Seleste Glasses - Your personal AI audio describer | Epic A11y Podcast

[@undrhil]

A couple of questions. One. Is the audio that he had in the video where it was talking normal for the glasses or was that enhanced in any way, because that was pretty loud. Also, does the images that it takes get sent to a server for processing and are those images saved anywhere and are they tied to your account for privacy reasons, can you have those images not be stored and not be sent off to a server at all? Finally, I would like to see a demonstration of this being used in a normal environment where there are noises and people talking around you.

[@SelesteCo]

Hey great questions. On our app, you can choose to route audio through the phone and Bluetooth headphones connected to your phone or through the glasses. In the video, I routed it to the phone so that everyone could hear it. For the images we use OpenAI's vision model which is on the cloud, however none of this data is stored on the cloud and openAI does not train their AI from the images we send it. We store the descriptions of images locally on the phone and if you want you can turn that off. Lastly about the sound when using this outside, unless it's a busy street you will be able to hear the audio through the glasses, however the quality of the speakers is worse than audio Bluetooth headphones and so most of our users right now usually wear airpods or bone conduction headphones and then route audio through the phone when they are outside.

[@undrhil]

@@SelesteCo thank you for the answers

[@craigwarren4202]

It sounds like the audio could go to my hearing aids, which I connect to my phone. I wonder how distracting that would be when I'm talking to someone or walking around.

[@carrieonaccessibility]

Those were some great questions @Undrhil. I wonder if I could do a follow up interview and cover some of these topics. I was quite remiss in not including them!

[@carrieonaccessibility]

@craigwarrne4202 It sounds like it could if it uses bluetooth. I wonder if there is a way to make it stop talking if needed. Similar to pressing control when using a desktop screen reader or a two finger tap when using VoiceOver or Talkback. Hmmm.

[@noahsj1373]

Great podcast Carrie!!

[@carrieonaccessibility]

Thanks so much Noah! I appreciate that!! :D

[@hiltihall]

This is all exciting, and i look forward seeing this continue in its advancement.

[@carrieonaccessibility]

Yes, it'll certainly be interesting especially because of the newer AI models that should be able to handle video! :)

[@eLearningwithEricka]

I love this technology! I can't wait to get my hands on a pair. .

[@carrieonaccessibility]

I think it has a lot of potential! I"m excited to try it out and see how it stacks up.

[@MrRobbiegem2005]

The 1st thing that comes to mind is a product comparison between these glasses and the 1st ORCAM product that came out about 10 years ago. These glasses haven't got much features compared to ORCAM. Don't like the subscription packages. $600 per year; not for me.

[@carrieonaccessibility]

Yes. I know about OrCam, but I'm not sure if it has some kind of AI integration using Chat GPT. It would be interesting to know. AI can really bridge the gap for a lot of the different features since you can basically ask it anything from how bright a room is to what colors it sees to what product you're holding. Also, the OrCam would be a huge upfront cost versus a monthly that keeps you updated both for hardware and software. I'm not defending or promoting either really. I haven't seen either in real life and don't know how worth it either of them really are.

[@JokerAlice]

I don't know how to feel about the monthly subscription; however, if it's a useful product than maybe some people could justify it. Might wait untill Carie gets her hands on it, to consider getting a pair myself, I'm wondering if it could be useful to not only read books but also manga. That would be pretty cool.

[@carrieonaccessibility]

Yes! I need to see it in person and see how well it actually actually works. If you send me some manga files I would be happy to test it out

[@undrhil]

Yes, yes.... send her all the research material LOL ​@@carrieonaccessibility

[@lordatrexia]

I guess he’s right when you compare the price to other assistive technology, but 50 a month is still quite the ask 😂 I’ll be super curious to hear your thoughts if you end up getting a pair, the technology seems cool & I’m definitely curious 🤔

[@carrieonaccessibility]

I've put in my order, but it says it'll take 2 months to ship. I guess I can't complain too much since it is technically still in beta? But I will definitely share my thoughts. A better comparison to Netflix, which is the comparison he used, would maybe be like a phone service monthly bill. Still high though. We'll have to see if it's really worth it.

[@unexplained_entity7514]

That’s still on Top of your phone service bill too

[@lucsterckx5814]

Hi Carrie, thanks for this video! If possible, could you also include questions about availability in other countries during similar interviews? I've contacted people from Seleste to know whether their device is available in Europe (Belgim)... The aren't. Same for the Ray Ban Meta. The glasses are available in Europe but the AI features aren't.

[@blindianajones]

Can these work well when its dark or low light? Read a menu in a dark restaurant? Help find a restroom at a pub or bar? On the flip side, how well do they work if you are outside and there are cars with headlights or the streetlights or an indoor light that is bright? I dont expect perfection but its helpful to understand current limits. Oh, and how well does this read compared to OrCam and Seeing AI? Thanks and exicted to give these a try.

[@SelesteCo]

Hey lighting is a great question, we have an 8 mega pixel autofocus camera on the glasses. in terms of lighting the camera on the glasses is close to most phone cameras which means if you expect that your phone could read the text through seeing AI for example you should be able to read it from the glasses.

