A 17-year-old in Pennsylvania has built AI-powered glasses for blind and visually impaired people that cost $170, after watching his grandmother struggle when she lost her sight.
Alexander Du, from Sewickley, calls the glasses IRIS, short for Intelligent Responsive Imaging System.
They build a 3D map of the wearer’s surroundings in real time and use vibration to guide them, and they come with a phone app offering GPS, an AI assistant and spoken descriptions of the scene, all of which work without an internet connection.
Existing smart glasses for people with sight loss can cost more than $6,000.
The idea came from home, where Alexander saw what losing her sight had taken from his grandmother.
“It can be detrimental to people’s lives. That inspired me. At home, I got more into it. I thought, ‘What if there’s a way to give my grandmother her independence back?’” Alexander told SSBCrack News.
His grandmother died before the glasses were finished, but her influence still drives his work.
IRIS made him the 2026 national champion of the Presidential AI Challenge, and he is also a 2026 winner of the Barron Prize, which took him to an awards ceremony at the White House.
His grandmother never got to try the glasses she inspired, but the version he built is designed for anyone living with the sight loss she went through.
