For those who sometime wonder how sport can find ways to impact the greater good, look no further than Monday’s Boston Marathon. While there will literally be thousands of feel good stories during the race, including millions raised for charity, one company is literally seeing the way to new technology that will have an impact far beyond Boylston Street.
This week Boston Mayor Marty Walsh, the Mayor’s Commission for Persons with Disabilities, and the Mayor’s Office of New Urban Mechanics announced a partnership with remote assistive technology company Aira to provide free access to its smartphone app during One Boston Day and the Boston Marathon for people who are blind or have low vision (BLV).
Using the camera on Aira’s smartglasses or any smartphone, a person who is blind or low vision can download the Aira app and use it to connect to a remote set of human eyes. Known as Aira agents, trained professionals with deep experience communicating with the BLV community use Aira smartglasses or a personal smartphone to serve as visual interpreters for the blind as the agents describe, in real-time, their users’ environments. Amazing!
Aira’s app will be available for free use during the Boston Marathon weekend, throughout the entire City of Boston. Aira Explorer and current blind Ironman world-record holder Erich Manser will be running using Aira this year along with his sighted guide, as part of MABVI’s Team with a Vision.
This experiment is part of a larger body of work dedicated to understanding the role of novel technologies in making Boston a more welcoming and accessible place for people of all abilities but the impact will extend far beyond the Commonweatlth and can gave adoptions into a series of participatory sports down the line for competitors of all ages.
Those in free access to Aira during One Boston Day and the Boston Marathon should visit here. Free Aira Guest Access will be available in Boston, and along the entire Marathon course from Monday, April 9th to Tuesday, April 17th.
Seeing is believing in sports tech.
