Will Technology Be The Cure For Blindness? (Robotic Guide dogs, Self Driving Cars, VR/AI)
hello and welcome to another Molly Rambles video I am so thrilled to have you here and today I want to talk about my vision for the future of blindness do you like the little pun my vision for the F you get it brilliant thank you I thank you brilliant I'll applaud myself thank you oh I just finished filming but I just want to give a quick shout out to my patreon uh I got this idea to sit down and talk talk about this conversation on my weekly patreon live stream thanks to Mansion who has been a longtime patreon member if you would like to learn more you can go to patreon.com SL what is it that's right/ Molly Burke thanks Elton appreciate you stepping in with that um so head over there there is a ton of benefits including content that you won't see anywhere else updates private secret behind the scenes updates photos that don't get posted anywhere else weekly live streams and more so check that out you guys know that I'm a big believer in the social social model of disability Social versus medical model if you don't know you don't know this isn't the video where I'm going to explain it so you can go do some research on that and come back to join us when you're up to speed and I am not a big believer in cure culture or I'm not a big fan of cure culture I am not against the research of cures what I'm not talking about in this video I've made a video about why I'm personally not interested in being cured and frankly I just don't think it's going to happen that's just the reality like I just simply do not believe that I will be cured in my lifetime and I don't believe that most disabled people will be cured medically within our lifetime and honestly probably ever I believe the cure to disability is in technology and that's what I want to talk about because I don't believe the hardest part about being blind is that I can't see I believe the hardest part about being blind is that the world isn't designed to accommodate me and people like like me the world has been designed to accommodate the average person the perfect Siz medium human and anybody who is outside of that box it's like well you just got to accommodate yourself and figure it out and that's what we do and that's what makes our life so difficult is there things that I would love to be able to see like my dazzling smile of course but that's not what makes my life hard the fact that I can't see in the mirror or see my mom's face or Elton like those aren't the things that make my everyday life difficult I get sad about it sometimes but for the most part I don't think about it what makes my life difficult is when I go to pay for something and it's a touchscreen with no screen reader capabilities when I use an elevator and it's a touchcreen with no screen reader capabilities and no accessibility features built in and you just feel like you literally don't exist like to whoever the heck designed that inaccessible feature you just don't matter that's what makes life hard that's when I have to be like hey can somebody help me and I want to be as independent as possible just like everybody else and I truly believe that the technology that we are starting to see come out in 10 15 20 years will absolutely change the reality for disabled people and specifically I'm speaking as a blind person it it's going to change the game for blind people and I feel like in the future and I don't quite know when that is but sometime in the future blindness won't exist but it's not because of stem cell research or retinal Replacements or anything like that it's going to be because of things like Ai and VR and I want to be very clear like we all know on here if you're if you hang out with me a lot on this corner of the internet I'm not like super techy I am not really well versed in this stuff so I'm speaking about this like from a novice okay I'm just kind of sharing what I'm seeing um trending in the tech world and where I think it's going to be applied to help disabled and specifically blind people we already know that from the time that I was born in 1994 to today technology has already changed the game for us the things that young blind kids are able to do and learn independently now compared to when I was their age is night end day and I'm so excited for them but I'm even more excited for 10 15 20 years from now when being blind just isn't a barrier because the reality is as positive as I am about my disability as empowered as I try to be like it is hard and there are barriers there are barriers to entry there are barriers to access that still exist every single day for blind individuals but I really believe that technology is going to be the key to removing those which is ultimately just proof that the social model of disability works and is real and more funding and resources should be going to building an accessible and inclusive environment versus to these Labs that are trying to find these cures that may or may not help like a very small group of people someday and to what degree it will help we don't know that's that obviously curing like things like terminal illness it's very different um but in terms of like curing blindness it is there such a wide spectrum of what causes the blindness in the first place and then when you get to the micro level like with RP there are so many forms of RP caused by different genes so targeting all of those individual genes like it's just come on now but technology is something that is so much easier to adapt and cater to the needs of multiple different people even living with the same disease so for example self-driving cars recently in La I tried whmo which is the first company who is creating self-driving cars as ride share so an example of a barrier to access that I currently experience basically every single time I want to have get anywhere independently via Uber or Lyft which are our current biggest ride sharing options in Los Angeles is being denied access because I have a guide dog or frankly even if I didn't have a guide dog the fear of my safety as a petite blind woman who often gets in the back of a car alone I would be scared for my safety if I had a cane with me and that's just the honest truth whereas in a self-driving vehicle Not only would nobody be there to deny me access with my guide dog but nobody would be there to potentially make me feel unsafe if I was traveling alone with my guide