Navigating airports with smart glasses

Rushing through an unfamiliar airport to make a flight on time can be difficult enough. Visually impaired travelers confront additional hurdles in finding the gate or locating checked luggage without a guide.

San Diego startup Aira has found a way to equip such travelers with a virtual set of eyes. Customers get smart glasses through which a human agent connected over the internet can see on their behalf and dictate directions to the restroom or taxi stand.

The National Federation of the Blind has invested in the service, which can also be used to get around shopping malls and other locales. While blind people have long used canes and guide dogs to navigate, those tools can’t help someone read a flight board accurately.

“Aira has added another layer of knowledge,” said NFB spokesman Chris Danielsen, who is blind and recently used the service to cross a complicated Maryland intersection.

While the promise of smart glasses everywhere fizzled with the flopped Google Glass, Aira and others are finding novel ways to deploy computerized headsets with a camera and tiny display.

The biggest difficulty may be the price. Aira starts at $89 a month. At least one airport is helping to cover the costs, though not for the headsets. Memphis International Airport is offering a free Aira service using the camera on a traveler’s phone.