For a decade, Heart Mountain Hearing Center has helped patients from across the Big Horn Basin experience better hearing. Now, for the first time, the Ralston hearing center is offering patients some assistance with their sight as well.

Heart Mountain Hearing recently became the area's only distributor of cutting-edge wearable devices that improve the lives of people who are blind, visually impaired or have reading difficulties.

“With the population that I work with, I see a lot of macular degeneration, where even reading text is difficult for them; they don’t have a cellphone just because they can’t see the numbers; sometimes it’s so bad they can’t even recognize the face of who they’re talking to,” said Heart Mountain Hearing Center Owner Chris Pelletier. “For some people it’s debilitating; they’ve had to move into a nursing home or move in with family because they can’t do simple functions.”

That’s where the new OrCam devices can help.

For instance, the OrCam MyEye clips onto a person’s glasses and can read aloud what they’re seeing — whether that be a computer screen, a book or a piece of paper; the MyEye can start reading the text within seconds, triggered by just a point of a finger. It’s capable of capturing an entire page at a time.

The device can also be equipped to recognize colors, faces, different denominations of currency, identify products from barcodes and even warn the wearer of objects in their path.

All of the information is relayed to the wearer by audio, whether through the built-in speaker or by syncing up to a Bluetooth speaker or compatible hearing aids.

“It truly gives people some freedoms again that they’ve lost,” Pelletier said. For example, someone who’s visually impaired no longer has to depend on someone else reading them the newspaper, or wait for an audiobook to become available.

“It gives the person some flexibility in their life again,” Pelletier said.

In the same way that hearing aids don’t fix someone’s hearing, the OrCam technology doesn’t improve a person’s vision, so it’s no replacement for glasses or trips to an eye doctor. But what the OrCam devices can do is offer a solution to vision issues.

“It’s a different option that’s not been out there,” Pelletier said.

Another of the devices, the pen-like OrCam Read, can assist adults or students with reading difficulties, such as dyslexia.

Like the MyEye, it does not need to be connected to the internet, so the OrCam devices can be taken anywhere; that also means that there’s no need to be concerned about privacy, as the devices use only on-board technology to identify objects and tech, never uploading anything to the cloud. They’re powered by a rechargeable battery and feature high-definition cameras and laser targeting to pick up fine details.

Pelletier was impressed enough by the technology that he became OrCam’s only distributor in Wyoming and southern Montana.

“I brought it in because I know there’s a large population in this area that could benefit from this,” Pelletier said.

OrCam Technologies is an Israeli company founded by Amnon Shashua and Ziv Aviram, a pair of innovators with a serious pedigree in the tech world. The two men previously co-founded Mobileye, a company that develops vision-based collision avoidance systems and autonomous driving technology; it was acquired by Intel at a valuation of roughly $15.3 billion in 2017.

In starting OrCam in 2010, Shashua and Aviram set out on a mission to use pioneering, wearable technology to improve the lives of those with vision problems. In the decade since, their devices have spread across the globe, with distributors in almost all 50 states.

Talk show hosts Steve Harvey and Dr. Phil McGraw have highlighted the technology’s life-changing impacts, sharing multiple heartwarming stories on their programs over the years. Soccer legend Leo Messi of Argentina recently joined the company as an ambassador, helping increase awareness of the challenges faced by the blind and visually impaired around the world.

OrCam also caught the attention of the hearing aid manufacturer Starkey, which struck up a kind of partnership with the company. That’s how Pelletier first heard about OrCam’s products, as he offers fitted Starkey hearing aids at his Heart Mountain Hearing Center.

After doing his own research, Pelletier realized that the OrCam MyEye and Read were “something that we need in our community.”

For the visually impaired who might benefit from the technology, “I don’t want them to have to go to Denver. I want to be able to provide that and have them come to me right here in Ralston — or I could go to their house,” he said.

The OrCam MyEye can seamlessly pair with Starkey’s high-tech Livio Edge hearing aids, which was one of the selling points for Pelletier. Both devices cracked Time’s list of the best inventions of 2019.

“We’re able to pair two inventions that were recognized as these great inventions that are giving freedom back to people,” Pelletier said.

Hearing, of course, remains the primary focus of Pelletier and his colleagues at the Heart Mountain Hearing Center.

“This is adding to what I do,” he said.

Devices showcased at events next week

Area residents struggling with their vision or with reading can get a hands-on look at some potentially life-altering technology next week.

On Wednesday and Thursday, Heart Mountain Hearing Center in Ralston is offering demonstrations of two high-tech devices that convert text and other visual data into audio information.

The OrCam MyEye attaches to the wearer’s glasses and is meant for people who are blind or visually impaired. As for the handheld OrCam Read, it’s intended for people who have difficulty reading, such as those with dyslexia.

For years, the products from OrCam Technologies have only been available in big cities, like Denver. However, knowing there are local residents who could benefit, Heart Mountain Hearing Center Owner Chris Pelletier recently became the only distributor of the devices in Wyoming and southern Montana; he’s excited about bringing the new technology to the Big Horn Basin.

Alongside a couple of OrCam representatives, Pelletier will offer free demonstrations from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Wednesday and Thursday at the hearing center, located at 557 Main St. in Ralston.

Pelletier noted that seeing a piece of technology in-person is a much different experience than checking it out virtually, online.

“Anybody that’s interested can come in and they’ll get a live demonstration,” he said. “They’ll get to handle the device and learn how to use it themselves right here.”

Attendees can not only learn more about the OrCam Read and the OrCam MyEye, but also take advantage of some special pricing.

“It’s not cheap, but it’s affordable — it’s affordable for everybody,” Pelletier said.

OrCam Technologies is headquartered in Israel, which has developed a reputation as a high-tech hub. Pelletier said the OrCam’s devices are built by Israelis and Palestinians working side-by-side.

“It gives you some hope that maybe there’s some ground there, and they’re able to work in the same facility together as workmates and produce a great product,” he said.

Pelletier also noted that OrCam, now a decade old, is not some gimmick.

“This is tried and true,” he said. “This is proven technology that’s utilizing artificial intelligence to help a very specific population.”

Pelletier added that, for those who can’t make a demonstration on Wednesday or Thursday, in Ralston, he can bring the OrCam technology to a person’s home for a demo.

“And if they want it, we can set it and train them right there in their house, so that even under COVID conditions or when people can’t get out and about, we can still serve them and take care of them — and give them something that makes their lives better,” he said. “That’s what we’re after.”

For more information, or to schedule a demonstration on Wednesday or Thursday, call the Heart Mountain Hearing Center at 307-754-3464.