Aira is a service designed to deliver instant access for the blind and lowvision anytime and anywhere. This company is passionate about transforming lives for people who are blind or low vision to fully engage, navigate and explore their world.

History

              The seeds for starting Aira were established in 2015 when Suman Kanuganti and a blind communications professional Matt Brock struck up a friendship that led them to begin discussing how Google glass technology could be used to aid the blind and visually impaired to develop more independence and also become more mobile. From this concept, Kanuganti was inspired to create a service similar to OnStar.

How it works

              Utilizing part technology and part human interaction, Aira is on a mission to deliver instant access to visual information for people who are blind or low-vision no matter where life takes them. Through an app on a smartphone, they are connected to highly trained, remotely-located agents.

My Introduction

              When I went to Copper Mountain Colorado for a No Barriers Summit in 2016, my friends at Delta Gamma went to hear some motivational speakers and that’s the first time I had heard about Aira. After Suman talked about the amazing service, I knew I had to try it out!

              When I got to see the glasses for myself, I couldn’t believe how light they were. I was introduced to Erin Cater, who would be my Aira agent. She navigated me beautifully! We walked around the exhibit center for a while and then we proceeded to go outside. I was amazed because it was the first time I haven’t bumped into anything!

My First Experience

              It took about a year for me to receive my equipment, but when it finally arrived, I was extremely excited. A few days later, I got my onboarding call and it took about an hour. The agent first gave me a description of the devices (glasses and MIFI hotspot) as well as how to charge them. Next, the agent asked what else I wanted to do

              Walking around my neighborhood was a blast. I was floating on air because I felt so much more independent than ever before. This service has opened up a world of possibilities!

Limitations and My Favorite Ways to Use Aira

              Now, you are probably wondering if there are any limitations to the service. The answer is the only limits to using Aira is the explorer’s imagination. Here I will list my favorite ways that I use the Aira service. For some of the activities, I will explain what I accomplished

• ·Went bowling with this program called Neighborhood Experience in 2017. Thanks to an Aira agent, I ended up getting a strike!
• ·went to an SLU basketball game with an organization called Best Buddies in 2018. I enjoyed some of the Aira agents descriptions of the game.

A Funny Story

              I was getting hungry for lunch and I called my mom to see what we had. She said that there was an extra cheeseburger in the refrigerator in a square container. I went to go look and after not finding it, I returned to my room and called my mom back. She told me to call Aira and so I did. While making the call, I told myself that this was a dumb thing to do and I should just hang up. Before I could do that though, an agent answered and I explained my situation to her.

              We looked and checked in every container but we couldn’t find what we were looking for. Trying to lighten up the mood, I said, “It’s like playing hide and seek with a cheeseburger.” Finally, we checked one last container and… we found the cheeseburger. I thanked the agent for helping find the runaway cheeseburger. After we disconnected, I sat down to eat my happy meal.

Frequently Asked Questions

              The Aira service can be a game changer for explorers (users of the service) as well as agents (Trained and friendly people who assist the users. However, you may still have unanswered questions. Here, I will go over some questions for explorers as well as questions for agents.

1. Do you still offer glasses?

 While Aira has offered glasses (different types: Austria, Google and Horizon) in the past, today they do not. Instead Aira has an easy-to-use phone app that can be installed on any smartphone (iPhone or Android. The app is totally free and you can download it by going to your Apple Appstore or Google play store.

2.  How much are Aira plans and what are their prices? The plans as well as prices that Aira offers are as follows:

• Advanced plan: 300 minutes for $199 per month.
• Standard plan: 129 Minutes for $99 per month (this is the most popular.
• Intro plan: 30 minutes for $29 per month.
• Guest plan: Free to download and use.

3. Can I ask an agent for their personal details? Both explorers and agents are requested to refrain from asking personal question that are not related to the task at hand as well as contacting each other outside of a session (email or social media.)

For any other questions you may have, feel free to click here.

              Aira is a fantastic service to have in your technology tool box. From exploring new environments to going to a basketball game, assistants are only a call away. If you love to help people and enjoy it, please consider contacting them to work at Aira!