{"id":56104,"date":"2025-08-06T16:39:32","date_gmt":"2025-08-06T20:39:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/?p=56104"},"modified":"2025-11-05T11:28:11","modified_gmt":"2025-11-05T16:28:11","slug":"smart-eyeglasses-narang","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/smart-eyeglasses-narang\/","title":{"rendered":"Undergrad’s Start-Up Lets You \u2018Hear\u2019 through its Eyeglasses"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The company makes a smart accessory that uses AI speech-to-text technology to project subtitles viewable only to the wearer<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Melissa Newcomb<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

To the casual observer, they seem like a typical pair of eyeglasses with stylishly thick black frames. But for the wearer, they offer a different perspective\u2014one that, essentially, narrates the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Created by a start-up called TranscribeGlass<\/a>, the smart accessory generates instant, accurate text, viewable only by the wearer\u2014offering a way for people who are deaf or hard of hearing to better understand spoken communication.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur smart glasses are like having subtitles for a movie,\u201d says current student Nirbhay Narang \u201925, the company\u2019s co-founder and lead engineer, \u201cexcept instead of a movie, it\u2019s real life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Our smart glasses are like having subtitles for a movie\u2014except instead of a movie, it\u2019s real life.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

When the function is activated, spoken words appear in real time in green lettering on the glasses\u2019 right lens. The transcription is adjustable, so the wearer can decide how quickly it appears\u2014from several lines to just a single word at a time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The glasses connect to an app on an iPhone\u2014Android isn\u2019t yet supported\u2014whose microphone captures the speech that AI translates into text. The battery in the frames can transcribe for six hours on a single one-hour charge; prescription lenses and clip-on sunglasses are available at an additional cost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
The glasses, with the transcription box visible in the right lens.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMost face computers are graceless and heavy, but these glasses are light, only 36 grams,\u201d observed an article<\/a> in Wired<\/em>. \u201cThere are no cameras, microphones, or speakers in the frames, just a small waveguide projector in the rim of one eye that beams a 640 x 480p image onto the glass.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A computer science major in Arts & Sciences and the Bowers College, Narang is on track to graduate in December 2025. He has been working on TranscribeGlass\u2014which has also been featured in other major media, including the New Yorker<\/em>, Forbes<\/em>, and Scientific American<\/em>\u2014since his junior year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is a really innovative technology with many potential applications,\u201d Tapan Parikh<\/a>, an associate professor of information science at Cornell Tech and the Bowers College, told the Cornell Chronicle<\/em>, which featured Narang and his work in November 2024. \u201cAnd Nirbhay has been resourceful in finding external collaborators both within and beyond Cornell.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Most face computers are graceless and heavy, but these glasses are light, only 36 grams.<\/p>\nWired<\/strong><\/em><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Still in its early stages, TranscribeGlass has so far sold several hundred pairs of the glasses, which are manufactured in Rochester, NY. They\u2019re currently priced at $377, plus a $20 monthly subscription for the transcription app.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Narang and his co-founder spent summer 2025 in San Francisco, working to raise their next round of funding. After graduation, he\u2019ll devote himself full time to the start-up\u2014aiming to develop additional features like translating between languages and even analyzing a speaker\u2019s tone to indicate their emotional state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of space for people to solve real human problems with technology,\u201d says Narang. \u201cThat\u2019s what motivates me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Top: Illustration by Ashley Osburn \/ Cornell University. All photos provided.)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Published August 6, 2025<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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