dog and I can tell you that testing whmo by the way they're not paying me this isn't sponsored by anybody I just happened to have an opportunity like they were handing out coupons at Century City Mall in LA and my parents got a coupon and we're like Molly you have to come try it so that's why I got this opportunity um it started in San Francisco and I believe it's pretty rolled out there and they're slowly rolling out in Los Angeles now but basically we took it and my parents who can see and who can both Drive said that it drove better than any ride share they've been in like they felt extremely safe it was such an amazing experience oh my God it made me so excited for the future of ride sharing and even further down the line for the future of car ownership like one day I could potentially own my own self-driving car that is so incredibly exciting to me and would be probably arguably the most freeing thing for blind people because it's definitely up there in the top three most difficult frustrating annoying things about being blind is that we can't drive I would say most blind people that's in their top three and so removing that barrier being able to access ride sharing without fear and being able to access your own mode of transportation independently it's mind-blowing and I've heard about it my whole life this dream of the future and I honestly like never felt like it would become a reality but in the back of that wayo I was like no this will become a reality I'm only 30 years old this will be a reality in my lifetime I believe it and I I can't wait cuz it'll be lifechanging and I want to insert some of the footage that I got in the wayo here this is so cool okay I'm getting in this is so how fast it's going yeah this is crazy I'm with my mom and my dad my by the way and my guide dog this is the most wild experience my God this could be my life one day yeah it doesn't reject the guide dog that's a nice change so I just tested the app to see if it's screen reader accessible and so far what I've tried is accessible so the steering wheel actually is like fully turning on its own the blinker sound goes on when we're turning on the screen apparently it tells you like what it's doing and why it's making the driving decisions it's making and I can say like 8 minutes into the ride I already have completely stopped thinking about the fact that I'm in a driverless car I feel completely safe and comfortable this is awesome another thing that has recently become a reality is accessible VR headsets Apple recently released their what is it Apple Vision Pro I think it's called um which is the first VR headset that is fully accessible to the Blind and Visually Impaired prior to that I don't believe any VR headsets had screen reader and zoom capabilities whereas of course in true Apple form they have released it with voiceover and zoom and I have not had an opportunity to try it but I will be trying it next time I'm in La uh as you're watching this I'm currently in Abu Dhabi for the forbs 3050 Summit um but once I'm back in La I am absolutely trotting myself over to an Apple store and giving that a go because I really think it has the opportunity to once again provide so much more freedom and Independence to my community which is so exciting currently I've only seen people with more usable Vision than me trying it I've seen some people on YouTube and Tik Tok and stuff giving it a go uh typically those people have been Zoom users and uh have been able to gain more visually through the headset than I would be able to so I'm really intrigued to see what the voiceover element is like um I've seen a little bit but not enough for me to like fully share what that will be like and what I think it would be able to provide somebody with my level of vision loss but what I have seen from people with more Vision who can use zoom is that they are able to actually see things more clearly color contrast gain more depth perception by being able to change the color contrast being able to read things that are further away because they are able to zoom in and it's close to their face now um being able to see colors more vividly because it's back lit and things like that are absolutely gamechanging and lifechanging things that I have heard would be helpful for somebody with my level of vision loss is things like being able to read signs uh read text tell you where people are describe images all of those things well yes I can do most of them currently through my phone I have to open an app on my phone hand hold my phone up scan it around whereas this is a wearable device where you're literally just turning your head where I could maybe not tomorrow because it would be it we're not there yet but I could see a world 10 years or even five or 3 years from now where blind people are able to walk around in everyday life wearing these VR headsets and getting this real time helpful information as they navigate that could be really helpful we're going to look like what's that character Jordy from Star track yes yeah that's what we're going to look like and honestly I'm here for it I am here for it as long as I can put like fun decals and customize it match all I could bling it out I could have a fully rhinestoned one that's the future rhinestone cane step aside I want rhinestone VR headsets yes and similarly robotic guide dogs you know we we have the weok cane which I feel like has been the first Venture of creating some kind of Mobility Aid that harnesses the power of Technology uh with a tool that we have been well used to for decades now as a blind Community I did make a video on it my experience wasn't fantastic granted it was near a first impression so I think it would take a lot more practice to really gain the benefits and keep in mind I'm also not a cane user I've been a guide dog user for the majority of my life um but robotic guide dogs is something we've heard murmurings of for years and I did see somebody at the um Consumer Electronic Show demo basically what what this could look like in the future was it called the ey Glide what was it called I I if I can remember the name I'm going to pop it up and and write in the description box and I'll share as much info as I can in the description box below about these things that I'm speaking about but basically you held onto the handle and it was on Wheels and rolled itself on around it would stop at curbs it would pull you around obstacles the same