Press Releases
Lighthouse Guild Launches New Podcast Series “On Tech & Vision with Dr. Cal Roberts”
September 14, 2020
Big Ideas on How Technology is Helping People with Vision Loss
Lighthouse Guild, the leading organization dedicated to providing exceptional services that inspire people who are visually impaired to attain their goals, is launching a new podcast series. “On Tech & Vision with Dr. Cal Roberts” provides information and insights about technological innovations that are tearing down barriers for people who are blind or visually impaired.
Hosted by Lighthouse Guild President and CEO, Calvin W. Roberts, MD, the podcast will also discuss what technology developers and entrepreneurs need to know to meet the needs of people with vision loss. In addition, it will provide useful information and technology updates for people who are visually impaired, caregivers, low vision service providers, vision/health organizations, and the general community.
“We are now seeing incredible innovations in areas like spatial orientation and artificial intelligence that can help people with vision loss live even more productive and independent lives,” says Dr. Roberts. “Lighthouse Guild is pleased to be a connecting rod between evolving technology and the people that can benefit from it.”
Dr. Roberts will interview experts in vision technology with a focus on options that can help restore lost vision, enhance existing vision, and improve function. Topics for the first three episodes of the series include:
- Episode 1: Seeing with Your Ears – Translating the Audio World to Visual – how using audio can connect people with vision loss to the world around them. Dr. Roberts speaks with Dr. Yonaton Wexler about the OrCam MyEye device, which uses audio technology for this purpose. They also discuss whether the brain can recreate a picture using sound alone and what benefits and challenges developers face when using sound as a substitute sense for sight.
- Episode 2: A Tech Revolution in Your Hand – how using touch and sound together can create spatial awareness through the use of smart canes. Dr. Roberts speaks to entrepreneur Kürşat Ceylan, who developed the WeWALK, a white cane enabled with smart technologies, for people who are blind.
- Episode 3: A “Remapped Reality” – Using Virtual Reality to Remap the Visual Field – how virtual reality (VR) is used to remap sight for people with vision loss. Dr. Roberts visits with Dr. Frank Werblin to talk about how combining a smart phone and VR headset to modulate the visual field can help people see better. Dr. Werblin shares how his device, IrisVision, incorporates this technology that not only remaps vision, but leads to renewed social connections for people with vision impairment.
“On Tech & Vision, with Dr. Cal Roberts” is available online at Lighthouseguild.org and for downloading on Apple Music, Spotify, Google Podcasts, and Tunein.com. Twitter: @LighthouseGld #OnTechVision
About Calvin Roberts, MD
Dr. Roberts, who was elected President and Chief Executive Officer of Lighthouse Guild in February 2020, has a unique blend of academic, clinical, business and hands-on product development experience. A Clinical Professor of Ophthalmology at Weill Cornell Medical College, he was formerly Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer, Eye Care, at Bausch Health Companies where he coordinated global development and research efforts across their vision care, pharmaceutical and surgical business units. As a practicing ophthalmologist from 1982 to 2008, Dr. Roberts performed more than 10,000 cataract surgeries as well as 5,000 refractive and other corneal surgeries. He is credited with developing surgical therapies, over-the-counter products for vision care, prescription ocular therapeutics and innovative treatment regimens. He also holds patents on the wide-field specular microscope and has done extensive research on ophthalmic non-steroidals and post-operative cystoid macular edema.
About Lighthouse Guild
Lighthouse Guild is the leading organization dedicated to providing exceptional services that inspire people who are visually impaired to attain their goals. We provide coordinated care for eye health, vision rehabilitation and behavioral health as well as related services. For more information, visit Lighthouseguild.org.
Press Contact: Bryan Dotson, Manners Dotson Group
917-796-8632, bdotson@mannersdotson.com
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Lighthouse Guild is dedicated to providing exceptional services that inspire people who are visually impaired to attain their goals.
