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                                                                                           TECHNOLOGY Saturday 25 February 2017
                   Sharp vision: New glasses help the legally blind see


            MICHAEL LIEDTKE                                                                                                     the  blind  “Star  Trek”  char-
             AP Technology Writer                                                                                               acter  Geordi  La  Forge  ,
            SAN  FRANCISCO  (AP)  —                                                                                             played by LeVar Burton.
            Jeff  Regan  was  born  with                                                                                        The  third-generation  mod-
            underdeveloped       optic                                                                                          el lets wearers magnify the
            nerves and had spent most                                                                                           video feed up to 24 times,
            of his life in a blur. Then four                                                                                    compared to just 14 times
            years  ago,  he  donned  an                                                                                         in earlier models. There’s a
            unwieldy  headset  made                                                                                             hand  control  for  adjusting
            by  a  Toronto  company                                                                                             brightness  and  contrast.
            called eSight.                                                                                                      The new glasses also come
            Suddenly,  Regan  could                                                                                             with a more powerful high-
            read  a  newspaper  while                                                                                           definition camera.
            eating    breakfast   and                                                                                           ESight believes that about
            make  out  the  faces  of  his                                                                                      200  million  people  world-
            co-workers from across the                                                                                          wide  with  visual  acuity  of
            room.  He’s  been  able  to                                                                                         20/70  to  20/1200  could
            attend  plays  and  watch                                                                                           be  potential  candidates
            what’s    happening     on                                                                                          for  its  glasses.  That  num-
            stage,  without  having  to                                                                                         ber  includes  people  with
            guess  why  people  around                                                                                          a  variety  of  disabling  eye
            him were laughing.                                                                                                  conditions  such  as  macu-
            “These glasses have made                                                                                            lar degeneration, diabetic
            my  life  so  much  better,”   In this photo taken Thursday, Feb. 2, 2017, eSight CEO and President Brian Mech holds up a pair   retinopathy,  ocular  albi-
            said  Regan,  48,  a  Cana-  electronic glasses at Union Square San Francisco. The glasses enable the legally blind to see.  nism,  Stargardt’s  disease,
            dian engineer who lives in                                                                         Associated Press   or, like Regan, optic nerve
            London, Ontario.             won’t  help  people  with  dence of their benefits. The  the  latest  improvements     hypoplasia.
            The  headsets  from  eSight   total  blindness,  they  could  company is funding clinical  might  help  insurers  over-  So  far,  though,  the  com-
            transmit  images  from  a    still be a huge deal for the  trials to provide that proof.  come  their  short-sighted   pany  has  sold  only  about
            forward-facing  camera  to   millions  of  peoples  whose  The headsets also carry an  view  of  his  product.  Mech   1,000  headsets,  despite
            small  internal  screens  —   vision is so impaired that it  eye-popping price tag. The  argues  that  it  would  be   the testimonials of wearers
            one  for  each  eye  —  in  a   can’t be corrected with or-  latest version of the glasses,  more  cost-effective  for  in-  who’ve  become  true  be-
            way that beams the video     dinary lenses.               released just last week, sells  surers to pay for the head-  lievers.  Take,  for  instance,
            into  the  wearer’s  periph-  EYE TEST                    for  about  $10,000.  While  sets,  even  in  part,  than  to   Yvonne Felix, an artist who
            eral  vision.  That  turns  out   But  eSight  still  needs  to  that’s  $5,000  less  than  its  cover  more  expensive  sur-  now works as an advocate
            to be all that some people   clear a few minor hurdles.   predecessor,  it’s  still  a  lot  gical procedures that may   for  eSight  after  seeing  the
            with limited vision, even le-  Among  them:  proving  the  for people who often have  restore some sight to the vi-  previously indistinguishable
            gal blindness, need to see   glasses are safe and effec-  trouble getting high-paying  sually impaired.             faces of her husband and
            things  they  never  could   tive  for  the  legally  blind.  jobs  because  they  can’t  NEW GLASSES               two sons for the first time via
            before.  That’s  because     While  eSight’s  headsets  see.  Insurers  won’t  cover  The    latest   version   of   its  glasses.  Others,  ranging
            many  visual  impairments    don’t require the approval  the cost; they consider the  ESight’s  technology,  built   from kids to senior citizens,
            degrade     central   vision   of health regulators — they  glasses an “assistive” tech-  with investments of $32 mil-  have worn the gadgets to
            while leaving peripheral vi-  fall  into  the  same  low-risk  nology  similar  to  hearing  lion over the past decade,   golf, watch football or just
            sion largely intact.         category  as  dental  floss  aids.                        is  a  gadget  that  vaguely   perform daily tasks such as
            Although  eSight’s  glasses   —  there’s  not  yet  firm  evi-  ESight CEO Brian Mech said  resembles the visor worn by   reading nutrition labels.q

            India police arrest cheap

            mobile maker on fraud charges





            LUCKNOW, India (AP) -- The  ered by the Indian media.  pees.
            director of an Indian com-   The company’s website on  In  their  complaint,  Ayam
            pany  that  claimed  it  was  which pre-orders were tak-  Enterprises  said  they  had
            selling  the  world’s  cheap-  en crashed with huge num-  agreed  to  distribute  the
            est  smartphone  was  ar-    bers of people trying to ac-  phones and had paid Ring-
            rested  Thursday  on  fraud  cess it to book a phone.     ing  Bells  the  money  in  ad-
            charges, police said Friday.  Many    customers    who  vance.
            Mohit  Goel  was  arrested  bought  the  phone  said  at  Ringing  Bells  had  failed  to
            in  the  New  Delhi  suburb  the  time  that  they  were  supply  handsets  or  return
            of  Ghaziabad  following  a  happy  with  the  sleek  fea-  the  money  to  the  distribu-    In  this  July  7,  2016  file  photo,  Mohit  Goel,  Director  of  Indian
            complaint  that  his  com-   tures of the handset.        tor despite several remind-   company  Ringing  Bells  Pvt.  Ltd.  shows  Freedom  251  smart-
            pany Ringing Bells had not  Police  spokesman  Rahul  ers, police said.                 phones at a press conference in New Delhi, India.
            supplied the handsets that  Srivastava  said  Friday  that  However, Goel’s company                                             Associated Press
            a  phone  distribution  com-  the  arrest  was  made  after  ran into troubles when some
            pany had paid for.           the  distribution  company,  30,000  customers  paid  for
            The  launch  of  the  smart-  Ayam  Enterprises,  filed  a  the phone on Ringing Bells’   Financial  frauds  are  com-  the  cheap  smartphone
            phone      called    “Free-  complaint that it had paid  online site and were prom-     mon  in  India  with  people  and enthusiasm for Goel’s
            dom251”  and  priced  at  Goel  3  million  rupees,  but  ised  delivery  of  the  hand-  falling  victim  to  scams.  phone  faded  after  sup-
            rupees  251  ($3.70)  in  Feb-  had  received  handsets  set by June - a promise the    Mobile phone industry an-   plies stopped.q
            ruary 2016 was widely cov-   worth  only  1.3  million  ru-  company failed to meet.    alysts were skeptical about
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