With breakthroughs in generative artificial intelligence (AI), Mitul Mehta, MD, MS, FASRS, chief medical officer and cofounder of Eyedaptic, saw an opportunity to use the technology for patients with vision loss. Eyedaptic’s new Eye6 wearable vision aid uses AI to help users see better, while an AI-powered visual assistant called Ivy can help users to better understand what they are seeing. 

The Eye6, which resembles a pair of futuristic sunglasses, includes a built-in camera. Software allows images to be projected to a larger area of the macula, so patients with low vision (at the level of 20/60 or less in their better-seeing eye) can benefit. In addition, users can take a snapshot with the camera and ask Ivy unlimited questions about what it sees, or ask it to read text out loud, Dr. Mehta says. Ivy is fluent in 99 languages. 

Patients can use a manual interface to further enhance images, explains Hardeep Dhindsa, MD, FACS, founder of HD Retina Eye Center Ltd, in Reno, Nevada, who recommends the Eye6 device to his patients. Users can hear a detailed audio description of their surroundings by pushing a button on the frames. They can use a handheld device to further refine images, such as zoom and contrast functions.

Because the glasses provide uninhibited views below and to the sides, users can look around screens and see the ground, Dr. Mehta says. Having an unobstructed view of the ground helps users maintain their balance and avoid tripping. And, thanks to hybrid see-through technology, displays blend seamlessly with the real world.

A USB-C cord attaches the glasses to a modified cell phone that works as a computer. The phone provides computing and battery power to the device, so the glasses themselves are not heavy. A feature called EyeSwitch enables the cell phone camera to be used to capture images for review by Ivy, rather than the camera on the glasses. If a user has a tremor, for example, the phone can be put on a stand and used to read. 

“The product’s uniqueness stems not only from the advanced software modeling of a user’s surroundings, but also from the ability to have an audio description of one’s surroundings in a lightweight design,” says Dr. Dhindsa, who is also a clinical associate professor of surgery at the University of Nevada’s Reno School of Medicine.

Easy to Use

The user interface is easy to learn — no technical skills are necessary. In fact, Dr. Mehta says elderly individuals use the device every day. Once the Eye6 has been set up, almost everything is automatic. Settings can be changed as vision changes occur.

The key element in these glasses, Dr. Dhindsa says, is that most of its computing power resides in the handheld computer. This allows the glasses to be lightweight, at about 3 ounces. Patients can live more independent lives and wear the glasses in social settings without aesthetic concerns.

Dr. Dhindsa’s patients receive a training session on how to use the glasses. Family members are encouraged to attend so they can better understand the device and its capabilities. 

Positive Patient Feedback 

When using Eye6, patients have been impressed by their ability to read, watch television better, and see their loved ones’ faces in clearer detail, says Dr. Dhindsa, who has personally tried the product. “It’s very heartwarming to hear from some of my patients how much it has helped them,” he says.

Dr. Dhindsa and Dr. Mehta say the Eye6 is ideal for anyone with visual complaints — including people who have age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, or another type of macular disease that affects both eyes such as Stargardt disease, retinitis pigmentosa, macular dystrophy, or central serous retinopathy. Even blind individuals can benefit from certain functions of the device.

“Ivy uses multimodal generative AI and takes a huge leap forward, making the Eye6 helpful for people who can’t decipher images or have no light perception vision, to extend their visual journey,” concludes Dr. Mehta. “Almost all of a user’s visual tasks can be accomplished.” RP