Assistive technologies are improving the lives of people with disabilities by leaps and bounds including, in the not too distant future, improving their mobility with driverless cars. Mark Riccobono, president of the Baltimore-headquartered National Federation of the Blind (NFB), recently traveled to Israel at the invitation of Israeli technology powerhouse OrCam to test some of the newest breakthrough vision technology at Orcam and its sister company, Mobileye, a manufacturer of the driverless vehicle technology which was recently bought by Intel for $15 billion.
Riccobono and Orcam executives will feature this technology at the Maryland/Israel Development Center’s January 9 networking program in Baltimore.
“This has particular relevance for the State of Maryland, said Barry Bogage, executive director of the Maryland/Israel Development Center (MIDC), as Mobileye and the Maryland Department of Transportation have been working on a joint project to equip buses with Mobileye’s vision technology to improve safety.”
This joint project was developed during Governor Larry Hogan’s trade mission to Israel in 2016, the sixth gubernatorial trade mission to Israel the MIDC has organized. The MIDC is a joint program of the Maryland Department of Commerce, Israel’s Ministry of Economy and The Associated: Jewish Community Federation of Baltimore that promotes bi-lateral trade and economic development.
OrCam will give a live demonstration of its latest product, MyEye, at the January 9 program. The MyEye device instantly and discreetly reads any printed and digital text, from any surface – including newspapers, books, computer and smartphone screens, restaurant menus, labels on supermarket products and street signs – as well as recognizes individual people and products.
Alvin Katz, MIDC chairman, citing a close family member with a disability, praised OrCam and other Israeli assistive technology companies in Maryland such as AmplioSpeech and Acoustic Protocol.
“These breakthrough technologies will enhance independence and provide needed opportunities for people with disabilities,” Katz says.
Riccobono’s trip to Israel further reinforces the collaboration between Israeli and Maryland companies to enhance safety and improve products for blind and visually impaired individuals. The NFB is the one of the oldest and largest organization for the blind in the United States.
MIDC member Howard L. Sollins, of the BakerOber Health Group at the Baker Donelson law firm, will emcee the January 9 event, highlighting the accomplishments of the NFB, MIDC, OrCam and other companies investing in and advocating for the over 50 million Americans who are blind, visually impaired or function with disabilities.
To learn more about the January 9 event, go to MarylandIsrael.org/home/events. Registration to attend will be required. For additional information about the MIDC contact Nancy Boguslaw, NBoguslaw@MarylandIsrael.org.
