OrCam device
 | |
| Type | Private company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Health, Assistive technology |
| Founded | 2010 Jerusalem |
| Founder | Ziv Aviram Amnon Shashua |
| Headquarters | Har Hotzvim, Jerusalem, Israel |
Key people | Prof Amnon Shashua (Co-founder and Chairman) Ziv Aviram (Co-founder) Elad Serfaty (CEO) |
| Products | OrCam Hear |
Number of employees | 10–49 (2025) |
| Website | http://www.orcam.com/ |
OrCam Technologies Ltd. is an Israeli assistive technology company headquartered in Jerusalem. It was founded in 2010 and became best known for its OrCam MyEye line of wearable artificial vision devices, which helped visually impaired people understand text and identify objects through audio feedback. Following multiple rounds of layoffs in 2022–2024, the company discontinued its vision-related products entirely and pivoted to hearing assistive technology under the brand OrCam Hear. By 2025 the company had shrunk to fewer than 50 employees and was fighting for financial survival.
Background
[edit]OrCam Technologies Ltd was founded in 2010 by Professor Amnon Shashua and Ziv Aviram. The pair had previously co-founded Mobileye in 1999, an Israeli company developing vision-based advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS), which was acquired by Intel for $15.3 billion in 2017.
The company's flagship product, the OrCam MyEye, was a small camera that clipped magnetically onto eyeglass frames and used artificial intelligence to read text aloud, recognize faces, and identify barcodes and objects — all delivered as audio feedback to the user. Reuters described one key component as "a wireless smartcamera" that converts visual information "into the user's ear."[1]
OrCam launched the OrCam MyEye in 2013 after years of development and testing, and began selling it commercially in 2015.[2]
Vision Devices
[edit]OrCam MyEye
[edit]OrCam Technologies created several vision devices including the OrCam MyEye 1, OrCam MyEye 2.0, and OrCam MyReader.
The second-generation model, the OrCam MyEye 2.0, debuted in December 2017. About the size of a finger, it is battery-powered and snaps onto any eyeglass frame magnetically, weighing just 22.5 grams (0.8 ounces). It came in two versions: a basic model for reading text, and a more advanced model adding face recognition and barcode reading.[3] Face-recognition was also part of OrCam's feature set.[4]
The company stated that technological advances in image processing by large language models made further development of its low-vision products unnecessary, as smartphones could increasingly perform similar functions.[5] As of 2024, OrCam had discontinued its line of reading glasses for the visually impaired.
Hearing Technology
[edit]OrCam Hear
[edit]OrCam unveiled the OrCam Hear platform at CES 2024. The system consists of earbuds and a smartphone dongle controlled by a dedicated app, using AI and proprietary deep learning voice-enhancement models to isolate and amplify selected speakers in noisy environments — addressing what is known in academic literature as the "cocktail party problem."[6] After sampling voices for a few seconds, the app creates a unique voice profile for each speaker. Amnon Shashua described the transition: "The use of deep networks plus the latest network architectures large language models are harnessed to make a game changing experience for hearing aids and hearables in general."[7]
Clinical Studies
[edit]JAMA Ophthalmology: In 2016 JAMA Ophthalmology conducted a study involving 12 legally blind participants to evaluate the usefulness of a portable artificial vision device (OrCam) for patients with low vision. The results showed that the OrCam device improved the patient's ability to perform tasks simulating those of daily living, such as reading a message on an electronic device, a newspaper article or a menu.[8]
Wills Eye: Wills Eye was a clinical study designed to measure the impact of the OrCam device on the quality of life of patients with End-stage Glaucoma. The conclusion was that OrCam, a novel artificial vision device using a mini-camera mounted on eyeglasses, allowed legally blind patients with end-stage glaucoma to read independently, subsequently improving their quality of life.[9]
History
[edit]Founding and growth
[edit]OrCam Technologies Ltd was founded in 2010 by Professor Amnon Shashua and Ziv Aviram in Jerusalem. In its early years, the company raised $22 million, $6 million of which came from Intel Capital. By 2014, Intel had invested a total of $15 million in OrCam.[10] In March 2017, OrCam had raised $41 million in capital, making it worth $600 million.[11] In February 2018, the company raised a further $30.4 million at a valuation of $1 billion, led by Israeli institutional investors Clal Insurance and Meitav Dash.[12] At its peak, OrCam employed over 400 people.
