SmartAIs

 🎉 SmartAIs Secures Pre-Seed Funding: Using Tech to Empower Blind People! 🚀 We’re excited to announce that SmartAIs has successfully secured its pre-seed funding round! This marks a major step forward in our mission to revolutionize the way blind and visually impaired individuals navigate the outdoors. 💡𝗢𝘂𝗿 𝗩𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻: We envision a world where blind individuals can move through life with complete independence. ⭐𝗢𝘂𝗿 𝗠𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻: To achieve this, we are developing an AI-powered assistant in the form of a smartphone app to help blind individuals overcome various outdoor challenges - starting with obstacle detection and conversational AI. 🗝️𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗪𝗲’𝗿𝗲 𝗠𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗜𝘁 𝗛𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗻: ✅ Bringing a complex computer vision system to everyday devices like smartphones. ✅ Avoiding unnecessary hardware to ensure our solution is simple, affordable, and user-friendly. ✅ Breaking down barriers to make cutting-edge tech accessible to everyone. We are deeply grateful to our investors, including Bayern Kapital and renowned private investors from the AI & AR space, for believing in our long-term vision. 🌍𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗗𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗠𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿? Globally, 43 million blind and severely visually impaired people could benefit from AI-powered mobility assistants. Together, we’re making that future a reality. ⏭️𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝗡𝗲𝘅𝘁? We’re refining our technology, expanding user testing, and preparing to bring our obstacle detection app to the market. 🙌𝗪𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗝𝗼𝗶𝗻 𝗨𝘀? We’re always looking for ambitious, smart people who want to use #TechForGood. Check out our open positions or send us a message to learn more! ➡️ Link in comment. Follow us for updates as we shape the future of accessible navigation. Together, we’re making a difference! 💙 #SmartAIs #Accessibility #Innovation #AIForGood #PreSeedFunding #ObstacleDetection #TechForBlindPeople #InclusiveTech

Join us in bringing SmartAIs obstacle detection app and conversational AI assistant to market this year, and witness the huge impact it will have on the lives of blind and visually impaired people. 🚀 Product demo: https://lnkd.in/gUEsa9X6

🚀 SmartAIs App Demo: Obstacle Detection & Conversational AI Assistant   Here is a quick demo of what we have been building! 🎧 Put on your headphones for the best stereo sound experience.   • Obstacle Detection: Beeps in your left, right, or both ears—based on the dominant direction of a grouped set of nearby obstacles. The closer you get, the faster the beeps—real-time, on-device, no internet needed. • Conversational AI Assistant: Ask questions about your surroundings—scene descriptions, explaining complex obstacle situations, object search, text reading, and the possibilities are unlimited. Did you count the seconds between question and response? ⏳   At SmartAIs, we are pushing the limits of obstacle detection and conversational multimodal AI to improve the lives of blind and visually impaired people. More demos and insights are coming soon!   We are hiring! If you want to join us on the mission to build innovative technologies and see the direct positive impact on the lives of visually impaired people, and you are into computer vision, robotics, or autonomous navigation, reach out!   #AIForGood #Hiring #SmartAIs #AccessibilityTech #ComputerVision #ObstacleDetection Alt text: A person walks toward a set of obstacles while wearing headphones. As the person approaches plants and a wall on the right, the app emits beeps in the right ear. Moving toward parked bikes and a motorcycle ahead, beeping occurs in both ears, increasing in frequency as the person gets closer. The user then interacts with the conversational AI assistant, asking about the surrounding scene, locating a nearby supermarket, and finding a place to sit.

