ARx Vision

ARx Vision is a company focused on assistive technology for blind and low-vision individuals, providing hardware and software to translate the visual world into audio. The company's origins trace back to the Horus Sight startup, founded in 2015, which was later rebooted into ARx by CEO Charles Leclercq in 2020. Leclercq's background is in video game design and creative management at Ubisoft, working on major franchises, and in R&D for early motion-sensing technologies like the Microsoft Kinect. His experience in creating immersive, user-friendly experiences in gaming inspired him to apply similar principles to solve real-world problems, leading him to explore audio augmented reality at BBC R&D before joining ARx.

The core of ARx Vision's offering is the ARx AI Headset, a lightweight, AI-enabled talking camera that connects to a smartphone. This hands-free device is designed to be worn all day without covering the user's face, allowing for greater independence and freedom of movement. The headset works by streaming real-time video to an app on a connected Android smartphone (with iPhone compatibility in development), which then uses AI to analyze and describe the user's surroundings. Audio feedback is delivered via bone-conduction speakers, which transmit sound through the cheekbones, leaving the user's ears open to hear ambient sounds like traffic and conversations, ensuring situational awareness.

The system offers several functionalities. It can provide continuous, live descriptions of scenes, a feature that distinguishes it from apps that only describe static photos. Users can also perform specific tasks such as reading documents, letters, and menus; identifying objects; recognizing faces; and detecting emotions. The device integrates with established visual assistance apps like Microsoft Seeing AI and NaviLens, extending their capabilities to a hands-free format. The business operates in the assistive technology market, serving blind and low-vision individuals directly and through distributors like the RNIB in the UK, Vision Australia, and CNIB in Canada. Revenue is generated from the sale of the headset hardware and associated adapters.

Keywords: assistive technology, blind, low vision, visual impairment, AI camera, bone conduction, audio augmented reality, text-to-speech, object recognition, scene description, facial recognition, hands-free device, wearable technology, Charles Leclercq, Microsoft Seeing AI, NaviLens, visual assistance, independent living, accessibility, computer vision