People with Alzheimer’s disease and their families often require support. According to the Alzheimer’s Association, one in nine people aged 65 and older has the disease. Nearly 12 million Americans also provide unpaid care to those with Alzheimer’s and other dementias. With that in mind, a tech company is hoping to help through a simple pair of glasses.
CrossSense, a British technology company, has developed AI-driven smart glasses designed for people experiencing cognitive decline. Using a camera built into the frame, the glasses can identify and label objects directly in the lenses. They also feature an AI assistant, dubbed “Wispy,” which can gently ask questions, provide reminders, and adapt to a user’s needs.
The purpose of these lenses is to help people with cognitive disabilities live more independently. The AI helps those with Alzheimer’s disease remember steps in a sequence and labels the items they are looking at. This can give patients a sense of confidence while also easing the burden on those who care for them.
The creators spent more than a decade developing prototypes of the glasses. They trained the AI on everyday activities such as household chores and preparing basic meals. The glasses are designed to work with a patient’s prescription and hearing aids, allowing the AI to learn more about the user’s surroundings. Over time, this can help identify unusual discrepancies for the wearer.
According to CrossSense’s website, the glasses will check in with the user about items on their schedule, such as appointments and medications. They can also help users remember the names and appearances of people they frequently interact with. The glasses can keep track of conversations users have had, along with items they’ve interacted with throughout the day. The built-in battery allows the glasses to operate for an hour, but a portable power bank can extend use throughout the day.
Initial results look promising
The technology is still being thoroughly tested to ensure safety and quality, but it has already made an impression. CrossSense’s glasses were awarded the Longitude Prize on Dementia from the Alzheimer’s Society and Innovate UK. The prize included £1 million to help fund research and production of the glasses. CrossSense hopes to make the glasses available to the public by 2027.
For the few patients with Alzheimer’s disease who have tested these smart glasses, the support the gadget provides has been game-changing.
“For people with the condition like mine who’ve got cognitive impairment, it’s just an amazing thing,” Carole Greig, an Alzheimer’s patient and smart glasses tester, told The Guardian. “How fantastic that we can be given some more independence, that we’re going to be able to cope on our own and not be a burden. And not only that, it’s not just [not] being a burden, it’s enjoying your life.”
A neurologist weighs in
Dr. Rab Nawaz, a board-certified neurologist in the United Kingdom, spoke to GOOD about the smart glasses and their potential uses.
“The most promising use is real-time cueing,” he said. “In early-stage dementia, people often struggle not just with memory, but with sequencing, word-finding, visual-spatial processing, and carrying out familiar multistep tasks.”
He added, “A tool like these glasses could help by labeling objects, prompting the next step in an activity, and reducing the panic that comes when someone knows what they want to do but cannot bridge the gap in the moment.”
However, Nawaz is hesitant to see this technology as an end-all, be-all solution.
“My biggest concern is overpromising,” he said. “These glasses are exciting, but they are not a treatment for Alzheimer’s and they will not work equally well for every patient, especially as dementia becomes more advanced or if someone has paranoia, hallucinations, poor vision, major hearing impairment, or trouble tolerating wearable devices.”
With continued testing over time, there will hopefully be further advances in both technology and medicine to support patients with Alzheimer’s disease now and in the future.
