name as their trademark took issue with it. So –
JM: Ah.
DB: -- we changed it to Acesight pretty quickly, and I’m pleased to announce that the product officially went on sale on January 2, and we’re showing it here at ATIA for the very first time.
JM: So describe, in simple terms, what this thing does.
DB: Right. So in simple terms, Acesight is a pair of electronic glasses. And these are glasses, as you might imagine, that you wear on your head. There is a camera at the front of the device that sits above the bridge of the nose. And everything that is in sight of that camera is then captured and displayed on two small displays. And there’s one display in front of each eye. The image can be magnified up to 15 times.
So what we say is for anyone with a visual acuity between 20/100 and 20/800, this device is going to possibly work great for them. And just for everyone’s sake, good to point out that 20/200 is generally what’s defined as being legally blind in the United States.
JM: Right. So you have the two small screens in front of each eye, and you can still – it wouldn’t cover up your peripheral vision? You can still see other things beyond that, or –
DB: So – no. It doesn’t. That – in fact, that is actually a key differentiator between this design and that of any other wearable on the market. So we use this term, “augmented reality”. It’s not our term; it’s one that existed long before us. And one of the key characteristics of AR is an open design.
So when Acesight is on my head, I’ve got these little displays that float in front of my eyes, but my peripheral vision, or my -- you know, along the sides and along the bottom of my face, is totally open. So one of the things that we’re able to say with Acesight, which none of the other wearables will say, is that you can walk while wearing this. So you’d use Acesight to look straight ahead, and then any peripheral vision, should you have some, will then provide you feedback of things that were up close in terms of people that were perhaps coming towards you.
And the other thing about it being AR is that because it’s not touching the face, it doesn’t get hot and sweaty under there, which it can do with some of these VR type devices. And you can certainly wear it for extended time. The battery will run for five hours, and it’s not uncommon for our customers to use it for that long.
JM: Would you have the magnification level the same for both eyes, or would there be any reason you’d want to control them independently?
DB: That’s a great question. So technically, it’s only possible to mirror the images. So if you – for example, had a visual acuity of, let’s say, 20/800 in one eye and 20/600 in another, you’re going to basically set the display for your eye with the lowest level of vision, or simply set it for the best eye if one of them is outside that visual acuity range.
JM: Any other features? Is it primarily a magnifier as you’re walking? Does it do anything else as far as, you know –
DB: So, yeah. There’s a couple of things. The first is the Outline feature. What is that? So when I’m wearing Acesight and I turn on the Outline feature, it basically augments the surroundings for me by adding either a black line or a white line to the edge of everything in sight. Edges of people, not that helpful. Edges of door frames, doors, table edges, chairs, steps on a staircase, that sort of thing. So as a means to aid with mobility, it’s very, very helpful.
JM: Okay.
DB: That’s key.
And then, the other thing that I would say is, you know, the number one reason people with low vision tell us that they want to consider something like a wearable is so they can watch television again and/or use the computer. And they want – and when I say watch television, I mean from a regular distance like, you know, anyone else in their family. And I’m pleased to announce that the Acesight probably does better at allowing you to watch television or use the computer than any other wearable. The color representation is very faithful, in terms of what you see really is what you get. The VR units tend to wash out more.
JM: Right.
DB: And so colors are not that crisp, assuming that you even know what color it is to begin with. So that is key. And the people who have been early adopters of Acesight – I mentioned it only became on sale this month – are really enjoying that feature.
JM: What are the controls on the unit, and where are they located?
DB: So the controls are on a controller. The controller is tethered by a thin cable to the headset. The battery of the system is inside the controller.
JM: Okay.
DB: So the headset weighs 0.8 pounds. The controller weighs about .3 pounds. So combined, it’s just over a pound.
JM: Okay.
DB: And on the controller, you have buttons for increasing and decreasing magnification. Goes from a minimum of 1.1X up to a maximum of 15. There are buttons for increasing and decreasing the contrast and/or the thickness of lines if you’re using the Outline feature.
And then, we have three other buttons on top. One is the Outline button. I told you about outlining before. So it’s just a simple case of do you want to see outlining on a normal image, on a high-contrast image, that sort of thing.
Then, we have the Color Contrast button. So usually, if we’re looking at scenery, if you will, natural color would be the preferred choice for many people. But for those who would prefer to have a high-contrast mode -- let’s say yellow with black or blue with white or something like this -- you can step through these different colors to find the mode that makes things clearest for you.
And then, finally, there’s a button there that’s essentially the Home button. When we press that button, it removes any filters that you’ve switched on, such as colors or outlines and things like that and goes back to the natural color mode.
JM: Makes a lot of sense. How much does it cost?
DB: Price is $4,995. The device comes with a one-year warranty. We also –
JM: Okay.
DB: -- make available a one-year extended warranty. And like all Zoomax products, there is a 30-day money back guarantee.
JM: Okay. If people want to get more information, what’s the contact information?
DB: Great question. So I’d like to give a web address and a toll-free phone number, if I may.
JM: You may.
DB: All right. So the web address to learn more about Acesight is pretty simple. It’s www.acesight.com. So that’s A-c-e-s-i-g-h-t.com. And our toll-free phone number, which works from anywhere in the U.S. and Canada, is (866) 296-8388.
And, again, as everyone knows, my name is David Bradburn. You can ask for me by name or ask to speak with my colleague, pall. Either one of us will be able to help you.
JM: Thank you so much, David. It’s always a pleasure.
DB: Yes. Thanks, J.J.
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Joe Steinkamp is no stranger to the world of technology, having been a user of video magnification and blindness related electronic devices since 1979. Joe has worked in radio, retail management and Vocational Rehabilitation for blind and low vision individuals in Texas. He has been writing about the A.T. Industry for 15 years and podcasting about it for almost a decade.
