Last month David Bradburn, President of Zoomax USA, shared at ATIA a sneak peek of a new product that would make its debut in Anaheim. Shelly caught up with David on the CSUN Exhibit Hall floor to learn more about the new member of the Acesight family and gets a tour of the controls, the specs and who might best find the VR approach most helpful for accomplishing common reading tasks. To learn more about the Acesight family of products, or to find your nearest Dealer, visit the Zoomax website
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Hide transcriptTranscribed By Grecia Ramirez
Direct from Anaheim, it’s blindbargains.com coverage of CSUN 2020, 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 Shelly Brisbin.
Shelly Brisbin: Welcome to Blind Bargains coverage of CSUN 2020. I’m here on the floor talking with David Bradburn. He’s the president of Zoomax USA.
Hi, David. Welcome to the show.
DAVID BRADBURN: Hi, Shelly. Thanks for having me.
SB: It’s great to have you here. This is a very unusual CSUN for a lot of us because of the worries about Coronavirus. So I guess I’m wondering what has it been like for you and Zoomax as we’re here on the first day of exhibits, but I don’t know what your experience has been like this time versus your previous times at CSUN.
DB: It’s a great question. Well, let me start out by saying I have been attending CSUN conferences for more than 20 years.
SB: That’s amazing.
DB: I have never seen it as quiet as I have done today. Yes, there are people walking around, but this has more of a Friday afternoon feel to it than a Wednesday opening. Typically, Wednesday is when we are busiest at CSUN. That will be interesting to see how it pans out in the next few days coming.
SB: What is Zoomax’s goal typically at CSUN? Are you trying to sell products or raise awareness, or what are the things that are most important for your company?
DB: So, because we are typically acting in a wholesale capacity in the United States -- we have distributors around the country who do the demonstrating and the selling for us -- our primary goal here is awareness.
Secondary is that it is one of the premier international conferences. Zoomax is a Chinese corporation in terms of where our products are manufactured, and we have distributors in more than 60 countries worldwide. So coming here is always a good opportunity for them to interact with those dealers from those different countries. Suffice to say that neither my colleagues from china or the majority of those international dealers are here this year. They are -- they’re conspicuously absent mostly because of travel restrictions.
SB: Is your manufacturing going to be affected by what’s going on in the world?
DB: So it was affected initially because the Chinese government, of course, issued directives that everybody stay at home and do not go to work. So hot on the tail of the New Year celebration, which, in china, takes the last week and a half of January, the company was then closed for an additional two to two and a half weeks into February. Our office opened normally about two weeks ago, our factories opened a week after that, and -- I spoke with them last night -- actually, it is kind of business as usual for them at the moment. The affect that our manufacturing is enduring right now has nothing to do with us and everything to do with the supply chain.
So there are companies that make the components that we use to manufacture the products that we sell, those companies are not yet back to full strength. Now, the good news is that -- we had no crystal ball tell us this was going to happen, of course -- but the good news is that Zoomax made a very large production run at the end of last year, sent the largest shipment to date to Zoomax USA. We’re located near Boston in case anyone’s interested. And so, we have enough product to last us for about six months at this point. So we – unless this thing gets considerably worse and the entire world shuts down, and I hope and don’t believe will happen, I think we should be good. And we don’t anticipate any delays in terms of our customers here in the U.S.
SB: Let’s talk about some Zoomax products. Last year, you were showing the Acesight, which was an AR pair of glasses. And now you have new products. But let’s give people a little bit of a review. What is Acesight?
DB: Yes indeed. So Acesight is a head-mounted wearable device that consists of a camera and lenses that hang, or float, in front of the eyes. Everything that the camera sees is displayed on those lenses or screens, and you have a controller – it’s a tethered controller -- and you use that to increase or decrease magnification. There are various image enhancements as well that allow you to, for example, have outlining of the image to see obstacles more clearly, to display text in high-contrast mode, that sort of thing.
A characteristic of Acesight in the past, though: You mentioned that it’s our augmented reality, or AR, unit, is it’s a very open design. And that has allowed Acesight to make the unique claim that you can walk while you wear it. And the reason you can do that is that your peripheral vision is open. Nothing is covering your peripheral vision, so you are able to see people and other objects as they come close to you. The new product, which is also an Acesight, is using virtual reality. I’m going to just switch devices. One second.