🗳️Where do German political parties actually stand on inclusion and accessibility? Find out here! 🤔   The federal election in Germany is just around the corner – high time to see how much importance the major parties place on inclusion, accessibility, and disability compensation.   To save you the effort, I went through the election programs. 🤗   🔍What was my approach? I searched the party programs for terms like inclusion, accessibility, and disability compensation and checked how often they appear (find the full list of terms in the comments). My hypothesis: The more frequently these topics are mentioned, the higher their priority!   Here are the results: 📌 DIE LINKE mentions it 5 times 📌 Die Grünen mention it 4 times 📌 CDU/CSU talk about it 3 times 📌 SPD mentions these topics 2 times 📌 FDP addresses the issue 2 times 📌 AfD mentions it once 📌 BSW does not specifically address the topic at all   💡 Key takeaway: While some parties mention these issues multiple times and propose concrete measures, others barely touch on them - or not at all.   What do you think? 🤔 Should German political parties focus more on this, or is their approach sufficient?   Or is my method of counting key words flawed? 😉   #Bundestagswahl2025 #Inclusion #Accessibility #PoliticsCheck

💡 Every Blind Person should get the newest iPhone Pro paid by health insurances! It might sound like a bold headline, but hear me out—I truly believe this could provide immense value. Smartphones have become an incredibly valuable tool for blind individuals, especially with the rise of AI-powered apps that can interpret the environment. Smartphones are the perfect hardware for countless innovative assistive apps, both now and in the future. 📱 Why the Apple iPhone Pro? With its advanced sensors, including a LiDAR sensor for precise depth estimation, the iPhone Pro can generate a 3D spatial understanding—laying the foundation for many apps specifically designed for blind users. Its dedicated AI cores enable swift and efficient calculations.  ⚖️ The Problem: Current medical aid regulations state that any electronic device capable of non-assistive uses cannot qualify as a medical aid. This creates a strange and inefficient situation: 1️⃣Specialized devices for blind individuals are produced in small quantities, making them extremely expensive. 2️⃣Blind individuals often require multiple devices for different purposes, further driving up costs. 3️⃣If a device doesn’t perfectly meet specific needs, it often goes unused - sitting in a drawer. Wasting money and resources. 🤔 By providing every blind person with an iPhone Pro, health insurance providers could replace multiple expensive devices - costing thousands of euros - with a single, versatile, cost-effective solution. How does that sound? Would you support the idea of giving an iPhone Pro to every blind person? #Accessibility #Inclusion #TechForGood #Innovation #SmartAIs #AssistiveTech #BlindNavigation

📍 “𝗪𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗻 𝗔𝗜 𝗰𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲” 👨💻 Exciting news for Munich's thriving tech ecosystem! OpenAI, the company behind #ChatGPT, has announced the opening of its first German office in #Munich. This move solidifies Munich's position as a leading #AI hub in Europe and adds to the city's impressive roster of tech giants.   📺 Yesterday, BR - Bayerischer Rundfunk visited us to capture this momentous development for their program "𝗔𝗯𝗲𝗻𝗱𝘀𝗰𝗵𝗮𝘂 - 𝗗𝗲𝗿 𝗦ü𝗱𝗲𝗻". The segment features our colleague Fabian sharing his insights, as well as showcasing Sascha Preget from SmartAIs, one of the promising startups supported by 𝗔𝗜+𝗠𝗨𝗡𝗜𝗖𝗛. SmartAIs is developing an innovative smartphone app that helps visually impaired individuals navigate obstacles on sidewalks more safely.   🤖 AI+MUNICH, a collaborative initiative between TUM Venture Labs, Strascheg Center for Entrepreneurship gGmbH, and MUNICH INNOVATION ECOSYSTEM, continues to foster innovation in Artificial Intelligence. For aspiring AI startups, there's still time to seize an opportunity: the 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗱𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝗳𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵 𝗶𝘀 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗻 𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗹 𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗿𝗼𝘄! https://lnkd.in/dpdTx8cb (navigate to minute 6 to see the segment about AI) #MUNICHINNOVATIONECOSYSTEM #AIPLUSMUNICH

