A Moment That Changed Everything
Every great innovation starts with a moment of profound empathy. For me, that moment arrived unexpectedly in 2022 when my wife temporarily lost her vision due to a medical condition. In an instant, I witnessed firsthand the challenges that millions face every day—the simple tasks that become monumental obstacles, the dependency that replaces independence, and the world that suddenly feels unreachable.
Those few days were transformative. I watched as my partner, a capable and independent woman, struggled with tasks we take for granted: reading messages on her phone, identifying objects around the house, navigating from one room to another. It was a temporary condition, but the impact was permanent—on both of us.
The Day After: Meeting the Community
The very next day after her vision began returning, I couldn't shake the experience. I needed to understand how people live with this reality permanently. I visited an NGO that worked with blind and visually impaired individuals in Ahmedabad, and that single visit changed the trajectory of my life.
I spent hours speaking with over 50 blind individuals. I listened to their stories, their struggles, their dreams, and their frustrations. A young college student told me how she needed someone to read every textbook to her. A middle-aged professional shared how he had to quit his job because he could no longer manage the commute independently. An elderly woman explained that she hadn't recognized her grandchildren's faces in years.
But what struck me most wasn't the challenges—it was the solutions, or rather, the lack of them. The existing assistive technologies were either prohibitively expensive (costing upwards of ₹5,00,000), not designed for the Indian context, or simply not user-friendly. The 15 million visually impaired people in India were being left behind by technology.
Making a Promise
Before I left that NGO, I made a promise. Standing before a group of individuals who couldn't see my face but could hear the conviction in my voice, I said: 'Don't worry, I'll make smart glasses for you.' It was an audacious promise—I had no background in assistive technology, limited understanding of AI, and no clear path forward. But I had something more powerful: purpose.
That promise became SMARTON, and that day became Day One of a journey that would consume my life for the next three years.
The Building Phase
The road from promise to product was anything but linear. The first year was spent in intensive research and development. I assembled a team of passionate engineers and AI specialists at Sunbots Innovations, our technology company. We studied existing solutions, identified their shortcomings, and began building something fundamentally different.
Our approach was clear from the start: affordability without compromise. We knew that a ₹5,00,000 device would never reach the people who needed it most. We set an ambitious target—creating a world-class AI-powered assistive device for under ₹15,000. Many said it was impossible. We proved them wrong.
The technical challenges were immense. We needed AI that could describe environments accurately, recognize faces and objects, read documents in multiple Indian languages, and do all of this in real-time with minimal latency. We needed voice interaction that felt natural, not robotic. And we needed it all to work offline for those without consistent internet access.
Co-Creating with Users
One principle guided every decision: nothing about them without them. Every feature, every interaction, every design choice was made with direct input from visually impaired users. We conducted monthly feedback sessions with over 100 users. We observed how they interacted with prototypes. We learned their workflows, their preferences, their pain points.
This co-creation approach led to innovations we never would have conceived on our own. Voice-first design became our mantra because users told us touchscreens were frustrating. Offline capability became essential when users explained that many lived in areas with unreliable internet. Regional language support expanded beyond Hindi and English because users needed their mother tongues.
The Launch and Beyond
When SMARTON finally launched, priced at just ₹12,000, the response exceeded our wildest expectations. Today, over 15,000 individuals across 50+ cities in India use SMARTON daily. They use it to read their mail, recognize their family members, navigate unfamiliar spaces, and study for their degrees.
The impact stories continue to humble and inspire us. A father using SMARTON to 'see' his daughter's wedding photos for the first time. A student who topped her university exams using Document AI to study independently. A professional who returned to work after five years because Smart Eye gave him confidence to navigate the office.
Looking Forward
But we're just getting started. Our vision is to reach 1 million users by 2026, and we're well on our way. We're expanding beyond India, partnering with NGOs and government organizations worldwide, and continuously improving our AI to be smarter, faster, and more helpful.
The promise I made in that NGO three years ago wasn't just to those 50 individuals—it was to the 15 million visually impaired people in India and the 285 million worldwide. SMARTON is our way of keeping that promise, one user at a time.
Technology, at its best, doesn't just solve problems—it restores dignity, independence, and hope. That's what SMARTON means to us, and that's what drives us every single day.