Monday, Monday… Let’s hope it will be all we hoped it would be. (The Mamas and the Papas 1966) . We are going to run errands and going to add a stop at a low vision store in a city not too far away.
I had no idea it even existed until a friend of a friend put me on to it. Network. Network. Network.
Monday afternoon
So far, except for the rain that has me California Dreamin’ (The Mamas and the Papas also 1966), this has been a decent day. We ate at a “nationally-known seafood restaurant” and then went to the low vision place.
The store is pretty small, and they admitted there is a lot more in the MaxiAids catalog. (MaxiAids is a great resource!) What was cool, though, was I got to use the IrisVision goggles for a quick demo.
The IrisVision system combines a Samsung in a virtual reality (VR) headset with a Samsung Galaxy phone to provide magnification at several different distances.
The IrisVision system has a “bubble” that you can use to zoom in on things in the larger view. I had some problems with that because the clock face looked as if it had been imprinted on a beach ball. I liked what the woman I was talking to called the “TV view” much better. The goggles can be focused so you don’t have to deal with your myopia (or whatever) when using them. There is a nice, wide field of view.
Overall, in a very short presentation, I was impressed with the quality of the image and the magnification capacities of the system. I was not thrilled with the weight of the goggles, the battery life (about three hours) or the price.
Not sure they can do anything about the weight right now. They are reported to be working on the battery life and the price. The woman I spoke with said the price for the whole system is $2500. Both she and the website indicated the IrisVision system can be purchased on credit for $100 per month. That is about two years. I heard a rumor they are not charging interest, but I do not have that substantiated. [Lin/Linda: Actually, their website says that payment plans “start at” $81 per month and they DO charge interest: “$80.86/mo. based on a purchase price of $2,500.00 at 10% APR for 36 months. Rates from 10–30% APR.” I personally believe that the prices of this type of visual aid will be coming down now that there’s more demand and more competition. There are more of these headworn devices being developed and they have more features. I personally wouldn’t buy one – yet. ]
The place I went has purchased three or four of them and have loaned them out to clients. There was some sort of grant involved.
Anyway, I gave the woman our card and asked her to see if any of the clients using the IrisVision system would like to write a page. Maybe we will get feedback from someone who has used the thing for more than five minutes….and remember, should any of you want to be a guest author, we would love to hear from you. [Lin/Linda: If you want to check out the current competition, I’ve written some pages–click here.]
And one last thing before I go, being the dog lover I am, I wanted to do a shout-out to Imus, who apparently came from a litter all named after radio personalities, deejays, and shock jocks.
Imus was the reception’s guide dog and, since he was out of harness, I got to love him up. Sweet, sweet dog….and thank you to Guide Dogs of America for making him available to his owner and by extension me.
All in all, glad I “trusted” that day. It was a pretty good Monday, Monday.
Written July 25th, 2018