Description of App
Aira is a visual information service that has been specially designed for people who are blind or low vision. Through augmented reality and artificial intelligence, Aira instantly connects you to a highly-trained, sighted agent that’s dedicated to enhancing your everyday experience.
–– Key Features ––
- Can be used on just your phone, or for an enhanced hands-free experience, use the app with a pair of Aira Smart Glasses
- Connect to an Aira Agent in under 10 seconds
- Achieve enhanced efficiency for completing tasks with access to visual information
- Sign up as a Guest to use the service in specific Aira Access locations such as partner airports or venues
- A range of plans to choose from: choose the one that’s right for your lifestyle
- Plans include cost of data, equipment, equipment insurance, and your monthly minute package
- Organize and locate rides easily by linking your Uber / Lyft accounts to your Aira account
- Access free minutes in a growing network of locations around the country (and soon the world)
- Join a supportive and inspiring community of Aira Explorers
–– Aira at home ––
Sort mail and medications
Color match clothes
Read mom's recipe
Interpret Captcha code
Manage computer tasks
Separate laundry
Read to a child
–– Aira at school ––
Roam the campus
Locate a stadium seat
Lay out an outfit
Select cafeteria items
Read a whiteboard
Read inaccessible print handouts
Find a vacant library cubicle
–– Aira at work ––
Locate the elevator
Navigate the site
Interpret presentation slides
Operate office equipment
Find an office or cubicle
Sort mail and papers
–– Aira on the go ––
Explore your city
Go for a hike
Enjoy the park or zoo
Travel with confidence
Find available gym equipment
Roam historic sites
Check out a museum
–– Questions? ––
Ready to explore but need to know more? Connect with us and start the conversation today.
Phone: +1 800 835 1934
Web: aira.io
–– Thank you ––
To ensure the best service possible, we’re always updating the Aira app with new features and functionality, so make sure you’re running the latest version.
Comments
Hi Michael, I haven't used
Hi Michael, I haven't used aira yet because I haven't visited anywhere that offers aira access yet, and I don't really have any tasks around the house that I need assistance with.
though I plan to try it at some point, as to the minutes not rolling over, effectively users have to guess how many they might need then tough if they don't use them all.
I wonder if the other reason aira doesn't allow for minutes to roll over is because a lot of users would buy a block of minutes, then spend them over a few months and so reduce company income. another thing I haven't been able to find out is if agents are all from the US, or say I am in the UK does that mean I will get a UK agent. as I don't want to have to start using americanisms just to make myself understood, can you point me to the rest room or tell me where the crossing is for the sidewalk etc. are there some in non english speaking countries, I wouldn't want to call up and get agents with thick foreign accents or who weren't actual native english speakers.
also, if aira is so wonderful how come I haven't scene organizations like the rnib promoting it and saying what a wonderful product it is. Sure there has been press attention but there always is with things like this.
I listened to a podcast recently where the glasses were unboxed and from the description they sounded awful and the presenters found it quite funny, and yes I know your going to tell me they look fashionable and stylish but the description in the aira in the real world podcast was far from flattering.
also how does aira protect sensitive information, I know agents have to sign non disclosure agreements, but for example say I got an agent to read me new credit card information how would I be guaranteed that said agent wouldn't copy down my information and misuse it. also, are calls monitored or in any way recorded either for quality assurance or to protect either the user or agent, and in fact what information does aira collect and retain and how does it use any stored information. and in fact can users request copies of information aira holds as I know it keeps an ongoing profile of explorers with notes on preferences and such.
agreed
My only complaint with the service as it stands now is that the wonderful unlimitted plan is gone. But oh well, o-bla-di, o-bla-da, life goes on. It was nice for a while, but I guess it had to go.
I loved aira as it gave me access to many books that were published without digital or audio editions, something that is not possible anymore (I do not enjoy reading books with synthesized speech). I would scan a book and read it, hense why I say I loved the unlimitted plan.
