Envision upgrades smart glasses range with more accessibility options for people with vision impairments
Today, assistive technology specialist Envision has announced that it is further enhancing the accessibility of its smart glasses for blind and visually impaired individuals by introducing two new editions to serve the different needs of its users.
Available now from Envision and its global distributor network, the upgrades offer the same hardware as the original smart glasses but provide a choice of feature sets at a range of price points.
Through its app and smart glasses, Envision enables those who are blind or have vision impairments to read, identify people and objects, and make hands-free video calls to people they trust.
In 2022, Envision made its app free for everyone; reduced the price of the Envision Glasses; and partnered with Aira, a professional visual interpretation service.
Now individuals have the option to select an Envision device and feature set that works best for them. There are three options available: Read Edition, Home Edition, and Professional Edition.
Read Edition offers a range of features that focuses on the need to read and scan text.
Home Edition offers the same features as Read Edition, with additional capabilities focusing on detecting colours, calling Aira, recognising money, finding people and objects, and more.
Professional Edition provides a complete feature set, including reading technology, scanning, camera and video calls, as well as free feature updates and maintenance for the lifetime of the glasses.
Prices for Envision’s smart glasses range start at $1,899 USD (£1,533.94), with the most feature-packed option costing $3,499 USD (£2,826.35).
In addition, users have the flexibility to upgrade their Envision edition when and if the need for additional feature sets occurs. Users will be able to upgrade from a lower edition to a higher edition, i.e., from the Read Edition to the Home Edition, from the Home Edition to the Professional Edition, and from the Read edition to the Professional Edition directly.
All upgrades can be done efficiently and securely by purchasing an Upgrade Module from the Envision App or Envision website.
Karthik Mahadevan, Envision CEO and Co-Founder, commented: “Accessibility of Envision is as much about making it as easy as possible for people to buy our products as it is about usability. With the introduction of the new Editions of the Envision Glasses, we enable people to more easily tap into subsidies, grants, and reimbursement options available to them.
“2022 was a big year for Envision as we experienced growth across the whole company, with many new partnerships and a host of new features on both the glasses and the app. We really want 2023 to extend that growth further; we believe that the new editions will enable more people to use the products in their workplace and at home.”
Furthermore, all editions will get free ‘Maintenance Updates’ that provide incremental maintenance and security additions, bug fixes, performance enhancements, and stability improvements.
New features and functionality will be provided through ‘Feature Updates,’ which are available for an annual subscription of $199 USD (£160.74) for the Read and Home Edition of Envision Glasses. A lifetime subscription to Feature Updates is included with the purchase of the Professional Edition of Envision Glasses.