Toronto’s eSight is hoping to expand access to their clinically-validated electronic glasses that let the legally blind see again in a new global campaign.
Called Make Blindness History, the accessibility wearables company has launched a worldwide pledge to eradicate blindness by 2020. The campaign is seeking to garner new financial support to help bring sight to some of the 50 million people who suffer from vision loss while increasing awareness of the potential for their technology.
“Now that eSight exists, an overwhelming majority of the legally blind community has the chance to actually see. They can work for a living, proudly pay taxes, study to their fullest potential in the classroom, and they can perform and experience nearly every activity of daily life as their sighted peers do,” said Jeffrey Fenton, eSight’s director of outreach and communications.
While eSight’s breakthrough technology can renew independence for the legally blind, the company’s headset costs nearly $10,000 USD. The high price tag can seem unobtainable when considering that 30 per cent of people who are legally blind live in poverty and seven out of 10 are unemployed, eSight reports. While the company already helps connect potential buyers with grants and funding, eSight’s new mission is far more ambitious.
For those that have been able to access the technology, it has been a game changer. Scott Reese, a legally blind customer service professional, uses eSight every day.
Through third-party support, eSight is calling on organizations, schools, medical professionals, community organizations, media, public officials and others to provide the company’s sight-restoring technology to those that need it most. The company is also facilitating fundraising campaigns to help individuals get the financial backing they need to buy a pair of eSight’s electronic glasses.
The company’s glasses made TIME Magazine’s list of 25 Best Inventions this year.