Argentina and Paris Saint-Germain football star, Lionel Messi has joined an initiative to assist Ethiopians who are visually challenged. Messi announced on social media that he was honored to collaborate with assistive devices startup OrCam to offer visual assistance to Ethiopians.
Impaired eyesight is one of the most serious public health issues in Ethiopia, with one study estimating that 1.18% of the population is blind.
According to OrCam, its visual aid device technology enhances the lives of those who are blind, visually impaired, and have reading challenges.
Ethiopia’s first lady’s office donated the sophisticated vision aid device to 2,000 people last year, thanks to the generosity of donors. According to the office, blind people were able to read Amharic – the country’s working language – and English texts without the assistance of others.
Artificial Intelligence technology fitted to the frame of spectacles enabling visually challenged persons to read and identify colours as it reads them out loud to the user.
Time magazine rated the technology one of the year’s most significant innovations. The OrCam MyEye glass, on the other hand, is prohibitively expensive for many people, with a single gadget costing more than $4,000 (£3,200).