I wanted to take a moment to share an experience I had last year. Though I’m not usually inclined to promote blindness related services, I feel that I must make an exception here. My experience may not have been as monumentally life-changing as it has been for some people, but in the moment of it’s emergence in my life, I felt that it was one of the coolest developments I’d yet seen regarding technology for the visually impaired. A few years ago, a friend of mine was telling me about these glasses one could purchase with cameras above the lenses. These allowed a person to get in touch with a specially trained agent who could see through the cameras and assist the person in completing a given task. Though the idea of wearing glasses never really appealed to me, the service sounded interesting enough. The organization that offered it was and is still called “Aira”, and when I heard that they had developed an app for smart phones, I started doing a little more research into what services were offered and at what cost. It’s not a cheep service, (more on the details later), but since it’s a niche market and Aira currently has a monopoly on it, they can set their prices accordingly. However, Aira agents go through specialized training and are held to a high standard in order to best serve clients, so one may argue that for the quality of service, the heavy price may be worth it.
The Story
I’d had Aira downloaded on my phone for many months before actually making use of it. The only reason I used it at all was because I was desperate, and it was the last solution I thought of to help me out of my current predicament. I was on my way to Philadelphia last year, and my trip from Vancouver included two lay-overs. The trouble started when my first flight from Seattle landed in Charlotte, North Carolina. I deplaned with the other passengers and waited at the top of the jet way for the assistance I’d requested to help me locate my next gate. My second lay-over wasn’t very long, so time was of the essence. The gate agent insisted that someone would come, but after 20 minutes of waiting, no one had showed. My flight was to board soon, and I needed to get a move on. Suddenly, I remembered Aira, a service I’d never used before. I opened the app and discovered that free access offers were provided by Aira in most major airports. I got an Aira agent on the line, and with the gate agent franticly calling behind me that I “should really wait for someone to assist me” and that I was “going the wrong way”, we set off together to find my flight.
Unfortunately, I can’t recall the name of the lovely lady who helped me that day, but I wish so much that I could. Experiences like this don’t happen for me often, but the discovery of this service and how flawlessly my first experience with it went was so very freeing. The agent was able to pull up a map of the airport on her end to aid in finding our final destination. She gave very good left and right directions, and even warned me of upcoming pedestrian traffic. She told me of escalators and even took the time to call out which stores and restaurants we were passing in case there was anything I wanted along the way. Arguably, we made it to my gate faster than I may have with an airport assistant, as I wasn’t having to tailer my walking speed to anyone else’s. When we arrived at my gate and the pre-boarding call was just being given, I wanted to cry. That moment of freedom, the ability to forgo the less than helpful assistance “offered” by the airport in favour of an option that allowed me greater autonomy was just the best feeling. It made my night, frankly. Huge props to that Aira agent. I will forever remember her exemplary work.
Yes, I’m ultimately still relying on someone else’s eyes, but there are two key differences: Firstly, it’s a service I can pay for, and therefore it feels like a bit more of a fair transaction, rather than an obligation. (However, in this case, there are people paid by the airline to assist customers, so this may not apply here.) Secondly, as long as I have cell service, the option is available to me whenever I need it and not only when someone feels like showing up to help me. I’ve used Aira in many airports since to get myself out of similar situations, and every time, I’m grateful for the existence of such a service. Aira comes with a price, but I’d say that having one’s own autonomy is worth a fair bit. It hasn’t only been useful in airports, either. I’ve found the presence of an Aira agent useful in many other circumstances, most commonly related to travel. When exploring somewhere new, for example, Aira has been helpful in locating a specific building or landmark I’m after if I’m having trouble finding it myself. The possibilities extend far beyond my uses for it, too. Aira can help format documents, aid in website navigation, reading text, comprehending the assembly of a structure, orienting you to an object or to your surroundings and much more. I truly can’t say enough good things about my experiences with the Aira team. Negative experiences with agents have been very few and far between. Most of the agents I’ve spoken with have been professional, friendly and happy to attempt whichever task is set before them.
Pros And Cons
The biggest advantage to having a plan with Aira is the flexibility it allows. Especially for travel, in my case, it’s nice to know that if I should like to explore an area and end up being less confident in my understanding of it than I’d originally thought, I can make use of this service rather than waiting for the day, which will never come, when someone wants to tag along and explain it to me. It’s a fail safe; something I can fall back on if I need it, and it allows for greater freedom of movement and further independence on one’s own terms.
The biggest downside is the cost. It’s definitely not a cheep service, but it also can’t be expected that people who work in a niche market work for free. However, this can be difficult for some lower-income clients that would benefit from the service. However, Aira does offer a guest plan, which allows someone five free minutes per day if there’s a small task that can be completed or partially so within that time frame. The five minutes must be used up in one shot, though. It cannot be split up into smaller calls. Aira also offers service free of charge in designated locations, all of which are listed in the app. Airports are pretty common ones, and it’s free in any Starbucks across the US. In the case of some individuals, employers may fund, or partially fund a plan if it’s likely to have some benefit on the job. I’ve also heard cases of schools sponsoring Aira users for ease of navigation and work on campus. Maybe the funding could also be provided for a time by one’s local Lions club, but for most, the responsibility falls on the individual for payment. If one makes use of all their minutes each month, the plan is worth it, in my opinion. I’m all for paying for something that gives me access to a service that’s greatly beneficial. One of my biggest beefs with Aira, however, is that the minutes you pay for don’t carry over. If you don’t use all of your minutes in a month, you lose them, and considering how expensive the minutes are, I don’t think this is right.
Price Breakdown
- Five-minute guest plan: Free
- 30-minute intro plan: $29 per month
- 120-minute standard plan: $99 per month
- 300-minute advanced plan: $199 per month
Conclusion
Aira is an extremely valuable service for those who can make use of it. It’s on the expensive side, but until Aira no longer has the monopoly on this service, one must decide if their prices are worth the autonomy that Aira may provide them. That decision is very personal, and for those who choose not to pay for a plan, there are the free options one can use. Also, as an alternative to Aira, there is an app called “Be My Eyes”, available on the apple app store, for sure, which is volunteer-run. It works in mutch the same way, allowing a person to see through your phone’s camera in order to aid you in a given task. Since this app is volunteer-based, the people who answer are not specially trained. However, it is a wonderful resource as well, and I’ve been aided by the generosity of the volunteers many times. There’s no limit to the calls you can make per day, and the time-limit is dictated only by the time the volunteer has to spend.
Final notes
To download and start using Aira, click here:
https://link.aira.io/ref-6df2x
If you live or can work in the US and are interested in becoming an Aira agent, click here:
To download “Be My Eyes” and sign up as either a client or a volunteer, click here:
Random Acts Of Blindness 