So for any of your listeners that have tried or had described to them a VR device, a VR device is characterized by being immersive. That means that when I wear it on my head, the design of the headset is such that it wraps completely around my eyes. I do not have access to any peripheral vision to the side or below. That means that I cannot, and should not, attempt to walk while I’m wearing it because my depth perception will be completely off.
So the similarities with the other Acesight is that you can use it for magnifying your world. So you can use it for watching television, using a computer, you can look at people, you can read, you can use it for doing things in the house or doing things at work or at school. So think of arts and crafts type things, cooking, things like that.
There are differences. So usually, when we’re interacting with a person who’s considering a device like this, we ask them, first and foremost, is mobility important to you? If mobility is important, then the only device that is safe to consider is the original Acesight, the augmented reality version. If mobility is not so important and if you determine you’re going to be seated when using this device, then the virtual reality has some benefits that you might appreciate. The first is that the field of view is broader, or wider, with the virtual reality device. So the field of view on an Acesight’s 45 degrees. It’s 65 degrees on the VR unit. So that just means you’re seeing more of the scene in front of you, potentially. I should stress that field of view is only relevant when we’re talking about no magnification. As soon as you magnify images on any wearable device, that amount comes down from 65 degrees to single digits in a hurry.
The other thing about VR that people like is that it works extremely well, even in poor light conditions. So not everybody has a well-lit living room at home. And so if you’re at home using this, unless you actually have good lighting behind you that you’re attempting to read, the image quality may not look that good with augmented reality. But with this unit, it reality does look good.
Price-wise – so an Acesight is $2995, MSRP. The VR unit is $2495. Both devices weigh less than one pound. So if you’re only wearing these things for a couple of minutes at a time, the weight probably won’t matter to you. But if, as some of our customers are doing, you want to watch a movie on TV, you want to go to the theater, you want to watch a play or something like that and you’re wearing it for an hour or two, you will appreciate just how light and compact these devices are.
My final point to mention, then I’ll be happy to answer any other questions that you might have about it, is the camera resolution. So the most important thing for someone with low vision, when they’re considering a wearable device, is image quality across the magnification range. Most devices that are out there have a camera that, at best, features a 12 megapixel camera. The new VR device, the Acesight VR, has a 48 megapixel camera. And that results in image quality that is noticeably better and different than other wearable devices that are currently available from other companies. So we’ve been very excited to bring it to market and show it to people. And certainly, based on the experience we’ve had from people trying it, that I have also found, that the image quality has been very good. And that, for us, is a win.
SB: Now, there are other VR type headsets on the market, and some people may be familiar with them. They’re based on an existing Samsung headset, and they have connectivity to a smartphone. Is this device similar, or is it different?
DB: It is similar. So internally within this headset, there is a phone. It is not a Samsung. But that phone is not accessible by the user. So if any of your users have used, or tried, for example, Aira’s version, they might be aware of the fact the phone is on the front of that device, and it can in fact be moved by the user if necessary. That is not something that you’ll do. The phone is completely contained inside our device.
I will say – and this is something else that I think is important to note: Operating temperature is really cool, and I mean cool in the physical temperature sense of the word –
SB: Yeah.
DB: -- and not in just how impressive it is. It is a very cool operating temperature. Usually, when people go around Exhibit Halls and try things on for a minute or two, they don’t notice how warm these types of things can get after extended period. I’ve been involved in extended demonstrations of up to two hours, and even after two hours, this device is barely registering on a thermometer any warmth at all. That’s really good, especially if you live in a hot state, so if you live somewhere like Florida or Texas or something like that.
SB: I think heat and weight are the things that most people –
DB: Indeed.
SB: -- even in an environment like this – I’ve had those things on my head, and you notice both of those right away. And then also, as you say, it’s not suitable for walking around, but even if you’re wearing it and if you move your head too quickly, for example, you can risk getting a headache or some sort of, you know, discomfort.