But do I still use aira? Yes! Maybe not for the same things as someone else, but I still do find it a valuable resource.
reply to your questions
Hi Michael, I haven't used Aira yet because I haven't visited anywhere that offers Aira access yet, and I don't really have any tasks around the house
that I need assistance with.
[[[Michael Hingson]]] Again, Aira is all about providing visual information. I would wager that you could find tasks “around the house” or elsewhere. People often feel that they do not need Aira because they have sighted friends or have access to sighted spouses or colleagues and thus don’t require Aira’s capabilities. Typically when I drill down and have discussions with people who express these opinions I find that, as I said in my last post, these people have not adopted nor explored developing the mindset where they try and would eventually use Aira. My wife, for example, loves the fact that I do not have to ask her for assistance especially when she has other projects to do and does not really want to take the time to help at that moment. My choice, as it has always been, is either to push or simply step back and wait for her to be available.
With Aira I no longer need wait. When I am required to perform a task or need information requiring eye sight to help me all I need do is to connect with an Aira agent and do what needs to be done. The convenience and immediate response is enough to prove Aira’s worth. I now do things on my own terms and in my own time.
Yes, there are alternative techniques I can and do use including labeling things in Braille, making sure I put things in particular places, paying special attention to how I organize our refrigerator and so many other things. However, and I cannot emphasize this enough, Aira only provides more information, information I otherwise would not have access to.
though I plan to try it at some point, as to the minutes not rolling over, effectively users have to guess how many they might need then tough if they
don't use them all.
[[[Michael Hingson]]] And so it is with anyone who does not have an unlimited phone plan. However, you are correct as far as it goes. Aira is only starting out. If money were not an issue Aira would cost less and we all would have every little thing we wish from Aira.
Such is not the case. Aira is, in my opinion, the most consumer observant company I have encountered. I have worked in the high tech world in specific and with many other organizations in general for more than 42 years. I have had the opportunity to see Aira working up close and know that every single comment, observation and opinion expressed by all Aira explorers and guests are read. I have never seen this elsewhere.
I wonder if the other reason Aira doesn't allow for minutes to roll over is because a lot of users would buy a block of minutes, then spend them over a
few months and so reduce company income.
[[[Michael Hingson]]] No. Keep in mind that Aira has no long-term contract. You can sign up for Aira on one plan, change your plan whenever you want, and then change again anytime you wish.
another thing I haven't been able to find out is if agents are all from the US, or say I am in the UK does that
mean I will get a UK agent. as I don't want to have to start using Americanisms just to make myself understood, can you point me to the rest room or tell
me where the crossing is for the sidewalk etc. are there some in non-English speaking countries, I wouldn't want to call up and get agents with thick foreign
accents or who weren't actual native English speakers.
[[[Michael Hingson]]]
Aira is slowly expanding. At present all agents are located in the United States. This will change over time for lots of reasons including all the ones you mention. Aira is still very much in a kind of startup mode. Unfortunately, today we live in a world where we all want everything right now. That isn’t going to happen. The process of being able to do business within countries differs widely from country to country. Aira will get to the point where there will be native agents in many countries. Much has to happen for this to be possible. I ask you to be as patient about that as I had to be about Aira becoming a 24X7 service. Aira agent access did go 24 hours a day in August of this year.
also, if Aira is so wonderful how come I haven't seen organizations like the rnib promoting it and saying what a wonderful product it is. Sure there has
been press attention but there always is with things like this.
[[[Michael Hingson]]] Sure. Aira is not yet doing full business in the UK. It is coming. Again, neither you nor I control when Aira can do all that we want.
I listened to a podcast recently where the glasses were unboxed and from the description they sounded awful and the presenters found it quite funny, and
yes I know you’re going to tell me they look fashionable and stylish but the description in the Aira in the real world podcast was far from flattering.
