The ability to walk independently in nature, in a shopping center or in any unfamiliar space is not a given for visually impaired people. Award winning Israeli company RightHear change that reality, one place at a time.

Tens of thousands of people find their way to and around the more than 2,500 locations that have so far installed the navigation and audio guidance system.

These include restaurants, supermarkets, hotels, healthcare facilities, theaters, malls, airports and university campuses in Israel, North America, the United Arab Emirates, Lithuania, Greece and Angola.

In August, Virginia’s Natural Bridge State Park became the first US state park to offer the digital accessibility solution.

“We believe everyone should have equal access to the park. With the installation of RightHear, we are taking a significant step toward creating an inclusive environment where all guests, including those who are blind or visually impaired, can enjoy their visit,” said Park Manager Jim Jones.

Founded in 2015, RightHear is headquartered in central Israel with an office in Maryland.

“RightHear started because of my own horrible orientation challenges. Realizing how difficult it is for people who are blind or visually impaired to find their way around drove us to find a better way to make everyone’s lives much easier and independent,” says RightHear founder and CEO Idan Meir.

“In a world where you can eat pizza delivered by dronesometimes we forget the real human challenges out there.”

Good2Go

RightHear’s clients include Microsoft, Grand Hyatt, Costa Coffee, McDonald’s IsraelA fertility clinic in Texas; a migrant health chain in California; THE Recovery Café chain of refuge centers; a financial institution in Oregon; a the beer garden in Washington, DC; and a wine bar in Manhattan.

Angila Chapmond, director of human resources and operations at Austin Area OB/GYN in Texas, tells ISRAEL21c, “We can’t say enough good things about RightHear. The whole process was effortless. They’ve made the product so easy to use that it’s easier than putting gas in your car.”

As of September 1st, RightHear begins to be integrated in San Francisco Good2Goaccess-controlled toilets in America.

Visually impaired people can use the RightHear app to unlock toilets via smartphone and navigate the space independently via audio prompts and directions.

“Access control used to be just to keep the bad guys out. Today, it’s also about making sure the good guys have an accessible experience,” explains Meir.

How it works

The RightHear system is composed of beacons (Accessibility Spots) installed on site, using Bluetooth to detect when a user is nearby; a free anonymous app for iOS or Android user; and a cloud-based dashboard where the company and facility control, add and manage text-to-speech descriptions.

“It supports 26 languages. This is very important because apart from our main visually impaired consumer, it also helps people with cognitive disabilities and orientation challenges or people traveling in a foreign country who don’t know the language,” emphasizes Meir.

In the app, the user chooses a RightHear-enabled location from an audible menu. The app suggests additional information about the location, including a simulation to help the user build a mental map of the place beforehand “and, most importantly, the confidence to go there independently,” says Meir.

Using GPS, the app works outdoors to help users navigate to their location — it can order a Lyft or Uber, or provide turn-by-turn audio directions. A live assistant feature allows users to request more information or guidance.

“Once you get to the location, the app does three main things: it tells you where you are; what you will find here, with times and points of interest; and what is around you and at what distance. There are a lot of other features, but this is the core,” says Meir.

“We will soon release a new technology that we have been working on for the past two years, based on computer vision with other technologies such as AI, to enable more precise positioning so that users know exactly where they are in relation to other objects,” he said. add. “It will open up new markets for us outside of orientation.”

Weekly accessibility meeting

RightHear has found that simply offering its product to venues isn’t effective, as most venue managers don’t realize they have an accessibility problem until customers let them know.

“Users have to unlock the market for us,” says Meir.

So the company started a weekly accessibility meetup, a community of blind or visually impaired people—mostly Americans, but also from around the world—to discuss accessibility challenges.

“We empowered this community to come to the facilities and tell them they have a problem and they need a solution. If you don’t ask them, why would they offer a solution?” Meir explained.

“The Natural Bridge State Park project is the result of a person writing an email to park management explaining that they enjoy visiting the area but have difficulty accessing the park. And then they reached out to us.”

Audio signaling

Meir says that although the Americans with Disabilities Act requires Braille signage in many locations, such as elevators, more than 90 percent of the blind community cannot read Braille.

“And people who can read Braille have a hard time finding those signs. In addition, people are avoiding touching public signs since the pandemic. So nobody really uses them,” he says.

“An audio form of signaling was inevitable; the technology exists and awareness has increased. The more venues join what we’re doing, the more facilities that make their space accessible, the more awareness we have.”

Last year, RightHear was named one of the 71 Project Zero award winners in recognition of disability inclusion.

The lean company of about 10 employees is now raising a bridge round after a successful seed round a year and a half ago.

“We were profitable even before the fundraising,” says Meir. “We’ve grown consistently quarterly over the past year and have one of the most popular apps in this category.”

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