DB: So the – you’re absolutely right, Shelly. There’s a good reason for that dizziness, or headache, sensation, and it’s to do with the refresh rate. This is something else, actually, that Acesight -- we feel is superior to other wearables. So if you’re ever looking at a wearable device, it’s important to ask the person, what is the refresh rate, or the display rate of this wearable? The higher the number that you are told in the answer, usually, the less image lag you will experience. Acesight -- all of our models, in fact -- have a refresh rate of 60 hertz. 60 hertz means I can be wearing even the VR unit, be turning my head relatively quickly left to right to look around, and the image keeps up with my movement and does not lag or freeze as I’m moving. I’m not going to name names, but if you were to try some of the other devices in the market and try moving your head left and right as if to look around, pay attention to their image, and you will probably notice that some or all have varying degrees of image lag, which is to say, occasionally, worst case, the image freezes and doesn’t move at all until you stop moving, and then it can catch up with you.
SB: So let’s talk about some of the features. You mentioned magnification, using a computer, watching television or theater. What are some other use cases, and also, what are some of the functions that the device has?
DB: Well, so to use the Acesight VR, there’s a small wireless controller that features three buttons and a joystick. It connects via Bluetooth with our headset. So magnification’s pretty straight forward. It’s designed to be used with your thumb. I guess you could use your thumb and forefinger if you felt more comfortable. But you push the joystick away from you to increase magnification all the way up to the maximum of 15 and a half times, and you pull back on the joystick to reduce magnification all the way down to just 1X, which is essentially normal. The button below the joystick – and when I say below, I’m talking about moving in the direction of the user, the person holding the joystick. So the button below it is used for activating normal color. Normal color means what you see is what you get. Why is that even a thing? Well, because the button below that, when I press it, steps through various different image modes. High-contrast, for example, is used for reading. We have four high-contrast modes: White on black, black on white, yellow on black, black on yellow.
And then there are three outline modes. So again, I stress, you wouldn’t use this while you’re walking around. But if you have Acesight VR and come into a room that you never been before and you want to get the lay of the land, if you switch on the outline mode, which is unique to Acesight, it will add an outline -- either white or black outline -- to the edges of everything that it sees. So for example, edges of furniture, edges of people, and it helps you to see those things. But the outline mode has application even in the workplace or home. I am wearing a striped shirt today. It is one of my favorite vertical striped shirts. I think it’s more flattering to my figure. I tend to avoid horizontal stripes, but that’s just me. Well, if I was using Acesight with the outline mode, I can at least see which direction those lines are facing because it’s going to add outlines to make them enhanced. I’m kind of kidding about the shirt, but you get the idea.
SB: Now, I’m self-conscious if I’m wearing a print shirt or a striped shirt or maybe an outline.
DB: It’s a solid color. You’re all set.
SB: I know. I’m just saying, but somebody with an Acesight VR would come to me and go, my, that is a very fetching paisley you have or something.
DB: Oh. Well, you’ll at least know when you’re wearing it.
SB: Yes.
DB: That’s the good thing.
SB: Yes.
DB: Now, the outlining, by the way – and this is probably my favorite story of all from an Acesight customer who told me – they take medication daily. And on one occasion, they accidentally dropped a tablet onto their kitchen countertop. They could not see the tablet.
SB: Yeah.
DB: They turned on outline mode. Now, we’re talking about something the size of an aspirin. I mean it’s –
SB: Right.
DB: -- 2 or 3 millimeters’ diameter at best. The outline mode of Acesight was able to pick up this tablet and able to highlight it in a contrasting outline color to the countertop. And the person was able to retrieve it and put it back in its pill box.
SB: Great.
DB: I think that’s just fantastic. So that’s one thing.
The other thing we have is a feature called narrow mode. Now, for most people with a macular-based eye disease, narrow mode will not have any use to them at all because the – generally, if you have macular degeneration, your peripheral vision is not impacted, meaning that your field of view is usually not impacted. But for someone who has retinitis pigmentosa, or perhaps advanced glaucoma, where they have a limited degree field of vision, they cannot see the whole scene. So narrow mode simply – think of it like a picture-in-picture feature on a television. We’re simply taking the entire theme, compressing it into a smaller rectangle area. Best yet, if the user has a scotoma, or scotomas, on their retina and there are certain areas where they cannot see anything, you can actually move that narrow mode window anywhere to an area where you can see it. And so, that can be the difference between seeing blotches on the scene or seeing everything.