[[[Michael Hingson]]] I have encountered people on both sides of this. Some love the glasses style and some do not. So? Ultimately, I prefer function over style in this case. Sometime in the future I am sure you will be able to obtain an extremely stylish pair of Aira glasses that will permit you to connect with an agent for 12 hours without recharging the glasses internal batteries. These glasses will have within their frame the LTE chip and they will even include bone conduction head phones near the back ends of the frame permitting even better fidelity than the bone conduction headphones of today. They even will have the exact lens tint you wish. Why can’t we have these features today? Batteries are not small enough and so there is not a way at present to make what many of us would say are really cool and the most functional glasses. Even so, in a short time Aira has gone from a company using glasses made by others and which had limited programming capabilities and limited fields of view to the current Horizon glasses that provide much better viewing for agents and thus better information access by us the users.
also how does Aira protect sensitive information, I know agents have to sign non-disclosure agreements, but for example say I got an agent to read me new
credit card information how would I be guaranteed that said agent wouldn't copy down my information and misuse it.
[[[Michael Hingson]]] Go to the Aira web site and examine the security and privacy sections located at the bottom of the home page. Many explorers, me included, do use Aira to read personal and often sensitive documents. We have developed a trust of Aira and the agents.
also, are calls monitored or in any
way recorded either for quality assurance or to protect either the user or agent, and in fact what information does Aira collect and retain and how does
it use any stored information. and in fact can users request copies of information Aira holds as I know it keeps an ongoing profile of explorers with notes
on preferences and such.
[[[Michael Hingson]]] Again, go to those same areas of the Aira home page.
Alex, I appreciate you want to do proper due-diligence concerning Aira. However, the tone I interpret from your comments is one of fierce skepticism and certainty that Aira won’t be worth having around. I ask you to keep an open mind. Doubt, but please do not criticize nor denigrate without facts. The Aira web site, Applevis, several podcasting sites and many other sources have evaluated Aira and found it valuable. Time Magazine even proclaimed that Aira is one of the top 50 inventions of 2018. That is a designation no one can buy. More and ore airports are starting to provide “Aira Access” so that anyone who goes through their facilities can use Aira for free. One such airport is Heathrow which just yesterday officially announced Aira access.
I urge you to be part of the growth rather than being a detractor unless you really have a substantive reason to object to Aira. I have steaked my reputation and visibility on Aira without any doubt or fear. I have come to know the product, the people and the company philosophy. If I could have used Aira on September 11, 2001 to escape from my office in Tower One of the World Trade Center and if I could have used Aira to move out of the area on that day I tell you emphatically that I would have used it. I would have loved to have the information I now know Aira provides. Aira was not available then. I used other alternative techniques and I used the assistance of a sighted colleague and we both used the help of other people in NY City.
Aira is a great product. I trust that it and the company will continue to grow and evolve in a positive way.
Again, while I appreciate your questions I urge you to approach Aira with a healthy curiosity and mindset to explore and learn what Aira can do for you. If you are in the United States I urge you to spend $29/month to sign up for the Aira Introduction plan and really see what Aira is about. If you are on this plan then use your 30 minutes a month. If you are not in the U.S. I am sure there will be options for you soon. That is the best I can offer for now.
Best Regards,
Michael Hingson
The Michael Hingson Group, INC.
"Speaking with Vision"
Michael Hingson, President
(415) 827-4084
info@michaelhingson.com
To order Michael Hingson's new book, Running With Roselle, and check on Michael Hingson's speaking availability for your next event please visit:
www.michaelhingson.com
To purchase your own portrait of Roselle painted by the world's foremost animal artist, Ron Burns, please visit http://www.ronburns.com/roselle
Everybody Has a Choice
It’s very simple…it’s called choice. You can choose to purchase Aira or choose to not purchase Aira. If you would like to offer constructive criticism then please go ahead and do so. The bad mouthing of a product is completely unnecessary on this forum. It does not add value for people that come to this site for information.
