Legendary Dallas Cowboys running back Emmitt Smith will team up with AT&T-backed startup Aira to give a vision-impaired fan a unique perspective on a Cowboys game this fall.
Emmitt Smith
A vision-impaired fan who has shared his or her story with Aira will attend the Cowboys game with Smith Oct. 1 against the Los Angeles Rams at AT&T Stadium in Arlington.
Aira is the creator of smart eyewear for blind and visually impaired people. The eyewear has a sensory button on the side that calls a live agent to assist with directions or overall mobility.
“These glasses are pretty awesome. I’m enjoying the technology.”
Emmitt Smith
Smith will use Aira’s agent dashboard to give the winning fan a personalized play-by-play call of the game, according to a report on the website SportTechie.
“I’m going to sit up in the box, and we’re going to talk about what I’m seeing, and I’m going to relay the game to them so they can get this visual effect of what’s actually transpiring on the football field,” Smith said on The Rich Eisen Show, which airs on AT&T’s DirecTV system. “These glasses are pretty awesome. I’m enjoying the technology. This is a way to communicate to the visually impaired to help them understand what’s going on around them.”
Smith, who was inducted into the Pro Football Hame of Fame in 2010, has been working with AT&T to bring attention to Aira.
While Aira uses remote human agents to assist its users, the agents are aided by artificial intelligence that can visualize what the person wearing the glasses sees in real-time, the article said.
Dallas-based AT&T has provided La Jolla, California-based Aira with wireless support between a user of the glasses and the live agent.
Smith has been very active since his retirement from the NFL in 2004. After winning the television dance competition show Dancing With the Stars in 2006, Smith ventured into the real estate business in 2013 with E Smith Realty Partners. He withdrew from that business earlier this year to pursue other entrepreneurial interests.
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