Pearcey recognises vision technology pioneer

The Pearcey Foundation has recognised vision disability technology pioneer Robert Yearsley with induction into the Pearcey Hall of Fame and selection as a finalist for the NSW ICT Entrepreneur of the Year.

Every year the foundation recognises an outstanding individual who has ‘taken a risk, made a difference and is an inspiration to others’ in NSW. Yearsley is co-founder and CEO of innovative augmented reality AI company ARIA Research, which leverages novel machine vision, spatial audio and artificial intelligence to deliver a sense of vision via sound to people who are blind and low vision.

The company’s device, which looks like a pair of sunglasses, translates the world that is normally seen into a world that can be heard through a real-time virtual soundscape delivered through binaural speakers located in the arms of the glasses.

“The pioneering spirit of Trevor Pearcey (who built the first digital computer in Australia) is very much alive and well in technologies like ARIA, where we are building the next generation of computing, leveraging augmented reality and artificial intelligence to transform human perception and enable life-changing impact,” Yearsley said.

ARIA was recently named Australian Technology Company of the Year at the 2023 Australian Technologies Competition, where it also claimed an award in the Medtech and Pharma category.

The company will commence clinical trials of its smart glasses early next year as one of the first projects at the NSW Government’s recently announced Human Augmentation Laboratory (HAL). ARIA will lead HAL, which will be an industry-led, open lab facility that will focus on rapid research translation and the acceleration of deep-tech startups.

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