Soccer Star Lionel Messi has signed on with Israel’s OrCam Technologies. OrCam announced that the FC Barcelona star would be joining its “OrCam Dream Team” and promote its MyEye artificial vision device which reads printed and digital text aloud from any surface in real time.
Foundded in 2010, OrCam produces new technology for the blind and other people with visual deficiencies. Its MyEye is wearable technology for people who are blind or visually impaired. It is a voice-activated device that provides increased independence by communicating visual information, audibly. With OrCam MyEye, you can read text, recognize faces, and identify products.
Its OrCam Read is a handheld AI Reader made for people with the full spectrum of reading difficulties, including dyslexia. It lets the user read full pages of text at the push of a button.
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A 33 year old Argentinian, Lionel Messi has been awarded a record-breaking sixth Ballon d’Or, a French award which honors world soccer stars.
What a world we now live in. From helping the paralyzed walk again to all manner of voice-activated systems, Israeli firms are at the forefront of developing new ways to help the disabled. In Star Trek the Next Generation, a blind character could see with the help of a special visor connected to his nervous system. Soon that too could be a reality.
Lionel Messi said in a statement, “Meeting with this amazing group of people from around the world was truly a magical and inspiring moment. Witnessing each of the members of the ‘Dream Team’ trying out the OrCam MyEye features, it was clear that this would be a life-changing device for each of them. I am proud to be an OrCam Ambassador to truly make a difference for so many.”
“Everything that can be done to improve the lives of visually impaired people is incredible. Thanks to OrCam, I can help make this happen.”
Amnon Shashua, the co-founder and co-CEO of OrCam stated: “This is a particularly exciting point in time for me and for OrCam. The story of OrCam’s founding is, first and foremost, a story of people – people who struggle with real problems and challenges in their lives. Our goal is to use sophisticated ‘AI-as-a-companion’ technology that helps people with disabilities in real-time, in the real world.”
“In the performance of daily activities, the device offers independence, providing users with critical support to better integrate into society, especially within employment and educational settings. This technology supports users in amplifying their inherent potential. We are convinced that this collaboration with Messi – who is the embodiment of maximizing potential, and an individual who is admired worldwide – will allow us to reach millions of people in need.”
⚽ | Leo Messi during training. pic.twitter.com/pRKCYRQF2z
— Leo Messi ???? (@WeAreMessi) September 10, 2020
OrCam declares its mission to be to harness the power of artificial vision by incorporating pioneering technology into a wearable platform which improves the lives of individuals who are blind, visually impaired, and have reading difficulties.
OrCam was jointly founded in 2010 by Prof. Amnon Shashua and Mr. Ziv Aviram, who are also the co-founders of Mobileye, the collision avoidance system leader and autonomous driving innovator. The original OrCam MyEye device was launched in 2015, and the next generation OrCam MyEye 2.0 was launched in 2017.