How Meta is offering 'sight' to Utah's blind veterans

SALT LAKE CITY — Navy veteran Larry Wade was in his late 70s when he lost his sight to retinitis pigmentosa — a rare genetic eye disorder.

Blindness is life-altering for anyone. But the condition seemed especially cruel for Wade — a Utah painter celebrated for his impressionist works of vast landscapes and depictions of Latter-day Saint pioneers.

When Wade lost his sight, he simultaneously lost his capacity to create beauty with oil and brush.

The daily challenges of blindness, of course, stretch far beyond painting. For Wade and many other military veterans living with some degree of vision impairment, it can impede many of the most basic elements of personal independence and dignity.

Simply reading a food or prescription medicine label typically demands assistance.

But an initiative sponsored by Meta, formerly known as Facebook Inc., is helping American military veterans such as Wade reclaim priceless measures of empowerment.

The tech company on Tuesday donated dozens of its Ray-Ban Meta AI glasses to Utah veterans who are legally blind during a gathering at the Utah Division of Services for the Blind and Visually Impaired office in Salt Lake City.

Wade and other glasses recipients also received one-on-one training on using the cutting-edge AI glasses. The "tech specs" allow them to distinguish objects, read texts or restaurant menus and manage everyday tasks such as choosing what color shirt to wear or which ice cream flavor to pull from the freezer.

"These glasses are going to be amazing," said Wade, who was joined at Tuesday's Meta AI glasses training by his wife, Connie. "Everything's going to be much easier — just being able to do things like read the labels on cans in the pantry."

'Tech Specs': Offering freedom to freedom fighters

More than 130,000 American veterans who are legally blind are eligible to receive Ray-Ban Meta AI glasses, training and tech support.

Eligible veterans can request their pair of Ray-Ban Meta AI glasses through bva.org/glasses. And veteran organizations seeking to help their members or other eligible blinded veterans receive glasses can apply through TechSoup.

Designing a product that improves the lives of blind American veterans has been a key motive in developing the AI glasses, Meta Research Labs Policy Manager Jacklyn Doig-Keys told the Deseret News.

"We know there's a huge veteran population here in Utah," she said, "and everyone's been so enthusiastic to be here."

The black-rimmed Ray-Ban Meta AI glasses are equipped with speakers, camera and AI — all built directly into the frame.

"You can use everything, hands-free, simply by saying, 'Hey Meta,' and then giving a command," said Doig-Keys.

But the glasses do more than simply follow commands.

"They are able to look at what is in front of you, capture it, and then interpret it for you," said Doig-Keys. "And that's what has made these glasses such a game changer for the blind and low vision community."

Dignity and independence, she added, are qualities Utah's military vets have earned.

"Our veterans are a very independent group of people," said Doig-Keys. "They served their country; so to be able to give back a little bit of that independence to a group of people that are so used to doing things for others has been really special."

Blinded vets helping blinded vets

Meta operates its national AI glasses program in partnership with the Blinded Veterans Association — an organization driven by its motto: "Blinded veterans helping blinded veterans."

The association's national president, Wade Davis, was in Salt Lake City for Tuesday's event. An Army veteran who fought in the Vietnam War before he began losing his vision in his 40s, Davis was proudly wearing his own pair of Ray-Ban Meta AI glasses.

"They're life-changing," he said. "You still need a white cane to maneuver around for you to be safe, but these glasses describe your settings. It will read a newspaper or a menu for you."

And then there are the unexpected benefits of utilizing the high-tech specs, added Davis.

"Shortly after I got mine, I went to a church service," he said. "Our church always puts scriptures up on this big screen in the front of the church, but I've never been able to read them.

"Then I asked Meta to read them for me — and it did. It was amazing."

'I've not let (blindness) get to me'

Like many of the veterans participating in Tuesday's AI glasses event, Wade had to make some tough choices when he started losing his sight 10 years ago, forcing him to forever stow his paints.

"Oh my gosh," he said, "I thought it was the end of the world."

But with the support of his wife and others, Wade now realizes that losing one's sight does not mean losing one's humanity and one's identity.

"As a human being, you have to make adjustments to live," said Wade, sharing wise words that were once shared with him. "And as a blind person, you just have to make a few more adjustments. You can't let it get you — and I've not let it get to me.

"I'm all right."

Related topics