SB: And that’s handled with the joystick? You would just move around –
DB: It’s handled with the joystick in terms of moving the picture around, yes.
SB: Yeah.
DB: And then the final button on here is more like a trigger button, and that’s on the very front of the controller. And that is used for two things: One, if I have zoomed in on something and I’ve got things very large, if I press and hold that trigger button, Acesight will zoom out and show a bright red crosshair in the middle of the scene. I can look around. Let’s say I’m looking for something on the wall like a clock. So I might look in the direction of where I think the clock is. I let go of the trigger button, and now Acesight zooms in at my favorite magnification level, and it makes it easier to navigate around the scene when you’re magnifying things ordinarily.
And the final thing that it does is if I press and release, it captures an image of whatever I’m looking at. I can then magnify that image, and then, using the joystick, can pan left, right, up, and down around the image without having to move my head.
Applications for that are numerous. Certainly for reading lengthy pieces of text, that’s a great application. But the other one that’s very practical when people are out and about is taking a photograph of, let’s say, a menu in a restaurant. You know, you’ve – I’m thinking fast food restaurants, of course, for this type of situation. But you go to Starbucks, you go to McDonald’s, and they usually have a menu of items that’s above and behind the person that’s the cashier. So you take a photograph, and now, with your head comfortably at a straight-ahead angle so you’re not staring up at something for a long time, you just magnify that menu; look around; you see -- oh, yes, I want to get an Americano; ask your order; and then just press the trigger one more time, you’re now back to live mode, where you’re able to see the person.
SB: Do you have any sort of text detection so that if that’s what I’m looking for is a menu, I can look, scan around and be sure that I found it?
DB: There is nothing like that, no. So you would have to have some vision sense –
SB: -- enough vision to identify that there’s a menu up there – something you might want to capture.
DB: So for example, usually if someone’s visual acuity is between 20/100 and 20/600, they’re a candidate for Acesight helping them. But if you were someone with 20/600 visual acuity, you’re kind of at the extreme. So I can imagine that if you’re looking at something at a distance, you may find the image quality isn’t going to be good enough for you, in which case you probably want to move closer to something, if possible.
SB: So let’s talk about pricing and availability. I think you did mention the price before, but when is this product going to be available? Or is it now.
DB: So the product will be shipping to us from our factory later this month. We expect to begin shipping the Acesight VR by the beginning of April. The retail price, just to tell everybody again, is $2495. It’s available through our dealers around the country.
We do recommend that people get demonstrations of this, and any other, wearable device. This is not like buying a handheld magnifier or a CCTV. Even people with seemingly the same eye condition can try a product like Acesight, and one will tell me it works great for them and the other will say not so much. So, we don’t sell this product over the internet. We do require that someone gets a demonstration, either through one of our distributors, through us directly, or through their eye doctor. We are working with an increasing number of eye doctors around the country. And we do this just because we want to – we want to know that it really does work and don’t want people going through the challenge of buying something, receiving it, getting frustrated because it’s not working for them, and then returning it.
SB: And I assume information about where one might go to find a dealer or other information like that is on Zoomax’ website?
DB: Indeed. So people can –
SB: Yeah.
DB: -- if they want to know more, they can go to www.zoomaxusa.com. And let me just see. I believe we have our business card. You know, I was looking for the toll free number, actually. So our toll free number is 866-296-8388. That number works within the USA and Canada. And certainly, any of the people that answer the phone will be able to answer questions.
And I will say that we also offer an in-home trial. It's a seven-day trial for $149. So in the event – especially in the event where someone is nowhere near a dealer or an eye doctor that we’re working with, $149 gets you a device we ship to you. The shipping is covered in both directions. You have seven days to try it. If you decide that you like the device, then we deduct the 149 from the retail price, just bill you the difference, and send you a brand new unit. If you don’t like it, no questions asked, just return it. It’s pretty straightforward.
SB: Great. Thanks for your time, David. It was great to have you on Blind Bargains.
DB: Thank you, Shelly. Have a great rest of the conference.
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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.
