Relief for Blind and Visually Impaired People Through AI
Interview with Klaus Knüpfer, CEO of EV Optron GmbH
EV Optron is known as a manufacturer of products for blind users and for reading and reading aloud devices for people with visual impairments: a technology that is currently undergoing a profound transformation, not least due to the rapidly fast development opportunities of AI, and is thus becoming significantly more software-centric. CEO Klaus Knüpfer revealed how he steers this change in an interview with Wirtschaftsforum.
"Imagine you have a residual vision of less than 20% and thus a severe vision impairment. You live alone and want to continue managing your mail independently despite your condition," begins Klaus Knüpfer, Managing Director of EV Optron GmbH, to explain the core product his company manufactures: "You can then place the corresponding document on the reading table of our Acrobat HD or Merlin HD Ultra. There, the image is captured by a camera and projected onto a monitor installed above. On the device, you can make various adjustments and set the image size suitable for you - so that it is still possible for you to participate in everyday life." Health insurance companies cover the costs starting from a magnification need of about six times; however, most EV Optron customers require much stronger magnifications, mainly due to age-related macular degeneration.
More Software, Less Hardware
With digitalization, meanwhile, blind and visually impaired individuals are receiving fewer physical letters in their mailboxes and are getting their bills in their email inboxes and making their transfer requests via online banking: "Of course - no one prints this out to then place it under a reading device," Klaus Knüpfer is aware. "When we equip workplaces for visually impaired people, we also notice that hand-held magnifiers are hardly in demand anymore - because most people already have an electronic magnifying glass of good quality with their smartphone. This forces us to ask how we can make smartphone use even more comfortable for blind and visually impaired people. Voice control also holds many important impulses here!"
Due to changed user behavior and artificial intelligence, which significantly accelerates development cycles, EV Optron will gradually move from its hardware-heavy business model to a more software-centered corporate orientation. This shift is facilitated not least by close integration into the American Vispero Group, whose grown software expertise EV Optron has been seamlessly accessing since 2018. "Five years ago, I would have said with conviction that our strong focus on hardware would remain until I retire - I would no longer maintain that observation today," admits Klaus Knüpfer frankly: "What will definitely remain is our unstoppable drive to make life easier for people with visual impairments. We are certainly not running out of new ideas to make that possible, especially with AI!"