Aira

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.

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.

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 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.

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 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 FTW

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 and discuss with them that option.. I dunno if it will happen right away, but good luck.

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.

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.

News is abuzz that certain glasses are going to be bricked on 3/31.

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.

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 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.

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 glasses option? Thinking it's probably easier than trying to point a phone.

though, sounds like it's not the most reliable of services.

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.

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.

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.

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!