By Myra Ross | From BayLines Express, March, 2026
My Agiga EchoVision glasses and I have been through many trials, let’s say growing pains, for me and them. I am a Pioneer, meaning I have had the glasses, which even now are not quite ready for prime time, since late December. Initially, everything was great. I read holiday cards; I heard detailed descriptions of my home. I was pretty impressed. The problem started when I went to another town and tried to get on a different wi-fi network. Nothing worked. I came home figuring it would work again here as it had in the past. Nope. I did more factory resets than I care to count. I kept getting unstable messages, and the wi-fi kept going in and out. Every update took three or four attempts. Between successes that were amazing, including reading much of a book, I had lots of failures. I could barely complete a task. I ultimately asked for another pair of glasses, which I recently received. Although my first pair was erratic, the new pair is great.
I’ll tell you about one fabulous experience I had. I connected to my hotspot, and with my sighted husband I took the glasses for a spin at the supermarket. I used both the Q&A (photo) and Live AI (video) modes, depending on what I wanted to know. My glasses told me that the pharmacy counter was at 2 o’clock three feet ahead of me, true, and that the tech had blond hair and was wearing a green hoodie and blue jeans, also true. It accurately read me the signs about vaccinations.
In the produce section, it told me what kind of apples there were, and how much they cost. It identified the plastic container next to the apples as caramel dipping sauce — who knew that was even there? It told me that the peppers, eggplants, summer squashes, and zucchinis were in the display in front of me. I found the peppers which it identified by color as I picked them up. I found the two summer squashes, but not the eggplants. I said to myself that I couldn’t find the eggplants and my glasses told me they were higher up than the squashes. I didn’t even know the display went up that high. I reached way up and forward, and voila, eggplants!! It misidentified the mangos that were between the two kinds of avocados, but I knew they were mangos. It did hallucinate a little, as AI can do. It kept insisting that a container of blueberries was raspberries even when reading the container in my hand. I knew they were blueberries, but I did not buy them at that price!
There was a random display of canned goods in the middle of somewhere. I picked up a can that my husband was pretty sure the glasses would not be able to read. Oh yes they could — Campbell’s vegetable soup. The glasses even read a round can!
The sign for prepared foods drew me. I picked up a package, which the glasses said was sliced turkey. Without further prompting, I heard the glasses say, “the package says chicken, but it looks like turkey!”
I learned that there are yellow sale signs everywhere. Entenman’s donut holes were BOGO, and I was tempted until I asked the price. The glasses said $5.69 per box — too much for donuts I don’t eat very often anyway.
My battery was running low, so we went to the chips aisle — my weakness.
Wow, there are a lot of kinds of chips, and there were jars of salsa in front of the chips almost all the way down the long aisle. Who knew? I did not try to read the jars as we would have been there all day. Then the battery died. Too bad. I was having so much fun. Battery life will increase when the final version of the glasses is released, and importantly, the glasses can be comfortably recharged while in use. All you need is a small power bank and a USB-C cord (I purchased a retractable one) which can be in a purse or backpack while the glasses are worn – not uncomfortable.
Shopping online is great, but it is true that there is nothing like being there. I’m sure that exploring will get old ultimately, but I was like a kid in a candy store. The fact that I now can “see” something of what it looks like in that store that I have gone too often for forty years is nothing short of thrilling to me.
Because my first pair was defective, I have not had as many experiences as some of the other Pioneers. They are reading mail, price tags, paper and wall menus in restaurants, church bulletins, and are learning about landmarks they never knew about in neighborhoods they have lived in for decades.
I know sighted people who have two, sometimes three, pairs of glasses, depending on what they are doing. I think we are no different. No glasses can be everything for all people. These glasses were designed essentially to help us see, for me, the most noble of purposes. Importantly, they do not censor; they offer incredibly detailed descriptions; they connect to Aira and Be My Eyes; they take telephone calls; they answer clarifying questions; they can both summarize and OCR text. Most functions are button-activated. They are working on alternative voice commands. Even before they are ready for prime time later this year, they are very promising. I love that they were designed by blind people for blind people. They are constantly considering suggestions from the early adopter Pioneers and Beta testers who have tried features not yet known to me. The EchoVision glasses will only get better. The amazing engineers are now working on improving stability and connectivity, short form responses, and facial ID, perfect for making all-important quick identifications. I don’t need them to do all of the things that other smart glasses already do, at least not anytime soon. I’m all in on their priorities – to provide as much accurate visual access to the world as possible.
Despite my trials with the glasses, I say thank you, and Bravo!!