by B. E. Lewis, RDPFS Intern:
The ReBokeh app “allows users to adjust the appearance of the world around them in order to fit their specific visual needs.” It creates tools designed for the low vision community, “those who aren’t blind but live with an uncorrectable vision impairment.” Users can adjust the appearance of the world around them based on their needs through smart devices to “navigate the daily challenges of living with a vision impairment more independently.” An expanded version, ReBokeh Plus, has been introduced to enhance the user experience. As ReBokeh founder and CEO Rebecca Rosenberg explains: “ReBokeh is meant to be a re-clarifying of what is out of focus” as it “empowers low-vision users to make better use of the vision they do have.” The app leverages real-time camera feed from a smartphone or tablet, allowing users to overlay customized filters to adjust things like contrast, color hue, zoom, and lighting to meet their needs in any situation. Started in 2019, ReBokeh is Rosenberg’s creation. She was diagnosed as an infant with Oculocutaneous Albinism, a rare genetic condition where the body doesn’t produce enough melanin and the eyes are unable to filter light properly, reducing visual acuity. At the Consumer Electronic Show (CES), Rosenberg spoke about how the ReBokeh App addresses the needs of someone like herself, who is not totally blind, “but I still have trouble doing normal everyday things like reading the posters here at CES.” The updated ReBokeh Plus provides new features to enhance the user experience. These include additional customization through expanded inversion options, such as grayscale, yellow/black and yellow/blue filters; saving modified images from the app to their camera roll for future access; saving preset image adjustments; and uploading images to the app and adjusting them for later viewing. The original ReBokeh can be downloaded free of charge for iOs devices; a waiting list is available for Android products. ReBokeh Plus is available for $2.99 per month or $28 annually. For a demonstration of how the app works, check out the BBC News story, I have low vision, so I built an app to help others like me. To learn more about ReBokeh, read the Forbes article, This Smartphone App Is Helping People With Low Vision See More Clearly. Here’s How, and the Baltimore Fishbowl piece, Baltimore startup launches ReBokeh Plus, app for low vision users, and visit the ReBokeh website.
