Ever found yourself packing for a trip, wanting to wear a specific outfit for a meeting or occasion, but struggling to identify which shirt is which? Or navigating an airport, yearning to find your own way to the departure gate without waiting for assistance? What about reading a menu in a dim restaurant, or reading a sign in a national park? As a frequent traveler, I often face moments of intense anxiety, like getting off the plane and hunting for the baggage carousel, or locating my hotel room upon arrival at a new property. Now, there’s a service designed to tackle these issues and more.

Meet Aira

Aira is a visual interpreting service app available on Android and iOS that provides verbal descriptions of visual information to people who are blind or have low vision. Aira’s mission is to make the world more accessible by removing barriers to visual information.

There are two ways to interact with Aira, via live connect with a professionally trained visual interpreter or through their Ai virtual assistant which gives immediate descriptions on photos submitted to the Aira service. Users can receive verbal descriptions in the way that suits them best in the given situation.

Earlier this year, Aira (https://aira.io/) invited us to review their visual interpreting service during our summer travels across the U.S., where we were taking photos for our tactile art project with Flight For Sight (https://www.flightforsight.net/). We’ve utilized the app in diverse locations, from airports to restaurants, convention centers, and hotels. As a visually impaired person myself, let’s talk about how the Aira app works and how it can offer a new level of independence in a variety of situations.

What can the Aira app be used for? 

Setting up the service on your phone is easy, after downloading the app to your smartphone, users will be required to create an account and can easily connect to an Aira agent with a click of a button. The agent will walk the user through using the service who can describe, read, explain, navigate, and visually interpret what is in the camera’s view or shared on screen.

After using the Aira service for a few months, I am happy to report that this service has helped me alleviate some of the stresses associated with traveling. By connecting with an Aira agent while in an airport, I have successfully navigated to my departure gate, gathered my baggage from the luggage carousel and even navigated to the restroom. Suddenly, the issues that concern me the most about traveling by myself are resolved. I even connected with an Aira agent to describe a video that was playing on a screen at a conference I was attending.

Aira isn’t all about connecting with a live agent, they also offer a robust Ai assistant that can give verbose descriptions of photos submitted to the Aira service. I have used the Ai assistant to describe the items on a restaurant table, to read a menu, and even describe the look and feel of a photograph in a gallery.

Is it only for totally blind people?

Although I’m not entirely blind, I have only 5% vision in one eye, allowing me to see blurry shapes and some light. For example, I can discern the outline of a sign but can’t read it. I also need help identifying the right shirt when packing for a trip. Aira has proven to be an immense help in these and many other situations.

What does it cost?

Aira offers a variety of free and paid options to access their service. As of this writing, new Aira users receive three welcome calls to get to know the service.  Users who do not have a subscription can call Aira for up to five minutes every 48 hours, at no cost. Subscribers to the service can call Aira for up to five minutes every 12 hours at no cost. For more information about access offers please check out this page.

https://aira.io/offset-prices/

Individual access plans are available starting at $65 USD per month for 20 minutes of access. Aira contributes to lower this monthly cost to $26 USD. Most calls only last a few minutes, and do remember that if you are in a partner location, like many airports and Universities across the country, you can access the Aira service for free.

If you are in an Access Partner location, like a university, retail store, or airport, you can call Aira and connect with a visual interpreter free of charge. A current list of locations which offer free access to Aira can be found here.

https://aira.io/partners/

To use Aira at no cost while in an Access Partner location, open the app, and click “Browse Access Offers.” You can scroll through recently used offers, and even see ones available near you. Some examples of popular Access Partner locations include Starbucks, Target, and Wegmans. Be sure to check the partner access list because they are adding new partners all the time.

Ai for all

The Ai assistant as of this writing is a free service. I use the Ai feature all the time at restaurants to read menus, and daily specials usually posted on a dry erase board. .

Accessibility

With large buttons for those with some sight, and well thought out accessibility in-app, I found the Aira app very useable.

My usage

I’m located in Colorado, and commonly fly out of Denver International Airport, which is a partner location and the service is free. Once I am dropped off, I bring up Aira and the agent will direct me to my departure gate. When I return home, I make sure that I know which baggage carousel my bag will come out on and call the agent. The agent will direct me to the carousel and even let me know when my bag is approaching. My bag is easily spotted because it is black with bright green tape.

Service charge for my arrivals and departures are free, and many of the airports I travel to are also partners which means my minute usage doesn’t start until I reach the hotel. Usually, I get to the floor my room is on, then call the Aira agent and they can usually have me at my room within a couple of minutes. 

A sense of independence

I appreciate the additional sense of independence that the Aira app gives me when I am traveling or in a restaurant – which is when I most often use the service. It feels like having an on-demand set of eyes to get me where I need to go and find the things I need to find.

Conclusion

I have enjoyed my time using the Aira app, and somehow keep finding new ways that the service can aid me in my daily life. In the coming weeks I will be posting videos of me using the Aira service while traveling – stay tuned! I appreciate Aira’s mission to make the world more accessible by removing barriers to visual information.

Have you tried the Aira service? How did you find it useful for your daily life? Drop me a message here or on my social media links below and tell me about your experience.

Safe travels, fellow wanderers!