way a guide dog would you're holding a handle just like a guide dog handle um but smaller and you're putting your arm out in front of you same with a cane or guide dog but this device is navigating for you and rolling you on along what like that is so cool and don't get me wrong I love my guide dogs okay there's no way in which a piece of technology can ever replace Alton John or Gallop or Gypsy or Ben Ben and what what they provide for me in other ways like socially and emotionally so I think I would always have a guide dog but the option to have a robotic Guy dog that is simply stored away in my closet that when Elton is sick when Elton can't come like right now I'm in Divine Abu Dhabi on my own with my cane and we all know that that is just not my preferred Mobility Aid so in a world where I could have Elton who I use on a regular basis but have my robotic guide dog in my closet that I pull out and and bring when he is sick or when we've had an exhausting day and he's like just so pooped and he needs a break or when I'm traveling to somewhere where I can't bring him that would be a game-changing option for me because it provides all the same freedom and Independence that a guide dog provides which is one of the major benefits of a guy dog but without some of the downfalls think of for people who are allergic to dogs scared of dogs who simply don't like dogs gasp I know those people exist you and I can't relate but there are people okay and for them to have an option that is not a cane or a guide dog would be incredible because if I think of myself I grew up afraid of dogs which is why my parents got a pet to try to help me get over that fear but if I hadn't been able to overcome that fear or if I was allergic or just had a lifestyle where I couldn't afford financially to support a guy dog they are expensive you know unfortunately does have a lot of health issues that's expensive for me and I'm in a fortunate position where I can afford that but I often think to myself that there are many people in the community who if they had received him probably wouldn't be able to maintain it and that's a barrier to entry to receiving a guide dog um and so for all of those people I am so excited that they could be full-time robotic guide dog users and again like we could bling it out you could customize it make it your own make a little fashion statement think of me you guys oh my God this is me okay 10 years from now I'm calling it right now I've got my bling VR headset my pink robotic guide dog I'm being guided out to my self-driving car that is parked in my driveway I get in there I go to the grocery store my robotic guide dog is guiding me around all the other carts and people and my VR headset is navigating me to the cheese section cuz of course I'm going to the cheese section it's gallup's birthday I'm creating a Shakur in honor of him and I am able to scan and find exactly the cheese that I want no questions asked then I navigate back out to my car get in drive home head to my kitchen where all of my appliances are of course smart appliances because hello Smart Homes we're already living it okay we've already got smart homes they they are far from perfect there's still a long way to go but as somebody who has a lot of smart appliances and smart options in my home I can tell you it has made such a big difference to my day-to-day life and definitely in 2024 I'm going to show you more of that 2023 was kind of a really hectic year and honestly 2024 is shaping up to be as well but I really hope I'll be able to do more content sharing and showcasing ways in which my smart home is benefiting me in my life it's only going to get better like it's only up for from here and we as a disabled Community are the prime customers for this like we are the people who will benefit and with all of this technology all of the biggest barriers all of the hardest parts about being blind mark my words they will be removed and with all of those removed there's nothing we can't do and right now there's nothing we can't do but there is you know like it's it's hard out there and discrimination is still a very real thing and that is one barrier we will continue to have to overcome but I think with technology giving us access to doing so many more things than we've ever been able to do independently easily in real time um gaining access to things like employment will only get easier because so many of the barriers to gaining employment will have been removed I'm just really excited and yes technology scares me okay there are aspects of AI that terrify me there are aspects of VR and things like that that terrify me but overwhelmingly when I look at all the ways that specifically disabled people will benefit I'm overwhelmingly excited about it and I I hope that our community doesn't get lost in the conversation when it comes to technology and designing these things because things are only inclusive and accessible when intentionality is put behind the design and lawmakers you know who are creating laws around these things need to be thinking of the benefits that it can provide our community to include us in the scope of that um so I think there's still so much that we don't know I I just hope that if you're somebody who is scared of technology and scared of the future because the world is changing so fast right in front of our eyes that you can also be excited by what this is going to have the opportunity to do for so many marginalized individuals who've been left behind for far too long and it's time for us to catch up and Technology is going to be the way we get to do that I really believe that so comment I want to have a really interesting discussion let me know your thoughts on this whether you're from a tech world or not whether you are disabled or not I'm so intrigued to hear what all of you have to say about what I talked about in today's video and until next time you can click over here oh I I don't know if the mic just picked it up but my hip just cracked I got to get to the gym anyways my workouts in a few minutes I'm off to the gym you can click over here to see my most recent video what did I even talk about my god oh pmdd if you want to learn about pmdd and my hormonal issues click right there and you can click over here to see another video that I recently posted what was that one about my brain's not working in all cylinders today my apologies I'm off to the gym bye
2024-03-19 17:54
