Alliances among digital health enterprises are increasingly common. In the past month, we covered digital therapeutics company Onduo by Verily’s partnership with digital musculoskeletal care provider Sword Health. We also wrote about “hospital-in-the-home” services from an alliance between Sena Health and Salem Medical Center. In yet another promising partnership, assistive technology company Envision recently announced a cooperative association with Aira, an international visual interpretation service for blind and visually impaired people. People who use Envision Glasses with the Aira service can make hands-free video calls to live Aira Agents who provide visual interpreting to for the smart glasses wearers. The agents can assist Envision Glasses users during travel and help with tasks and chores at work or at home.
Envision Glasses customers can now add Aira Agent calls to the existing Aira Ally service: video calling between the wearer and select friends and family members. Aira Agents are professionally trained visual interpreters who can assist video callers with work-related tasks such as computer and software operations, business travel, and participating in meetings. With the assistance of an Aira Agent, an Envision Glasses user can learn new skills and perform manual tasks at work. Whether at home or elsewhere, the 24/7-available Aira Agents can also support individual independence for people who prefer to live alone or need help when no one else is around.
According to Envision CEO and co-founder Karthik Mahadevan, the alliance with Aira isn’t a one-off arrangement. “The partnership with Aira is just the start of a roll out of feature enhancements and third-party integrations that will enable the millions of low-vision and blind people to live a more independent life, either at home or work” Mahadevan said in a press release.