I wasn't bad mouthing the
I wasn't bad mouthing the product as you put it, I was expressing skepticism yes but I would like to try it, though I do think even for the minimum plan you have to have a lot of disposable income, as lets say you get the 30 minute plan that would effectively be like your call costing you $1 a minute. as to time magazine saying about how aira is one of the top inventions in 2018 sure you can't buy that coverage, but the press does have a habit of finding out about inventions in the blind world and jumping on them because usually they don't know about alternatives or think they are the first of there kind when they are not. I am sure people find the service useful but I don't plan to try to invent reasons round the house to need it. I do totally get the point about having sighted help on demand though. as I say I do plan to try it but I am in no hurry that's all.
So you're basically saying,
So you're basically saying, that if I want to watch about one movie in a month with audio description and use aira agent to describe it to me, I should be living in sheltered accommodation?
Or if I want to go for a tour in a museum and use aira to describe me the exhibition?
Or go to a different meeting every day?
Or ask aira to monitor my presentation and let me know how the audience reacts
or....
Seriously...
Not at all, they are all
Not at all, they are all certainly use cases, though dvds mostly have audio description these days, and for me personally I see no value in going round a museum where its all stuff in cases or just pictures, as I find for me personally never having had sight it doesn't matter how well something is described if its in a case and not touchable I see little value in having it described, as lets be honest your not really building an accurate picture of something yourself your absorbing someone elses impression of the visual world. But I do recognize that everyones use cases will be different, my main point is I struggle to see why someone who is very independent would need 300, 400 or more aira minutes that was my main point.
actually I did think of a case where it could be of use something like a social situation such as a party, I am imagining being able to upload pictures of your friends to aira and asking agents to help you locate them within a crowd, as of course electronic methods of finding friends through find my friends on ios will only get you to a rough location. So I am not closed to it being potentially useful, it just has a very high price point. and I resent the idea that you can lose minutes if you don't use them all by the end of a month. I get that your not tied into a fixed contract but I think being able to prepay for a number of minutes to spend as and when a user sees fit should be made possible, but I guess aira relies on a constant monthly stream of income so it wouldn't be in there interests to offer this, I get if your a heavy user paying per month is probably better, but for someone who uses it occasionally even if they spend on the minimum plan for a month then don't use it much during that month that is still a significant amount of money that could be lost at the end of a given month.
It would certainly make me more likely to sign up to aira before I can get to an aira access location if I could pay for minutes then spend them as I see fit. Maybe they could introduce rules where OK you don't have to spend prepaid minutes over a full month but they could expire after two or three months if unused, or you could donate them to someone else, or again just throwing ideas out there, perhaps they could have a central pool of unused minutes and people could be allowed to dip into that pool and get 10 or 15 minutes for free from it in a month.
I was using it for
I was using it to walk 4-5 miles from one place to another. I figured better to pay $329 for an unlimitted pool of minutes, and walk everywhere, rather than just uber. Ubers add up, walking is free after the $329, and you can basically go unlimitted distances if you're willing to...
Aira
Aira FTW
Aira
I’m another Aira explorer as mentioned in the AppStore description you can use it to help navigating your environment read help you format resumes that kind of assistance can be provided if your doing job related tasks available to explorers their are other access offers as well
Mobility
I too used it for mobility as well
I wish it was available in South Africa.
Hi. I am from South Africa. I am going to be attending a mainstream school soon. This app would be extremely handy for that. Unfortunately, both the app and service are not available here. I’m sure Internet service providers such as Vodacom, MTN or Sell c might be willing to partner with this app. Can you please investigate and see if this would be possible?
Hello, email support@aira.io
Hello, email support@aira.io and discuss with them that option.. I dunno if it will happen right away, but good luck.
Aira
The agents do not express their opinions
Unlimited plan
I could see the reason why Aira took away the unlimited plan was because people were calling the agents repeatedly asking you tell me what you can see? Aira than took away that plan
Actually it was not because
Actually it was not because of that.
