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The Intersection of Travel and Disability

Accessible technology

Innovation of the Month: Be My Eyes on Meta AI Glasses

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Be My Eyes has long been recognized for connecting people who are blind or have low vision with sighted volunteers through live video assistance (check out a throwback of their InnovateAble pitch here).

Now, through its integration with Meta AI Glasses, the company has taken accessibility a step further by offering hands-free, AI-powered visual assistance that allows users to receive information about their surroundings without holding a phone.

The combination of Be My Eyes and Meta AI Glasses creates a natural, seamless experience for travelers navigating unfamiliar environments. Whether locating a hotel room, identifying a gate at the airport, reading a restaurant menu, or finding an accessible entrance, users can receive spoken descriptions and guidance while keeping their hands free for mobility aids, luggage, or other tasks.

By pairing wearable technology with artificial intelligence and live human support when needed, Be My Eyes is expanding opportunities for more independent travel and everyday experiences.

Be My Eyes and Meta Launch New Accessibility Functions on Ray-Ban Meta and Oakley Meta glasses - Be My Eyes

The Problem Be My Eyes on Meta AI Glasses Solves

For travelers who are blind or have low vision, many everyday tasks still require assistance. Reading signs, locating landmarks, identifying products, or understanding unfamiliar surroundings often means stopping to pull out a smartphone or asking someone nearby for help.

While traditional Be My Eyes video calls have provided valuable support for years, they require users to hold and position a phone throughout the conversation. That can be difficult when carrying luggage, using a white cane, guiding a service dog, or simply navigating a busy airport or attraction.

With Meta AI Glasses, the camera moves from the user’s hand to their line of sight. Users simply ask a question naturally, and the glasses can describe what is in front of them, identify objects, read text, or provide contextual information. If artificial intelligence cannot fully answer a question, users can still connect with a live Be My Eyes volunteer or participating customer service representative for additional assistance.

The result is a more fluid, hands-free experience that supports greater independence without replacing human assistance when it is needed most.

Common Travel Applications

The technology has practical applications across nearly every segment of the travel industry, including:

  • Navigating airports, train stations, and cruise terminals
  • Finding hotel amenities, elevators, or guest room numbers
  • Reading restaurant menus or buffet labels
  • Locating accessible entrances and pathways
  • Exploring museums, attractions, and visitor centers
  • Identifying products in gift shops or retail stores
  • Receiving assistance through participating businesses in the Be My Eyes Service Directory

Because the experience is hands-free, travelers can remain focused on navigating their environment while receiving information in real time.

Options for Destinations

Destinations, attractions, hotels, and tourism businesses have several ways to support travelers using Be My Eyes and Meta AI Glasses.

One option is to join the Be My Eyes Service Directory, allowing blind and low-vision customers to connect directly with trained customer service representatives through the Be My Eyes platform. Whether a guest needs help locating an accessible entrance, confirming reservation details, or navigating a venue, businesses can provide personalized assistance through a familiar accessibility tool.

Organizations may also choose to purchase Meta AI Glasses for guest services, accessibility teams, or visitor information staff. The glasses can be used by guests during their stay for confident navigation.

Enterprise subscriptions to Be My Eyes are tailored to each organization based on size, support needs, and integration requirements. Meta AI Glasses are purchased separately 

As wearable AI continues to evolve, the combination of Be My Eyes and Meta AI Glasses demonstrates how technology can complement accessible design and excellent customer service. 

Find more accessibility tech to better welcome all in TravelAbility’s Accessibility Playbook.

Celebrating Disability Pride Month with a Behind the Scenes Tour of Google’s Accessibility Discovery Center 

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July brings together three meaningful milestones: America’s 250th birthday, Disability Pride Month, and the anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Each celebrates freedom in its own way, but together they remind us that independence is only meaningful when everyone has the opportunity to experience it.

That spirit of opportunity is exactly what Amy Tarpein of Elijah’s Baby Bucket List discovered during a behind-the-scenes visit to Google’s Accessibility Discovery Center in New York City. Their visit is a hopeful reminder that when we design with disabled people, not just for them, we create a future where more people can experience the freedom to explore.

A Celebration of Possibility at Google’s Accessibility Discovery Center in NYC

Written by Amy Tarpein

Amy Tarpein and Jake from TravelAbility pose with three others, including a young wheelchair user, in front of a large illuminated interactive light wall at Google's Accessibility Discovery Center.

On the first day of Disability Pride Month, our family stepped into a space that felt like the future: Google’s Accessibility Discovery Center (ADC) in New York City. Guided by our friend Sasha, an accessibility engineer at Google, and joined by Jake from TravelAbility, we spent the afternoon inside a living laboratory where inclusive design isn’t an afterthought. It’s the foundation.

