Steve is KAB’s Assistive Technology Worker for the West Kent area. Steve shares with us his experience of technology, and how it has helped with his sight impairment, at a recent technology demonstration day.

Here at KAB, as part of my job role, I often attend demonstration days from the companies that kindly lend us equipment for our centres and for Iris Mobile Sight Centre.

Last year, VisionAid came in to demonstrate lots of good tech for our clients, however nothing that would change things for me personally. I have been trying out various magnifiers since primary school, but nothing has really helped my particular sight loss. VisionAid then started to demonstrate the AceSight VR. This is a headset with a built-in camera magnifier.

I decided to have a go myself, as they told me that it could help with things like reading, seeing faces and watching TV. It is similar to a gaming headset but without the sound!

The demonstration of the device made a huge impact…

After a few seconds, I could see a mass of red in front of me. These strange red things were my work colleagues. I then realised that they were waving to me. These are people I see every day, but have never really seen.

The moment was amazing. I don’t often think how much I miss out on by not seeing what people look like, as I am so used to it. But I felt so much closer to everyone now I could see what they look like.

I looked outside and saw cars in detail, normally just a blurry mist. I then read a small business card. Usually I am unable to read very much, just very large letters. However, I could read the smaller text. Reading was still slow, as I have not read text that small for a very long time…if ever.

For me, this is a great device, which I would love to get one day! It is not suitable for everyone; you do require at least a small amount of vision to benefit from it. It doesn’t enable you to suddenly see again! However, the small camera built into the unit may enable you to get the best from your surroundings. I would recommend requesting a demonstration from VisionAid before considering this.

Visit VisionAid’s website: https://www.visionaid.co.uk/acesight-vr