Baltimore startup ReBokeh Vision Technologies is partnering with the San Antonio African American Community Archive and Museum (SAAACAM) to improve accessibility for museum visitors with low vision.
The collaboration will provide all visitors with free, automatic, and unlimited access to ReBokeh, the mobile app-based assistive tech software designed for people with low vision.
The software allows users to adjust the appearance of the world around them to account for their specific vision needs, empowering them to navigate the challenges of living with vision impairment. The technology uses the live camera feed from a device, then allows users to overlay customized filters to adjust contrast, color hue, zoom, and lighting to adjust what the users see to fit their needs.
ReBokeh is a Baltimore-based company, founded in 2019 by Rebecca Rosenberg. She was diagnosed with Oculocutaneous Albinism when she was just a few months old, and throughout her school years she never felt the available assistive technologies met her needs. The app has users in 96 countries around the world.
“It’s really important to us at SAAACAM to prioritize access for all of our community, and to listen to solutions for accessibility from those that were impacted by the previous lack,” said Taylor Foots, Exhibit Space Supervisor at SAAACAM.
The partnership uses ReBokeh’s advanced geofencing capabilities to enable any iOS user with in the SAACAM space to download and use ReBokeh’s premium-tier software free of charge for the duration of their visit. As a result, visually impaired visitors — 85% of whom have some usable vision — to engage with the museum’s exhibits using their own vision as opposed to using sight-replacement options like audio or tactile descriptions.
“As a member of the low vision community, I know what it’s like to feel left out at public spaces as the only person who can’t fully engage with what’s on display,” Rosenberg said. “This partnership will provide an avenue for people with varying visual abilities to immerse themselves in the exhibits at SAAACAM and appreciate the incredible displays of history and culture that the museum has to offer.”
Eventually, ReBokeh hopes to extend this partnership opportunity to other museums and public spaces to make low vision accessibility much more common. Organizations interested in partnering with ReBokeh can contact the team by clicking this link.