Basically people were sharing the unlimited plan and using about 3000 minutes a month and they were losign money. I still ask aira to discribe stuff if I have the minutes, used it to describe a party I was at and I felt so impowered.
App entry should be updated
The app description does not currently reflect the free five minutes that everyone gets, nor does it mention all the new offers related to job searching, QuickBooks, and freedom scientific products.
Additionally, we now have the referral program, as well as a massively expanded list of major access locations.
I am not asking for a list of all of them, but maybe some examples of what could be expected, major airports and museums for instants, could be helpful.
also well worth mentioning is the team viewer integration for PC and mobile, Which opens up an entirely new avenue of assistance.
I believe these are very important points that should be communicated to everyone interested in this app.
clarifying that one does not need to have a hotspot or glasses to use the app now is also vital in my opinion, And I think the price should be changed to free with in app purchases.
App entry
I agree
Bricked
News is abuzz that certain glasses are going to be bricked on 3/31.
For those who are bashing…
For those who are bashing aira about the free offer changes, you got to understand that aira is a business and businesses have to adjust accordingly especially times like these. A lot of people were also abusing the free offer and I think they eventually caught on. I am still happy with the service.
my views on aira have now completely changed
Hi all, well I thought I would come on to let everyone know that my views on aira have completely changed.
when I expressed certain opinions on aira a few years ago this was before I had left home and moved into work. Now that I have relocated to an environment where I got very limited rehabilitation services and had to be quite self reliant I have truly found the benefits of having aira and am a complete convert to use of the service.
In fact I would like to publicly apologize to anyone who I disagreed with in the past on the value of aira and who might have been offended by my uninformed views. I hadn't had the real need to use it before and I think really it is a case of needing to use it and integrate it into your life which previously I hadn't done due to not having left home at that point.
Actually since moving to London I have definitely found it worthwhile to be on the advanced plan, and I can honestly say without aira I don't think I would have adapted to life in London as well as I have done especially when it comes to navigating and going to different places.
I wish I could remove my previously held views from this entry as they really don't reflect my current experiences or opinion of the service, but I suspect as people have made comments on them it wouldn't be practical to go through and remove my views and comments relating to them.
But I can honestly say I can't recommend aira highly enough to people. I mostly use it for navigation but have also used it with a few shopping tasks and to get recipes transcribed.
You really should contact…
You really should contact support, there is nothing we can do to help you on here, really a 5s is a quite old phone though. Support is your best option rather than talking to us as they can look at your account properly.
I missed this
This is now in the UK. Now doesn't use glasses and is free for the first 5 minutes every day.
It's basically just Be My Eyes now, for five minutes a day. I miss the glasses, but it still seems very expensive to me, so five minutes a day for nothing seems great.
Be My Eyes told me I was a "power user" once, but I've fallen out of love with it in the past couple of years - it started being difficult to get through to someone and it droped out all the time! I did find it a godsend for a while though, a few years ago.
Does this still have the…
Does this still have the glasses option? Thinking it's probably easier than trying to point a phone.
though, sounds like it's not the most reliable of services.
No, it doesn't have the glasses anymore
It's just exactly like Be My Eyes, accept the person you get thrugh to is bieng paid to help you. BME used volunteers - they had way more than they could use by the way.
Remember something else
In the U.S. here, but remember that Be My Eyes volunteers were just that. I'm sorry but if i need a bank transaction taken care of, or even say reading a pregnancy test, you can be damn sure i'll use someone who has signed a NDA. Sorry for the odd examples, just wanted to put that out there. I have, now must get coffee.
The difference is that the AIRA agents are trained.
Also, it is highly inadvisable to show a Be My Eyes volunteer sensitive information like bank statements or any official paperwork, as they are not bonded.
Well, I guess it's just me
I only ever used BME to do things like check the dates on food and to make sure my undies matched after washing - never for anything I'd not want a stranger to know.
I don't think I'd use AIRA for anything private, but I suppose being able to if necessary will be nice.
I'd still rather have the glasses!