IPO ambitions
[edit]OrCam planned to go public during the COVID-19 pandemic, reporting annual revenue approaching $100 million and profitability. In March 2021, it raised $50 million at a valuation of $1.5 billion, aiming for a valuation above $2.5 billion in an IPO targeted for New York.[13] These plans did not materialise.
Decline and restructuring (2022–2024)
[edit]OrCam conducted its first round of layoffs at the end of 2022, cutting several dozen workers as the tech market downturn took hold. In October 2022, it laid off 62 employees — 16% of its workforce — as new CEO Elad Serfaty, a former EVP at Mobileye, took over from Rani Hagag and began a reorganisation.[14]
In February 2024, OrCam laid off a further 50 employees. Only three months later, in June 2024, it cut another 100 roles — primarily marketing personnel for its reading glasses in Israel and the USA — representing approximately half the remaining workforce after the February round.[15] Contributing factors included a sharp decline in sales to Arab countries (some of which lack diplomatic relations with Israel), the impact of the Israel–Hamas war on sales, and the emergence of generative AI technologies allowing smartphones to perform functions similar to OrCam's reading device for the blind.
In July 2024, OrCam announced a third round of layoffs and the closure of its entire reading-glasses development division for the visually impaired. The company stated: "The technological progress in image processing by language models makes the need for further development of the Low Vision products unnecessary."[5] After the third round, only several dozen employees remained.
Financial crisis and investor dispute (2025)
[edit]By early 2025, OrCam had shrunk to the scale of an early-stage startup, with 10–49 employees, having abandoned all vision-related products to focus entirely on hearing-aid technology.[16]
A serious dispute emerged between OrCam's controlling shareholders, Amnon Shashua and Ziv Aviram, and its institutional investors — Clal, Harel, Leumi, and Meitav. The institutional investors opposed the terms of a SAFE (Simple Agreement for Future Equity) financing round conducted approximately eight months prior, in which Shashua and Aviram had injected around $9 million into the company. The founders sought to convert their investment into shares at a valuation of only $30–40 million, sharply down from the valuations of several hundred million dollars at which the same institutional investors had previously participated. The company and its founders opposed the investors' position, meaning the institutional investors faced significant dilution. Shashua and Aviram simultaneously sought an additional $2 million loan to keep the company operational while planning further fundraising efforts.[17]
Employee testing
[edit]The New York Times described how a pre-release OrCam device was used by a Coloboma-impaired employee of the device's developer in 2013[18] for grocery shopping. It was the small size of the prototype rather than the functionality that gave her added mobility in an Israeli store's aisles.[citation needed]
Social aspects
[edit]In contrast to an early version of Google Glass, which "failed ... because .. Glass wearers were ..mocked",[19] early OrCam devices used designs that clipped unobtrusively on the user's clothing or belt.[19] OrCam devices did not record sounds or images, which was described as solving "the privacy puzzle that stumped Google."[19]
USA introduction
[edit]In 2018 a team headed by New York Assemblyman Dov Hikind introduced OrCam devices to ten individuals screened for the technology.[20]
In 2016 OrCam reached a deal with the California Department of Rehabilitation qualifying blind and visually impaired state residents for the devices,[21] and the Chicago Lighthouse for the Blind demonstrated OrCam's use.[22]
Technology
[edit]OrCam's vision products were driven by AI-driven algorithms enabling features such as reading printed text, recognizing faces, identifying US currency, and reading barcodes.[4] While early language support included English, French, German, Hebrew and Spanish,[23] others later added included Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese and Swedish.
