Increasing Number of People Living With Vision Impairment to Augment Growth of Assistive Technologies for Visually Impaired Market

Increasing number of people living with vision impairment is expected to propel growth of the global assistive technologies for visually impaired market. For instance, according to the first World report on vision issued by the World Health Organization in October 2019, over 1 billion people worldwide are living with vision impairment because they do not get the care they need for conditions like short and far sightedness, glaucoma and cataract. Moreover, adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) in assistive technologies for visually impaired is also expected to aid in growth of the market. For instance, in January 2021, Facebook announced new improvements to Automatic Alternative Text, its AI technology that is used to generate descriptions of photos posted on the social network for visually impaired users.

Development of new accessibility features for visually impaired users is expected to offer lucrative growth opportunities for players in the global assistive technologies for visually impaired market. For instance, in December 2019, Avid Technology, Inc., a provider of an open and integrated technology platform, along with applications and services that enable the creation, distribution and monetization of audio and video content, announced a joint initiative with Berklee College of Music’s Assistive Music Technology Lab to develop and improve accessibility features in Avid’s music composition and notation software, Sibelius, for visually impaired users.

Launch of Show and Tell feature is expected to boost growth of the global assistive technologies for visually impaired market. For instance, in September 2019, Amazon Inc. announced Show and Tell feature, a new feature for the Echo Show for blind and visually impaired users. Moreover, launch of new products is also expected to aid in growth of the market. For instance, in May 2020, ThirdEye, a provider of augmented reality and mixed reality enterprise solutions, partnered with NuEyes, a provider of low-vision technologies. Under the partnership, NuEyes is introducing the Pro 2, which uses ThirdEye’s lightweight X2 MR Glasses to assist people with vision loss.

Competitive Analysis

Major players operating in the global assistive technologies for visually impaired market include, Google, Inc., AbleNet, Inc., Access Ingenuity, Adaptivation, Inc., NuEyes, Amedia Corporation, American Thermoform, Cambium Learning, Dolphin Computer Access Ltd., HumanWare Group, LVI Low Vision International, and VFO.

Major players operating in the global assistive technologies for visually impaired market are focused on launching new products to expand their product portfolio. For instance, in April 2020, Google launched the TalkBack braille keyboard on Android to allow users who are vision impaired or have low vision to type on their phones without any additional hardware.