To the casual observer, they seem like a typical pair of eyeglasses with stylishly thick black frames. But for the wearer, they offer a different perspective—one that, essentially, narrates the world.
Created by a start-up called TranscribeGlass, the smart accessory generates instant, accurate text, viewable only by the wearer—offering a way for people who are deaf or hard of hearing to better understand spoken communication.
“Our smart glasses are like having subtitles for a movie,” says current student Nirbhay Narang ’25, the company’s co-founder and lead engineer, “except instead of a movie, it’s real life.”
When the function is activated, spoken words appear in real time in green lettering on the glasses’ right lens. The transcription is adjustable, so the wearer can decide how quickly it appears—from several lines to just a single word at a time.
Jason Koski/Cornell University
Monti Wilkins, left, director of Morrison Hall, and Jesse Wright, an artist and Ithaca High School teacher, talk after a section of tableaux dedicated to Toni Morrison was installed in Morrison Hall. Hanging near an image of Morrison, this painting on wood panels features Ithaca High senior London Smith, whose blue sunglasses reference Morrison’s novel, “The Bluest Eye.”