Beginning Disability Pride Month with Intention

Before exploring the center, we gathered in Google’s free café, coffee in hand, snacks within reach, around a table, talking about the future of accessibility. That conversation set the tone for the entire visit: thoughtful, intentional, and rooted in community. Starting Disability Pride Month in a place built around innovation felt symbolic, almost like the universe nudging us forward.

A Space Built for Possibility

Walking into the ADC felt like stepping into tomorrow. Every corner held prototypes, tools, and interactive experiences designed to make the world more navigable for people with disabilities. The mini‑humans dove right in, testing features, exploring adaptive tech, and discovering how thoughtful design can reshape everyday life. It is inclusion at its best!

And this work isn’t limited to New York. Google has established Accessibility Discovery Centers in cities all over the world, like London and São Paulo, expanding inclusive innovation across continents. Standing inside the NYC center, it was powerful to know this commitment is global. 

What’s at the Center

A 'Hearing' station at Google's Accessibility Discovery Center displays a live speech-to-text demo on a laptop and tablet, with a young person testing the technology at the desk.

The ADC is organized into four main areas, each one designed to spark curiosity, collaboration, and possibility.

  • Research Lab – equipped to record usability testing sessions, capturing real‑time feedback from people with disabilities so engineers can refine products with lived experience at the center.
  • Assistive Experiences -featuring accessories that simulate certain impairments and hands‑on demonstrations of assistive tech used in daily life. The kids loved exploring how different tools support different needs.
  • Workshop Space -a collaborative environment for ideation, reading, and building. It’s where engineers, designers, and community members come together to imagine what accessibility can look like next.
  • Accessibility Discovery Center Arcade – a favorite for the mini‑humans. They tested game equipment designed for people who cannot use traditional controllers, opening up the opportunity for Elijah and Isaiah to play the dinosaur game together for the very first time.

We explored Braille keyboard options, learned about products designed inside the center, tried out adaptive games, and watched assistive technology come alive in ways that felt both practical and magical.

Innovation Meets Lived Experience

Sasha, a Google accessibility engineer and wheelchair user, gestures while presenting the 'Maps for everyone' display, featuring a laptop showing StreetReaderAI research and a poster on disability statistics, at the Accessibility Discovery Center.

Having Sasha guide us added a depth that can’t be replicated. He didn’t just show us technology, he shared the why behind it. The lived experiences. The feedback loops. The engineering challenges. The victories that come from designing with disabled communities, not just for them.

Jake brought the TravelAbility perspective, and we brought our lived‑experience lens connecting tech innovation to real‑world travel accessibility. Together, we created an afternoon that felt like a masterclass in what inclusive design can look like when passion meets purpose.The mini‑humans even got to mark go to Google on business off the bucket list! We spent the afternoon testing adaptive tech, giving feedback, and helping share ideas to make the center even better and the boys got to play a game together for the very first time!

Two boys play together at the ADC Arcade adaptive gaming station, one of whom is a wheelchair user, testing an accessible game controller.

The Heart of Disability Pride Month

Watching the kids explore, play a game together for the first time, and test new features side‑by‑side, fully included, fully welcomed, was the kind of moment that stays with you. In the photo to the left, Elijah is playing a video game using only his toes, demonstrating how adaptive gaming technology can open the door to experiences that traditional controllers often make impossible. Disability joy, innovation, travel, and community aren’t separate ideas. They’re intertwined. And inside the ADC, that truth was unmistakable.

Gratitude for the Changemakers

We’re deeply grateful to Sasha for opening the doors to this incredible space, and to Jake for continuing to work toward accessibility in travel. Their work, along with the work happening in Google’s Accessibility Discovery Centers worldwide, is shaping a future where families like ours can move through the world with more ease, more dignity, and more joy.

It wasn’t just a tour.

It was a celebration of possibility.

Sasha explains an accessibility demo to Amy Tarpein and Jake from TravelAbility at a desk inside Google's Accessibility Discovery Center.

Innovation of the Month: SignSafe Tech Translates Text to Speech

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A park visitor scans the QR code on a community park rules sign with their smartphone, activating SignSafe's text-to-speech translation.

What if a simple QR code not only translated text to speech, but could do it in any language, truly welcoming all to participate? This isn’t a literary fantasy, it’s SignSafe Tech’s innovation for inclusion.

The mission is simple: make public spaces more accessible and welcoming by embracing digital solutions that speak to all languages and backgrounds, bridging communities through tech that’s as inclusive as it is intuitive.

SignSafe Tech creates Text-To-Speech (TTS) on every sign, with over 240 language options, with the simple push of a button. No configuration, no app, no login. SignSafe automatically detects each device’s language and translates accordingly. Service includes analytics that can be used for safety, marketing, and overall enhancement of the patron experience. 

Plans vary, but start as low as $85 per sign, making it a practical solution for any type of destination.

↪Learn more about SignSafe Tech and start your free trial today.

Find more simple solutions and innovations for accessibility and inclusion in the Accessibility Playbook.

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