[Ohio-talk] Columbus Dispatch story Aira at the Columbus airport

[Richard Payne]

Eric, I think this is great work other than the use of Sight-impaired I enjoyed reading this.


Richard Payne,  President
National Federation of the Blind of Ohio
937-396-5573or 937/829/3368
Rchpay7 at gmail.com
The National Federation of the Blind knows that blindness is not the characteristic that defines you or your future. Every day we raise the expectations of blind people, because low expectations create obstacles between blind people and our dreams. You can live the life you want; blindness is not what holds you back

-----Original Message-----
From: Ohio-Talk <ohio-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Eric Duffy via Ohio-Talk
Sent: Thursday, February 28, 2019 8:32 PM
To: NFB of Ohio Announcement and Discussion List <ohio-talk at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Eric Duffy <peduffy63 at gmail.com>
Subject: [Ohio-talk] Columbus Dispatch story Aira at the Columbus airport

Come on Cleveland! I know you can do it!

By Marla Matzer Rose <mailto:mrose at dispatch.com> The Columbus Dispatch Subscribers to the Aira app-based service can now get help navigating CMH

Like a lot of people, Eric Duffy used to dread going to the airport. His foreboding wasn’t because of the lines or a fear of flying.

Duffy, 56, hated the frustration of navigating a busy airport as a blind person.

On Thursday, Duffy and his wife, Shelley, were able to walk through the airport, check the flight-status board and use a check-in kiosk by themselves. That’s because John Glenn Columbus International Airport has become one of a small but growing number of airports around the world that have partnered with the California tech firm Aira, enabling Aira’s remote agents to “see” via a small camera built into glasses worn by their subscribers and to talk those subscribers through tasks that sighted people take for granted.

“This is so liberating,” said Duffy, who started using Aira in its beta phase in 2016. “Now, instead of being led by my arm or offered a wheelchair — I say, ‘I don’t need a wheelchair, I can walk’ — I can choose where I want to stop for food, see what my flight status is and check in by myself.”

Eric Duffy of Columbus uses the Aira service for the blind to help him check in at an airline kiosk at John Glenn Airport. [Marla Matzer Rose/Dispatch]

Duffy, who’s lived in central Ohio most of his life since growing up in Newark and attending the Ohio State School for the Blind and Otterbein College, has become such a fan of Aira that he’s started doing demonstrations and sales for the San Diego-based company.

The company doesn’t disclose its number of subscribers, though it’s thought to be in the thousands; users pay $600 for glasses and earphones and a monthly subscription fee of $100 to $200 for 120 or 300 minutes per month. Sight-impaired military veterans can get the service at a steep discount through the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Airports are one of the most popular places to use the service, which is now also available in El Paso, Texas; Houston and London’s Heathrow Airport, among others.

David Whitaker, chief commercial officer for the Columbus Regional Airport Authority, said the only cost to the airport is partnering with the American Association of Airport Executives to cover fees for Aira members using the service while on airport property. No equipment had to be installed for the “geo-fencing” that allows Aira to direct a customer through the airport.

Sitting at a computer miles away, Aira agent Janelle on Thursday told Duffy when to turn and what to do as he made his way through the terminal at John Glenn Airport. As he faced the flight-status board, she told him that his flight was running on time and what gate it was leaving from.

Aira is available 24/7, providing a much-appreciated assist to subscribers to do everything from reading their mail to sorting laundry.

“I only hope this is the first of many places in Columbus that will get on board with this,” Duffy said. “We’d like to see this at restaurants, museums. ... It would make a tremendous difference. The airport doing this says to me that they care about accessibility.”

mrose at dispatch.com <mailto:mrose at dispatch.com> @MarlaMRose <http://www.twitter.com/MarlaMRose>

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