Technology is all around us with new advances happening at an unprecedented rate. It is being utilized across diverse industries and playing a crucial role in people's day-to-day lives. There is also a specific technology that helps people who learn and think differently – assistive technology. It is typically assistive devices that help people with disabilities or any physically challenged. OrCam Technologies is a company that empowers the lives of people who are visually impaired or have reading challenges using assistive technology.

Speaking with Analytics Insight, Dr. Yonatan Wexler, Executive VP of R&D, OrCam Technologies, provides insight into how the company is helping people and what solutions the company offers to improve their lives significantly.

Kindly brief us about the company, its specialization, and the services it offers.

OrCam Technologies is a leader in personal AI artificial vision innovation, offering breakthrough assistive technologies that improve quality of life. The company was jointly founded in 2010 by Israeli innovators Prof. Amnon Shashua and Mr. Ziv Aviram, who are also the Co-founders of Mobileye (now an Intel company), an AI collision avoidance system leader and autonomous driving innovator. Inspired by the development of ground-breaking artificial vision technology that supports safer driving in over 50 million vehicles worldwide, OrCam harnesses AI-driven computer vision to provide increased independence to those who are blind or visually impaired, have reading challenges, and soon also for people who experience hearing loss – to enable access to the world around them.

OrCam is at the forefront of AI assistive technology development. By focusing on advanced computer vision and machine learning, we have developed our concept of "AI as a companion" to empower blind and visually impaired people in their day-to-day lives with our award-winning OrCam MyEye wearable device. Earlier this year, we also launched the OrCam Read, a first-of-its-class AI-driven digital reader, designed to support those with reading challenges such as dyslexia and other language processing disorders, those with mild to moderate low vision, as well as those who experience reading fatigue. We are currently expanding the scope of our development to create assistive devices for people with hearing loss which contribute to improved well-being and quality of life. OrCam presently serves tens of thousands of global users, in 25 languages across 50 countries.

There are approximately 200 employees in OrCam's R&D division, the largest such team in the world dedicated to innovating assistive technology. OrCam is 1 of only 38 global healthtech unicorns worldwide, underlining its unique position in the world of MedTech innovation in its quest to improve humanity. The company aims to revolutionize the importance of utilizing AI, deep tech and wearable innovations for the sake of empowering people with challenging impairments.

Give a brief overview of your background and your role in the company.

I am an experienced researcher in the fields of Artificial Intelligence and Computer Vision. My focus is efficient methods for understanding which enable the creation of exciting new abilities, such as smart devices. I have conducted research and published academic work at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, University of Maryland, Oxford University, Weizmann Institute of Science, and Microsoft. I currently lead R&D at OrCam, where we focus on pioneering next-generation, AI-based assistive devices to improve people's daily lives. The OrCam MyEye, for example, revolutionizes the lives of those who are blind or visually impaired. It is small enough to clip onto any pair of glasses. It sees what is in front of the user and describes it in the human voice. MyEye can also react to natural human gestures and voice commands to provide the user with only the information she/he is interested in (skipping the rest) – similar to how a friend would do it for them.

Tell us how the company is contributing to the Artificial Intelligence Industry of the nation.

OrCam is continually developing state-of-the-art technology that is designed to be a 'personal helper' for people. This innovation involves sophisticated AI for visual recognition, speech recognition, and natural language understanding (NLU). All of these elements need to work reliably, in a natural environment.

OrCam MyEye delivers pioneering assistive technology to a segment that historically has been technologically deprived – the blind and low vision community. The device packs the world's most advanced AI into an elegant personal device that is tailored to their needs. It is worn for hands-free use and reacts instantaneously to their hand gestures and actions, and simplifies tasks that sighted people take for granted, such as reading. When OrCam MyEye was first launched to the public (in 2015), such AI functionality was not possible anywhere, including the cloud. We keep innovating, from the first launch to the present day, the platform has received major improvements and is capable of looking, reading, listening and talking. It is an example of a technology that empowers people and enables them to study, work, shop, and socialize.

An example of this innovation is the reading function – a feature of the device where users can tell the device, using their voice, what they are interested in hearing. They can choose to read an article by its subject or find a certain piece of information in a long document, such as a phone number, a name, or any specific word they are looking for. It, therefore, saves a lot of time and effort.

Tell us briefly about the OrCam MyEye and how it uses AI to assist people who are blind or visually impaired 

OrCam MyEye is the world's most advanced wearable assistive technology device for those who are blind or visually impaired, translating the visual world into audio to help them better navigate the workplace, educational settings, and environments inside and outside the home with increased independence. The device reads printed and digital text aloud – from any surface – and seamlessly recognizes faces, identifies consumer products, barcodes, colors, money notes, and more, all in real-time. The device's user-friendly design features wireless, intuitive operation and has been compacted into a gadget the size of a finger. The lightweight device (22.5 g/0.8 oz) sits on the frame of a user's eyeglasses and can be operated using intuitive gestures, voice commands, or by simply following the wearer's gaze. All data is processed offline, without requiring an internet connection, resulting in real-time audio communication of vital visual information while ensuring data privacy.

What makes the company innovative? What are the key partnerships and involvements done to drive the innovation?

