Hearsee

The idea for Hearsee bloomed from the nexus of two very different paths coming together in an extraordinary light bulb moment in the subway system in Shanghai China.

The first path is the path for the development of RFID technology in the transportation technology arena, and the work there of the founders of Hearsee.

The second path is one of the founders winding through the maze of the subway system in Shanghai, and thinking “I am in this massive subway, trying to find my way through three train changes, each on a different level, not speaking or reading enough Chinese to do me any good, and then thinking, how would a blind person possibly navigate in this subway system where GPS does not penetrate unless they had a guide?”

At that moment, the two different paths collided and the idea of Hearsee was born as a way to guide blind and visually impaired precisely through this type of environment with the strategic placement of RFID devices, and developing hardware and software into an RFID reader then making it part of the traditional walking stick the blind use, then the signal generated by the RFID reader is routed through blue tooth ear buds which speaks to the user and helps them navigate through unfamiliar areas where GPS is faulty or non-existent.

Natalia Gil Milton is the chairwoman of the Board who got the other founders thinking about RFIDs in the transportation arena.