OpenAI visited us in our office and tested our obstacle detection solution for visually impaired people! ✨ We showcased how our Edge AI system can empower visually impaired individuals by enhancing their understanding of obstacle situations - not just through obstacle detection, but also by integrating scene descriptions with NLP and LLMs. This makes outdoor navigation more independent and intuitive than ever! 🎯 It was inspiring to present alongside with other incredible startups: 🔹 Ramblr.ai® – AI-powered real-time video analysis for complex task support 🔹 QuantumDiamonds – Advanced AI chip validation and analysis 🔹 Pruna AI – Revolutionizing AI efficiency and sustainability A huge thank you to Antoine Leboyer and TUM Venture Labs for organizing this and to OpenAI for the insightful discussion. Exciting times ahead! 🙌 Antoine LeboyerEmma C. LalleyBastienne KortsAnkur RastogiThomas AltKevin Berghoff #AI #DeepTech #Accessibility #Innovation #Startups #TUM #EdgeAI

🚀 A Big Welcome to our new team member, Vishal Kagade! 🌟 We are excited to announce that Vishal Kagade has joined SmartAIs as an AI and Computer Vision Engineer! With his educational background and practical expertise in building AI-based solutions for autonomous vehicles 🚗, an exceptional research track record, and extensive experience in efficient deep learning and computer vision applications, Vishal is the perfect fit to elevate the perception capabilities of our AI-powered obstacle avoidance smartphone app to new heights. 📱 Bringing the diligence of a researcher 🔬 and the creativity of an innovator 🎨, Vishal will play a key role in refining our app’s ability to detect obstacles, enhancing its robustness, and making outdoor navigation safer and more accessible for the blind community. 👩🦯 Vishal, we’re beyond excited to have you on board! Together, let’s continue breaking boundaries and empowering independence. 💡🤖 Welcome to the team! ✨ #WelcomeToTheTeam #SmartAIs #ArtificialIntelligence #ComputerVision #SensorFusion #ObstacleAvoidance #AutonomousVehicles #Innovation #Accessibility #InclusiveTech #EmpoweringIndependence #AIForGood #AssistiveTechnology

🌟 Welcome to the Team, Juan de los Rios Ruiz! 🌟 We’re excited to announce that Juan has joined SmartAIs as Computer Vision Engineer! With his Master’s degree in Robotics, Cognition & Intelligence, Juan is perfectly equipped to make our solution more robust, push the boundaries of our obstacle detection capabilities, and tackle edge cases like a true pro. 💡🤖 Juan’s impressive background says it all: 🌍 Global Expertise: Professional experience across multiple countries. 🎓 Prestigious Recognition: Selected among the top 50 students by MIT and Technical University of Munich for an exclusive scholarship. With his entrepreneurial drive and “let’s make it happen” mentality, Juan is the perfect match to our innovative and impact-driven team. Juan, we’re excited to have you on board. Let’s create something extraordinary together for the visually impaired community. 💪 #Welcome #SmartAIsTeam #Innovation #Robotics #ObstacleDetection

✋ 200 Years of Braille – A Milestone in Inclusion 📖 Today marks the 200th anniversary of Braille – a groundbreaking invention that has revolutionized the lives of millions of blind and visually impaired people worldwide. By making information accessible through touch, Braille remains as relevant today as ever! ✨ Three Fascinating Facts About Braille: 1️⃣ Invented by a 15-year-old In 1824, Louis Braille, inspired by a military night-writing system, developed this revolutionary script. 2️⃣ A Universal Language Braille transcends borders and languages. It’s used for everything from musical notation to mathematics and technical symbols, making it a truly global tool for communication. 3️⃣ Swift Reading with Fingers Experienced Braille users can read up to 200 words per minute, matching the speed of printed text. 🚀 What’s Next? I believe that today, another groundbreaking innovation is transforming accessibility for visually impaired people: Artificial Intelligence (AI). AI doesn’t just read text aloud; it also extracts targeted information and provides contextual insights. And it can be used to solve many other problems for blind people. At SmartAIs we use AI to help to avoid obstacles on sidewalks easily. 💭 Imagine this: In 200 years, people will be celebrating how AI changed blind people's lives back in the 2020s. How crazy would that be? #Braille200 #AccessibilityMatters #Inclusion #Innovation #ArtificialIntelligence #BlindCommunity #InclusiveDesign #TechForGood #CelebratingBraille Photo credit: Myriams-Fotos