See Success stories

2023 Australian
Tech Company of the year

Vision via sound

ARIA - Augmented Reality in Audio: Spatial computing and AI converge to empower agency and independence for people living with vision disability.

Why ARIA?

Because vision disability shouldn't limit a person's agency or independence.         

We are building the tools to empower the world’s 338 million blind people to perceive and move through the world with greater confidence and ease.

What is ARIA?

Augmented Reality in Audio

ARIA is a pair of smartglasses that, using spatial computing and AI, transforms what is visible into a rich, three-dimensional auditory landscape that enables a detailed spatial perception without eyesight.

With the ARIA glasses, a blind person can now look out at the world in front of them, perceive its contours and shapes, identify and locate the objects and people around them, then move through and interact with their surroundings with much the same facility sighted people take for granted.  

Spatial Sensory Augmentation

An immersive audio overlay of "what and where"

Invisible tech

Looks like a normal pair of eyeglasses from the outside, but has state of the art AI on the inside.

Level the social playing field

Access to non verbal cues

What do ARIA’s first blind collaborators think?

“When you’re blind, as I am, if an object isn’t making sound, or you’re not touching it, you can’t really sense it. With ARIA, suddenly everything ‘sings’ - parked cars, furniture, doors, cups or bottles on a table, my keys or my wallet. I can now walk down the street, explore new places, and engage with my surroundings in ways you’d never have thought possible. ARIA Glasses can absolutely transform the world.
Marx Melencio
ARIA Machine Vision Engineer
“I have been blind since infancy; and for the past 30 years, have been training other blind people how to navigate their worlds with autonomy and agency. The team at Aria Research is deeply dedicated to understanding what blind users want. They have followed our lead since the beginning, and co-designed the ARIA system in tight integration with the blind community. ARIA is getting this ground-breaking tech right because it is being developed By us, For us.
Daniel Kish
ARIA Head of Training
President, World Access for the Blind
“It might not seem like much to a sighted person, but when I’m searching for something, if my hand misses it by an inch, I may as well have missed it by a mile; and that is exhausting and frustrating. With ARIA, I can glance around a room, hear if what I’m searching for is there, and go straight to it and grab it. This is empowering in a way that is hard to exaggerate.”
Julee-anne Bell
ARIA Community Liaison
Managing Director WAFTB Australia

Research & Collaboration

Learn about our research efforts and partnerships

We collaborate with University of Sydney, University of Technology Sydney, Blind Citizens Australia and World Access for the Blind Australia with the support of the Australian Federal Government.

Learn more about ARIA research
A blind participant testing out ARIA smartglasses in the Human Augmentation Lab.

Clinical Trials

Express your interest

+350

Expressions of Interest to date

Be part of the transformative journey by contributing to pioneering research and development initiatives at ARIA.

Express your interest in future clinical trials

Co-design

What we build is by and for the Blind Community

Have your say, share your ideas, contribute to shaping the technology

Learn more about Co-design
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