In order to be innovative, there has to be a vision of a better future. Successful innovation involves many aspects and levels, from concept, through science, productization and marketing.

We develop all the technology in-house to allow for the flexibility to move at a fast pace.

While AI and advanced computer vision technology is being developed for an array of information processing tasks – from analyzing a patient's medical records to making manufacturing processes more efficient, and even optimizing financial trading – these innovations rarely touch a person's day-to-day life. At OrCam, we are focused on developing "personal AI," or impactful AI that the user experiences in their daily living. Whether reading a book, or directing the device through a voice command to only read the vegetarian items from a menu or the total of a monthly phone bill – using OrCam's 'next-level' Smart Reading feature – we are focused on making AI intuitive and applicable in real-time to improve independent living for those with a variety of impairments, ranging from vision loss, to language processing disorders, aphasia, hearing loss and more.

How are disruptive technologies like Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning/Deep Learning/ Automation/Cloud Computing impacting today's innovation? 

These days machine learning is mostly the use of deep learning. The maturation of deep learning has simplified many steps that were previously crucial. Namely, feature extraction and then the combination of these features into proper classifiers were simplified immensely. It is becoming evident that the biggest strength of deep learning is in finding patterns in data – patterns that can be leveraged to make better decisions. These have lowered the barrier of entry into new domains as experience in feature crafting – which used to be both domain-specific and critical – is no longer a must for a fast start. The result is that companies can quickly achieve 70% accuracy on novel domains, and that is exciting! Reaching the critical quality level needed for "real" products is where added knowledge and perseverance are needed. There are domains where this initial jump provides major abilities and opens directions that were not possible before.

Cloud computing and the internet at large have opened opportunities for planetary-scale information processing. These have a major impact on what can be noticed and done. Google's DeepMind solution to the protein folding problem shows how a whole field can benefit from advances in AI and computer science.

Mention some of the awards, achievements, recognitions, and clients' feedback that you feel are notable and valuable for the company. 

Each of our innovations has been recognized at the highest levels of the technology industry and beyond. Most notably, last year, the OrCam MyEye device was recognized by TIME Magazine on the magazine's Best Inventions of 2019 list (in the Accessibility category). Within the technology industry, our devices have been recognized by one of the most global awarding bodies of note, the CTA, at the annual CES in Las Vegas. In 2018, OrCam MyEye captured the prestigious Last Gadget Standing competition top prize, and at CES 2020, our newest device, the OrCam Hear (to be launched in early 2021), was awarded the Best of Innovation Award. 

OrCam Hear was 1 of only 31 Best of Innovation Award winners among the 4,400 companies exhibiting at CES 2020. The award led to extensive global media coverage of OrCam Hear and raised awareness of OrCam Technologies a leader in personal, AI-driven innovations for improving accessibility. And, just last week, for the second year in a row, OrCam was awarded the Best of Innovation award from the all-virtual CES 2021 awards program, this year for the OrCam Read device, a handheld assistive reading technology designed for users with reading challenges such as dyslexia and other language processing disorders, as well as for those with low to moderate vision loss.

Even more important than awards is the "human element" – how OrCam's tens of thousands of users have had their lives changed forever due to this innovative assistive technology.

Here is a sampling of some quotes by OrCam users:

• As reported by the CBS-TV affiliate in New York City, New York, USA: 

CBS: An "amazing new device" is "bringing back the quality of life" for people with "vision problems that are not correctable with eyeglasses." CBS' Dr. Max Gomez: "We first told you about the OrCam device a year ago. I was amazed by the technology then. Now OrCam MyEye 2.0 is smaller, lighter, with more functionality to restore independence to the visually impaired." OrCam MyEye user and Lighthouse Guild client Adrienne Norbeck: "When I go grocery shopping, I have food allergies, I have to read all the labels. Now I don't have to bring a family member with me."

• As reported by the FOX-TV affiliate in Atlanta, GA, USA: 

FOX: After the car racing accident that blinded him, "Dan found OrCam, a wearable device that uses artificial intelligence to help blind people read." OrCam MyEye user Dan Parker: "To get back that part of your life is huge." FOX reporting on the high school where Dan teaches machine shop: "…purchasing the OrCam MyEye device for him which allows him to read the materials he needs to teach." OrCam Area Sales Manager Brad Brautman: "The device is small enough to wear – people don't even notice it"

• As reported by the ABC-TV affiliate in Baltimore, Maryland, USA:

OrCam MyEye user Jake Schmude – who is a blind IT professional working for the Blind Industries and Services of Maryland (BISM) – about his purchase of the "incredible tech" OrCam MyEye: "I'll just treat this with the same rationale as other people treat their car payments – it's a necessary living expense. I would use the smartphone camera and get in all kinds of contortionist positions just to get the screen in focus." ABC: "The phone would read what was on the screen out loud, a slow, frustrating process for someone who is hyper-focused on efficiency. Last year, he discovered the solution."

How do you see the company and the AI industry in the future ahead?

OrCam Technologies will continue to identify human needs and address them with technological innovation. We are defining and designing the technological leaps that are needed to achieve this. Our mission is building a clever "personal assistant" to help everyone, and we are committed to it. These include advances in fields such as visual recognition, speech recognition, situational awareness, emotion recognition, natural language understanding (NLU), and more.