Finally, I can tell you more about Esight. Do you remember
me writing about this in a post a couple of months ago? Esight has designed a pair of goggles that
has helped to increase visual acuity for some people. A representative from the
company was in Edmonton and I made an appointment for a demonstration of the
magnifying goggles. To cut to the chase, I have to add that the goggles didn’t
work well for me but I am glad that I investigated the possibility of what they
might be able to do.
Tara was our demonstration representative. First she
explained what the goggles were like physically. There was a set of plastic
frames with an elastic band around my head. The magnifying goggles would be
attached to this. The goggles themselves were fairly heavy. There was a
miniature camera, barely discernible, on the frame near the bridge of my nose.
This magnified whatever I was to look at. There was also a control box which I
manipulated with my hand. With this I could increase the magnification and
change the contrast. I could also set the picture for a stable frame.
First Tara moved to the end of a long table – about 20 feet
in length. She asked if I could see her. Lyle and I laughed a little at this. Of
course I wouldn’t be able to see her from that distance! Then Tara held up some
large black numbers printed on white paper. When I looked through the goggles, I
was astounded to find that I could see some of these numbers. However, the
trick to seeing was that I needed to hold my head quite still so that I stayed
within the frame. Also, because I needed such strong magnification to focus on
the number, I lost the peripheral part of the picture.
We then moved on to a page of large print held at closer
quarters. I was able to make out some of the words but found myself guessing at
the end of the word instead of actually reading the print. I found this
exercise quite difficult. I noticed the weight of the goggles and again I
needed to hold my head still and refrain from blinking. It seems that when I
blinked, my head moved enough to lose the frame. Back to the hand held box - this is when the button to freeze the frame
came in handy. However, the
concentration I needed to exert for this was pretty intense.
After an hour, Tara and I both decided that at this time,
the Esight goggles weren’t going to work well for me. Tara was quick to add
that the goggles are still being improved upon and there may come a time in the
future when the design might meet my vision needs.
Even though I didn’t come away with a successful experience
in that Esight was going to help me see better, I’m glad that I tried this out.
There are three pictures with this post. The first is of me
wearing the Esight goggles. The second
shows me attempting to read a page of print.
This picture gives some idea of
the thickness of the goggles. In the third picture I am standing at the end of
the long table. While I couldn’t see the far end of the table using just my
eyes, with the Esight goggles I could read the black numbers on the white
paper.
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| Sue wearing Esight goggles |
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| Sue reading a page of large print |
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| Sue standing at the end of the table holding a page with print on it |
For further information about these electronic glasses, go
to www.esighteyewear.com
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