For the blind, smart glasses are opening a new world

Mangalore Today News Network

Bengaluru, Aug 26, 2026: For months, the conversation around smart glasses has revolved around one question: “Is that tiny built-in camera secretly filming me?” Now, a new question is emerging: “What can it help me see?” AI-powered smart glasses are finding favour among some members of the visually impaired (VI) community as an accessibility tool.

Through donor funding, NGOs in Bengaluru have been distributing smart glasses to blind users for two years now. And there is variety. Some, such as Ray-Ban Meta, are designed for the general public, while others, including Smart Vision Glasses Ultra and Jyoti AI Vision Glasses, are built specifically for the VI community. These are priced Rs 29,000 and upwards.

Metrolife spoke to blind individuals about how they are using smart glasses and negotiating the privacy debate.

Varied uses

The Association of People with Disability (APD) has provided 25 smart glasses to its blind staff across three centres, and plans to distribute another 150 by the end of the year. "A company approached us with the product and since we are aligned with the use of technology for accessibility, we agreed," shares Sunil Kumar K P, head of the fundraising and communications department.

On a rainy day, we visit its Lingarajpuram branch. Rizwan Ulla Khan walks from the office corridor into a conference room, swiping and tapping on a pair of broad-rimmed black smart glasses. A retail fundraising employee with low vision, he says he does not use these glasses for navigation often. Their ’Walking Assistant’ feature is “slow in fetching details” and works only at close range. After his office was renovated, however, he wore the glasses for two days to familiarise himself with the new layout, including locating the washroom. He also uses them when visiting donors, or walking home after dark. “Since I also use my cane while using these glasses to walk around, people haven’t objected to me,” he says.

He finds the glasses more useful for tasks such as identifying currency denominations, reading documents, scanning his surroundings and detecting obstacles through beeps.

Siblings Roopali and Akshay Suresh Harugeri, who work in the meals department, walk in next. Neither is wearing the glasses when we meet and they have not used them for a few days. "They give me a headache, especially where the camera is placed,” says Roopali. They also find the navigation unreliable. “If a person is standing to our left, it says right,” Akshay says.

Still, the glasses have made some tasks easier, including reading storybooks and identifying colours and currency. “However, these can’t read handwritten text,” Akshay points out.

About 24 km away, in HSR Layout, Samarthanam has distributed 70 glasses for assistive use.

Kiran K M, a computer and digital literacy trainer at the NGO, says the device has improved his life by “45%”. He uses the glasses for walking assistance, locating specific lines in documents without having to read from the beginning, and checking whether his clothes are properly ironed. He also uses them to feed his curiosity: from "What is the model and number of a vehicle?" to "What’s outside the bus window?"

He points to some limitations. He experiences a lag of 10-20 seconds in responses. “It’s subject to Internet speed and how close or far the object is,” he says. Moreover, his glasses currently read only English text.

Jayanth Srinivas, programme coordinator with their assistive technology accelerator, uses his glasses almost every day — to listen to music and audiobooks, identify colours to match his outfit, and navigate spaces ranging from cabs and metros to airports. Recently, while cooking with his mother, he asked the glasses what they were making. It described ragi balls and stew.

Video calls have also become easier. Earlier, when speaking to family members abroad, they would guide him on how to position his phone so they could see his surroundings. “Now it’s straightforward,” he says.

His colleague, Shivaram Deshpande, head of operations, has recently joined the bandwagon. He uses the glasses while taking smaller roads, going to the market, and travelling to the airport for meetings.

Around 50 students associated National Association for the Blind-Karnataka’s adult skill centre have received smart glasses through donors. “Around 50-70% of them are still using it, but in static environments such as inside a hall, rather than on the road,” shares CEO Rajesh M S. He adds that they neither encourage or discourage the use of smart glasses. “Whatever benefits they can derive from the device to help them lead an independent and dignified life is fine. Teachers also show them how to use the glasses,” he says.

Privacy question

For Rizwan, the growing criticism of smart glasses over privacy violations and data misuse is not much of a concern. "The device I use doesn’t have a feature to click photos or videos,” he says, before adding resignedly. “No data is safe today anyway."

Kiran has some concerns. “What happens to personal documents it reads or photographs it takes? Data should be encrypted,” he says.

Shivaram believes there is a need to educate the VI community on using the technology responsibly. “At Aurangabad airport, I was asked to remove my smart glasses and keep them in my bag,” he says. There is also a need to educatethe wider public, he adds, so that smart glasses are seen as tools that complement the capabilities of VI users rather than as devices that threaten others’ privacy. He also believes the law needs to keep pace with evolving assistive technology, so VI users do not inadvertently find themselves violating any laws.

Jayanth does not see smart glasses as inherently problematic. In the case of Meta glasses, he points out, a light flashes when photos or videos are taken, serving as a social signal that the camera is being used. He says data is stored locally, in the Meta AI app on the phone, where it can be deleted. Cloud sharing depends on whether or not users consent to sharing data to improve AI models while setting up the device, he says. "Having said that, I don’t trust these corporations. Privacy is history,” he adds.

Advocate Harikrishnan R says currently, laws don’t exempt any community on matters related to privacy infringement, but the state can make exemptions.

Demonstrate safety

L Subramani, a blind journalist with Deccan Herald who writes about technology and disability rights, believes the accessibility benefits should not be used to dismiss legitimate privacy concerns. “Until these companies demonstrate privacy assurances, I will remain sceptical. I don’t want people, especially women, around me to feel uncomfortable,” he says.

He is more comfortable with products that keep data on the device, such as Seeing AI, an app that describes the visual world for blind users, and the next generation of AirPods, which are expected to use cameras and AI for spatial awareness.

What companies say

Bengaluru-based SHG Technologies, which makes Smart Vision Glasses Ultra, has supplied close to 15,000 units to NGOs, with the highest adoption in Chennai. The company selects users who are career-oriented and from low-income backgrounds, although 10-15% of customers have purchased the glasses directly from its centre. They are set to launch Aura series of glasses specifically for people with low vision in September.

“We operate on two modes: edge intelligence and cloud intelligence,” says CEO Ramu Muthangi, an engineer by training. With edge intelligence, the glasses can read English and Devanagari and perform basic detection (objects such as tables, screens, walls and lights) offline. More detailed descriptions, however, require a cloud connection. The company says the glasses provide a visible light signal when the camera is being used, and they don’t store data - "it is overwritten".

However, Jyoti AI glasses, developed by Ahmedabad-based social enterprise Torchit, does not flash light when its camera is in use. Dinesh K Bahl, head of partnerships, says the company’s data is “safe” with them, as it is stored on the company’s cloud and used to train AI models. Their device has been developed with a focus on making education accessible, offering features such as translation into 80 languages, and diagram descriptions. They have distributed more than 200 pieces in Bengaluru.