Student News

Lauren Press (L6JEP - XRAI Glass)

On Friday 17 March, Lauren (L6JEP) presented a whole school assembly discussing a piece of emerging technology called XRAI Glass.

XRAI Glass is a software brand creating solutions powered by Augmented Reality. The glasses convert audio into visuals, allowing a pair of smart glasses to turn speech into subtitles – in real-time. They give people tools to engage with the world in new ways and transcend labels or disabilities. The technology enriches and empowers lives, giving people the tools to be themselves, not just for the deaf and hard of hearing communities, but also others –like those with neurodiversity conditions such as ADHD, who may need help focusing their attention through combined reading and listening learning techniques, or individuals with auditory processing disorder (APD), with which people can hear sound but have trouble processing it.

Lauren said:

I was born profoundly deaf and wear cochlear implants in both ears. With XRAI Glass, deaf and hard of hearing users can enjoy rich conversations with multiple people in the room, remotely, or nearby - that means having a conversation and continuing to make dinner, or the simple pleasure of going for a walk and keeping an interaction going without the need for sign language or lipreading.

It’s important for everyone to be able to have access to a piece of technology that breaks down barriers between the deaf and hearing communities.

Lauren’s parent, Jacqui, has played an important role in the development of the technology and is the chief brand ambassador, acting as an insight into the minds and lives of millions of deaf individuals XRAI are trying to reach. The technology enables the translation of over 70 different languages, including English, French, German, Chinese, Japanese and Korean. They also provide subtitles in real time and voice recognition. XRAI has grown an incredible amount since the launch and in a relatively short time and have also been noticed by Meta –experts in the tech world. As a result of all the hard work put in to making peoples dreams a reality, XRAI glass has been shortlisted for the National Technology awards.

We are very proud of Lauren and all she has achieved this year. She added: I am extremely excited to be a small part of XRAIs journey; working towards huge advancements in the future.