Smart Glasses will be life-changing for those with vision loss

The life-changing impact on the blind and low vision community must not be overlooked as New Zealanders debate the arrival of smart glasses to our shores, says Blind Low Vision NZ.
The technology to fully enable smart glasses is due to arrive in New Zealand later this year, a moment widely anticipated by those with blindness or low vision, a community that represents over two percent of the population in Aotearoa.
“This is going to be an absolute game changer for our blind low vision members and many thousands more New Zealanders as we see the effects of an ageing population,” said Dan Shepherd GM of Community and Inclusion for Blind Low Vision NZ.
“Our community is one for which the everyday is not built with us in mind. Walking down the street is a gamble of tripping hazards, shopping for food, catching public transport, being able to interact with healthcare, and being able to read a story to our children. These glasses will support our equitable access to the sighted world.
“Not only that, it will have widespread health, safety and wellbeing benefits for people who are blind, deaf blind or have low vision. We will be able to adapt faster to the environment around us, identify risks, access our community with greater ease, and enjoy many more aspects of life that many others may take for granted.
“While we fully acknowledge the privacy concerns raised in other countries, particularly the cheaper versions, however USA Canada, UK, Australia, Singapore, Japan, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and Belgium’s blind low vision community are already successfully and appropriately using Meta glasses.
“We should also not ignore the important fact that we already have so many devices that are open to misuse, like mobile phones which have been used widely to capture private information and conversations without our consent,” added Dan Shepherd.

Smart glasses operated by Meta are expected to be the first rolled out in New Zealand and Blind Low Vision NZ is already working closely with suppliers to ensure privacy concerns are considered when the technology arrives.
“We will be doing all we can to ensure there are ways our community can reassure the public when they are wearing the new devices, we certainly don’t want to face further discrimination and backlash when we are using them to help us live the lives we choose” added Dan Shepherd.
“We acknowledge the work already done by the Privacy Commission and of the Department of Internal Affairs confirming that legislation such as the Privacy Act, the Harmful Digital Communications Act and Digital.govt.nz can all be levers to ensure public safety is protected and any misuse will have the tools to punish wrongdoers.
“We want to be able to provide access to these glasses for our community so it’s incumbent upon us to ensure our members are well prepared and well supported through this exciting time. We really want them to feel empowered and enabled by new technology and not rather than feel uncomfortable or threatened by using it.”