LCOA Glasses

A prototype pair of smart glasses for people living with dementia. They name what the wearer is looking at, answer their questions in calm, simple words, and speak up when something around them is dangerous.

Status: in development. This is a student-built prototype, not a product. It is not for sale, it is not a medical device, and it does not diagnose, treat or monitor any condition. The working name, MatchSense, will change.

Why glasses

• The World Health Organization counts more than 57 million people living with dementia worldwide (WHO fact sheet).
• Memory care costs about $7,000 a month, according to A Place for Mom. Many families need something more affordable to help in daily life.
• Physical injury is one of the leading causes of death for people with dementia, according to Alzheimer’s Research UK. Part of that risk is a person who is confused about where they are or what is in front of them.
• Glasses already sit where the wearer is looking, so a camera, a microphone and a small speaker can see and hear what the wearer does, and help in the moment.

What it is built to do

• Name what it sees. The camera sees what the wearer sees and says what an item is.
• Answer questions. The wearer speaks and the glasses reply. For repeated questions such as “What is happening?” they answer patiently every time.
• Warn about danger. When the camera or microphone picks up something unsafe, the glasses say so in plain words.
• Use gentle language. Replies are meant to be short, kind and easy to follow, never overwhelming.
• Help with the common difficulties of dementia: short-term memory, keeping track of a purse or wallet, paying bills, planning meals, remembering appointments, and travelling beyond the neighbourhood.

The situations the team is testing first are wandering (“I need to go home!”) and repetitive questions, because they are among the most common behaviours the National Council of Certified Dementia Practitioners lists.

How the prototype is built

Everything is wired together in an ordinary pair of glasses, mostly from second-hand parts, to keep the cost low.

• Frame: a cheap, solid pair of glasses with plain non-prescription lenses, cut to hold the parts and painted matte black.
• Camera: OV2640.
• Microphone: INMP441.
• Speaker: a small 8-ohm speaker driven by a MAX98357A amplifier, placed so that only the wearer hears it.
• Brain: an ESP32-S3 board that sends audio and pictures to a more powerful device and plays the reply.
• Power: a rechargeable battery over USB-C. The design target is 5 to 7 hours of use and about 75 grams in weight. These are estimates from the parts, not measurements.

The glasses cannot hold an AI model themselves. They hand the work to an open-source model running on a separate, more powerful device, and the answer comes back to the glasses. The plan is that what the glasses collect is used only for the wearer’s own glasses, and is not shared with third-party services.

Safety ideas under test

These are design goals the team is working on. None of them is a promise.

• One wearer only. The glasses learn one voice. If a different voice is heard, they cut off, and they reconnect when the wearer’s voice returns. If the glasses are taken from the wearer, they are meant to stop working.
• Careful answers. Replies in dangerous situations are checked against a set of examples, so the glasses say something appropriate.
• Not too much. Too many alerts could overwhelm the wearer, so the glasses speak only when it helps.
• Possible later features: a gentle vibration if the wearer is not responding, and a way to contact a chosen emergency contact. Neither is built.

Where it stands

• Done: the idea, the research, the choice of parts and the plan for building and testing.
• Being built: the first working prototype, and a demonstration of the wandering and repeated-question situations.
• Not done: testing with people who have dementia, advice from doctors or carers, and any approval a medical product would need. Nothing here has been tested in real care.

Is it related to the LCOA app?

It is a separate project from the LCOA desktop app, started by the same founder, Ethan Ganz. The desktop app is on the roadmap. The glasses are not part of the launch on November 12, 2026, and there is no waitlist for them.

Talk to us

If you are a carer, a clinician or a researcher and want to help or give feedback, write to ethan.ai.ganz@gmail.com. If you or someone you know needs help with dementia now, please speak to a doctor or a local dementia support service. These glasses cannot replace them.