[@carrieonaccessibility]

These are great questions! Hopefully, when I get them in, we'll see what they're like. :)

[@ToughBeifong]

Those sound really cool but I am also disappointed in the prioritization of iOS and the pricing as well. I will be looking to the live stream whenever you finally get the glasses lol.

[@carrieonaccessibility]

Definitely. I am also very disappointed. Did it show much when I said so? haha.

[@ToughBeifong]

@@carrieonaccessibility no I could see it on your face lol

[@carrieonaccessibility]

@ToughBeifong 😂 wow! I made you see!!

[@ToughBeifong]

Yes, I was able to finally see how disappointed that beautiful face of yours was lol

[@unexplained_entity7514]

I think the use case potential is pretty amazing, though like others, I’m more than a little worried about the subscription model. I understand from a business perspective how that could be super beneficial as long as the company is committed to updating regularly, though as you pointed out in the video, That’s a lot for a lot of people, especially given the employment rate of blind people overall.

[@carrieonaccessibility]

Yes, I think so. If it was only reality! I think that the subscription is just a lot, too much. I think their price has even gone up. We'll just have to see if it's really worthh it.... and I just can't decide.

[@CCTP9876]

Hi. What program can blind people use to read books in pdf format?

[@carrieonaccessibility]

There are different options depending on what device you're using. You could use the Envision app or SuperSense app. You could also use the Edge browser on windows and press Control + Shift + U to turn on the read aloud immersive reader. There are many other options out there as well.

[@shaunteckno]

Very awesome video! The pricing kind of gets me as well. I’m in the market, trying to decide what wearable I'd like to buy. After using them for a while, do you feel like it's worth paying 50 dollars a month for them? I'd love to hear your thoughts. Here’s another question. When out in public, do you have to use a personal hotspot? I don’t have money to keep a personal hotspot on all the time, when I’m using the glasses. Can I just connect the glasses using Bluetooth to my phone, and use the glasses that way? Thanks so much.

[@carrieonaccessibility]

At the moment, I don't think the tech is mature enough to be worth it. Remember, this is still in a kind of public beta. Also, because it is using AI, it requires internet. That's why using your phone's hotspot is needed if you don't have access to wifi.

[@peterspitz2385]

This really seems to be an inccredible device, but I don't really think my vision is bad enough that I would get a lot of value from it. That being said, I love the pricing model. A fairly low up-front cost with, IMHO, reasonable monthly payments. Plus the ability to trade in the hardware when a new version is released. The last thing anybody wants to do is spend thousands of dollars up front on an assistive device, only to find that a newer version is way more useful. I wish all assistive tech device suppliers would adopt this pricing model. I think a lot more people would adopt and benefit from the technology. But right now the barrier to entry is much too steep.

[@carrieonaccessibility]

It would really just depend on how well it worked. In theory it could really be much better than having to pay thousands of dollars. I just need to see it to believe it. Lol!

[@peterspitz2385]

@@carrieonaccessibility Depending on how long you keep it, you are still maybe going to pay thousands of dollars, but not all upfront. And, if your vision changes to a point where the device is no longer useful, you can just return it and you are not stuck with some piece of technology that is useless to you, but you paid a fortune for. That’s the part I like.

[@carrieonaccessibility]

@peterspitz2385 or if you're not able to pay it for one reason or another for a while, you could have it returned and just get it again. I just want to mention that the device doesn't require any vision to use.

[@cdlee7943]

Can these glasses be purchased in the US? Also can the glasses be purchased outright or is there always a monthly subscription?

[@carrieonaccessibility]

It's subscription based, but I don't really recommend this at the moment. THey seem to have development issues. however, I'm waiting to see how Echo Vision does! :)

[@splashesin8]

This is interesting. I would have to think about it awhile.

[@carrieonaccessibility]

Yes. Same here. I need to see how it really works, too!

[@_bigblind]

This would make it so much easier for me to independently explore a city, having it describe the stores and locations I'm passing by. Sadly, it looks like you don't ship to the Netherlands yet. If at all possible, I'd love it if you could ship a device to me, even if I'd have to pay more to cover shipping internationally.

[@carrieonaccessibility]

Yes, it sounds like it could potentially be something that could really help with that, but I don't know until I have it in my hands! :D

[@nosightgaming722]

Just fyi, you can’t compare these to esight or Apple Vision Pro. It’s like comparing apples to bananas. The best thing to compare these to is the envision glasses. Both serve the exact same purpose, but one is thousands of dollars more than the other.

[@carrieonaccessibility]

Good point. It is more like envision or orcam

[@VulcanOnWheels]

9:20 He says there are 4 modes but mentions only 3.

[@carrieonaccessibility]

It's 1. Scan Text, 2. Text Recognition, 3. Scene Description, and 4. Smart Assistant. He clarifies the difference between scan text and text recognition. One of them scans. for text continuously and the other only does it once.

[@rickycusick9340]

That was a painful interview. I hate to sound cliché, but it was like pulling teeth. The product itself is a swing and a miss and by the way you were right it’s a service

[@carrieonaccessibility]

I would love to hear your thoughts on the new Echo Vision glasses interview and see how you feel about them! kzbin.info/www/bejne/bGabcneZi8t7o7M