(WBIR-KNOXVILLE) Thousands of people across the country have been diagnosed with autism. The developmental disability is known to cause communication and behavioral challenges.
"I think this is cool," said Dalton Redwine, while looking over a pair of Google Glasses.
A Boston entrepreneur and scientist is changing the way those with autism see the world.
"When I learned more and more about autism, I realized we need to help families now," said Ned Sahin, CEO and founder of Brain Power.
He has developed a new technology that makes all of life's common struggles suddenly easier.
"The Brain Power system adds enhancements to the Google Glass or other wearable (technology) and then a suite of software," he said.
This software was designed to help those with autism make eye contact, engage in conversations and more easily read social situations.
"Oh, wow," Redwine said when he put the glasses on for the first time.
"It coaches eye contact directly, rewarding points to the child or adult with autism. Then, when they look at someone in the eye, their little computer screen shows the emotions the other person is feeling," Sahin said.
The glasses can help make someone relax by playing soft music and even has a solution to the fear of "wandering".
"Mom can speak to her child through the device and actually see what he is seeing," Sahin explained. "We activate the camera so it becomes a remote version of her eyes."
Clinical trials for the new technology will begin this fall at Harvard Medical School. Brain Power hopes to begin releasing the product in the near future.
