After a long career as a photographer, a Connecticut man had to come to terms with the gradual loss of his eyesight. However, with the help of new technology, he's reconnecting with the world.
Jack McConnell has been a commercial photographer for over 50 years. McConnell was diagnosed with diabetic retinopathy, an eye disease caused by diabetes that brings gradual vision loss. Now he’s completely blind in one eye and can only see dark shapes and light in the other.
“A year ago, I could see the trees across the way, with their incredible branches and leaves and green dancing to the breeze of a springtime day. Not anymore. It's black. It's dark gray. There's nothing there,” McConnell said.
Before his condition, McConnell traveled the world to meet interesting people and embedded himself in different communities. From traveling on a container ship in the North Sea to taking photographs of locals on an island off the coast of Maine, McConnell has taken roughly 250,000 images throughout his career. He said the shift has been a difficult change in his life.
“When something happens, you either fight it or you deal with it. And I've had to learn to deal with it,” McConnell said.
Then, a friend of McConnell recommended he visit UCP of Eastern Connecticut, a nonprofit center that provides programs for people with disabilities. Patients are then matched with programs and services based on various factors. The center has a lending library where people can rent assistive technology to try before purchasing.
Shannon Taber is the director of Inclusion and Accessibility. Taber trained McConnell on how to use Meta AI glasses, a new technology from Ray-Ban and Meta, makers of Facebook. The glasses combine voice commands with artificial intelligence. Although they look like a normal pair of sunglasses, the Meta glasses have cameras that can take photos, scan the area in front of them, and even speak to them through built-in speakers near the ears. The glasses can identify items like food menus, money and medication labels.
“Jack said, 'I really like these. Can I keep these for a while?' And so we did a four-week loan with the Meta glasses. Jack liked them. Found some significant independence with those,” Taber said.
McConnell previously tried ORCam technology, but he preferred the Meta glasses. Compared to the nearly $4,000 price tag, the $400 Meta frames were more affordable. Funding is a huge hurdle for the center. Taber said the center does a lot of grant writing and is always looking for new partnerships. The center purchased the glasses through special funding from the Connecticut Tech Act.
"This is a population that is always underserved and always underfunded. They usually live on a very limited, very tight income, very constrained, and we get requests on a daily basis for assistance,” Taber said. “I would say the greater majority of the time, assistive technology is not within their budget. So for us, we have to find ways. To fund it for them.”
On a visit to the center, McConnell met with Taber to test out a few more features. With the command “Hey, Meta,” McConnell can ask the glasses to take a photo or describe what's in front of him. McConnell sat down with a book of his photography. He asked the glasses to describe the picture in front of him. From the description, McConnell recognizes the subject of the photo and begins to tell a story about the encounter. Now, he can ‘see’ his photography with the help of the glasses.
McConnell said the glasses have allowed him to get back to daily life, from reading a menu at restaurants to grocery shopping and meeting up for coffee with friends. He said the glasses have significantly opened up his environment and that he looks forward to using them more.
“I now have the glasses, and they do help me see where I am when I go out. I'm really looking forward to going out a lot more and getting out of the house, getting into the world and dealing with it with the help of Meta,” McConnall said. “I know that's going to make a big difference for me.”
McConnell said with his renewed confidence, he’s less isolated and feels like he’s part of the world again. He may even start taking photos again.