The company's pivot to hearing technology rests on AI and deep learning voice-enhancement models that address the "cocktail party problem" — the difficulty of following a single speaker in a noisy environment, which is a recognised challenge for traditional hearing aids.[6]
Awards
[edit]- 2021 CES Best of Innovation Award, Accessibility category (OrCam Read)[24]
- 2018 Last Gadget Standing Winner[25]
- 2018 CES Innovation Awards Honoree in Accessible Tech[26]
- 2017 NAIDEX Innovation Award[27]
- 2016 Louise Braille Corporate Recognition Award[28]
- 2016 Silmo-d-Or Award[29]
References
[edit]- ^ "Israeli visual aid company OrCam valued at $1 billion". Reuters. February 19, 2018.
- ^ Vision Aware
- ^ "New device gives people with vision problems a second chance at sight". CBSLocal.com (CBS, New York). December 6, 2017.
- ^ a b Romain Dillet (July 12, 2017). "The OrCam MyEye helps visually impaired people read and identify things". techcrunch.com. Retrieved February 8, 2018.
- ^ a b "OrCam closing glasses department, cutting dozens of jobs in third round of layoffs this year". CTech. July 28, 2024.
- ^ a b "OrCam Hear hands-on: A surprisingly effective voice isolation platform for people with hearing loss". Engadget. January 9, 2024.
- ^ "OrCam Unveils Groundbreaking 'OrCam Hear'". PR Newswire. January 8, 2024.
- ^ "Portable Artificial Vision Device May Be an Effective Aid for Patients with Low Vision - For The Media - JAMA Network". media.jamanetwork.com.
- ^ Waisbourd, Michael; Ahmed, Osama; Siam, Linda; Moster, Marlene R.; Hark, Lisa A.; Katz, L. Jay (June 11, 2015). "The Impact of a Novel Artificial Vision Device (OrCam) on the Quality of Life of Patients with End-Stage Glaucoma". Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science. 56 (7): 519.
- ^ Eric Van Susteren (March 27, 2014). "Intel Capital invests in OrCam, Google Glass for the visually impaired". Silicon Valley Business Journal.
- ^ "After sale to Intel, Mobileye's founder raises sights on IPO for OrCam". Reuters. March 30, 2017. Retrieved February 8, 2018.
- ^ "OrCam raises $30.4 million, bringing startup to $1 billion valuation". The Times of Israel. February 20, 2018.
- ^ "OrCam sets sights on $3 billion valuation in 2021 IPO". CTech. December 14, 2020.
- ^ "OrCam lays off 16% of workforce". CTech. October 25, 2022.
- ^ "OrCam cuts almost half of workforce in second round of layoffs in four months". CTech. June 3, 2024.
- ^ "OrCam fights for survival as investor battle, layoffs and last-ditch funding push escalate". CTech. March 12, 2025.
- ^ "OrCam fights for survival as investor battle, layoffs and last-ditch funding push escalate". CTech. March 12, 2025.
- ^ John Markoff (June 3, 2013). "Device From Israeli Start-Up Gives the Visually Impaired a Way to Read". The New York Times.
- ^ a b c John Markoff (December 31, 2015). "It's an Unobtrusive Assistant Whispering in Your Ear (Not Little Brother)". The New York Times.
- ^ "10 blind individuals gifted $35K in Hi-Tech "seeing" devices". November 11, 2018. Archived from the original on January 29, 2020. Retrieved December 24, 2018.
- ^ Ruth Eglash (May 21, 2016). "Could a new smart cam designed for the blind help my dyslexic daughter?". The Washington Post.
- ^ Hosea Sanders (April 24, 2016). "For the visually impaired, a technological breakthrough". ABC7chicago.com.
- ^ "OrCam - A Point of Seeing". Ability Magazine.
- ^ "Israel's OrCam Wins 'Best of Innovation' Award Ahead Of CES 2021". NoCamels. December 20, 2020.
- ^ "Last Gadget Standing". lastgadgetstanding.com. Archived from the original on January 29, 2020. Retrieved February 13, 2018.
- ^ "CES Tech Events". ces.tech. Retrieved February 8, 2018.
- ^ "Naidex". Naidex. Retrieved February 8, 2018.
- ^ "THE 56TH ANNUAL LOUIS BRAILLE AWARDS". Archived from the original on February 14, 2018. Retrieved February 13, 2018.
- ^ "Winners 2016". en.silmoparis.com. Archived from the original on February 8, 2018. Retrieved February 8, 2018.