Blind man will run Brighton Marathon next week thanks to Meta Smart Glasses

Ok. Before I get accused of being a shill for Meta, I should say there apparently will be "there will also be a back-up guide runner in case the technology fails."

bbc.com

Blind marathon runner to be guided by smart glasses

Clarke Reynolds will tackle the Brighton marathon with the help of a network of virtual guides.

Open link

The blind leading the blind. Rojo does this motivate you a little bit? I wouldn’t think it would, but sometimes when one sees someone doing something despite all kinds of obstacles, it can make one ask “what is my excuse?” Although since you have already run a marathon or two, that might dampen your motivation.

I'll be interested in following how this works. I'm a big fan of the Meta glasses but the connection can be a bit spotty. For example I tried live-streaming on WhatsApp with my wife to ask her help finding something in the grocery store and it had very inconsistent connection.

Good to try with a backup in hand though!

Nice job trying to decency-wash the Meta Perv Peepers rojo. This tech might help out the disabled in niche circumstances like this but most who wear them are rightly hated by those around them.

Wear the Perv Peepers and beware the outcomes.

For the life of me, I don’t get all the down votes for this. I think it’s great that someone who wasn’t dealt the best hand in life is able to accomplish a goal with the help of modern technology. I love the running community. Most people are nice and it is a great sport for people of all abilities get healthy and gain self confidence. What are you jerks going to down vote next? Kids getting cured of cancer? Deaf kids getting cochlear implants so they are able to hear?

I agree. I found this article very interesting as I'd never heard of this technology app combo to help blind people get guidance through smart glasses. This is super cool, and I'm glad Rojo shared. I look forward to following how this works.

You're right that people should support efforts to find technological fixes to common people problems rather than, say, what Meta spends most of its time on. But saying that this is anything like curing cancer or that blindness or deafness could be cured in that way makes you sound like an idiot.

Brighton pavements - very safe indeed, even for the blind.

<Steve Ovett enters chat..>

W Meta. If one didn't get in on Meta/Facebook in 2012 or/and when the stock went under $100 in late 2022 then opportunity missed. Thanks Mark.......

Lex Young ran a 1500 in the Meta glasses - check out footage here: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DWsQ8dVEpFQ/?igsh=aWRzajQyb2NrMTZv

I downvoted because im cynical about corporations using human interest stories as PR and advertising

its certainly nice for the runner, but this isnt charity its meta propaganda

Have they considered that with that many people in one spot for a marathon that the data network probably won’t work well for streaming? Is there a backup plan when his glasses don’t work?

My wife has been a volunteer with "Be My Eyes" for a few years. The normal use case for this is reading printed material for a blind person, say the day's mail wherein the volunteer can direct the client to point their phone's camera at the material to be read. How well this works for guiding a runner through a race remains to be seen, but the potential for drop outs in the video feed and the lower situational awareness of the guide vs being there in person seem like significant issues.

Cool. They found a niche use for the sexual harassment glasses! There you go, perverts, if anyone complains about you secretly recording them, just say you're guiding a blind runner