A blind athlete in Sweden is pioneering a new technology that allows vision-impaired people to run long distances without physical contact with a companion or guide. It is hoped the system will provide blind people with more freedom in sport and in everyday life.

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A blind athlete in Sweden is pioneering a new technology that allows vision-impaired people to run long distances without physical contact with a companion or guide. It is hoped the system will provide blind people with more freedom in sport and in everyday life.

Fatmir Sarametti is utilizing a piece of equipment that significantly impacts the lives of blind athletes. A smartphone mounted on his chest uses artificial intelligence to track the runner ahead, offering audio signals that guide his direction and speed. With this technology, Sarametti has completed a race independently, a milestone for him following a career that included participation in three Paralympic Games with Sweden.

The AI-guided system, developed by Google's Project Guideline, has already enabled Sarametti to become the first blind athlete to finish a half marathon in Stockholm without any physical assistance. The presence of 18,000 other runners in the half marathon emphasized the significant accomplishment that this technology represents.

Though his guide dog Comet remains his training companion, Sarametti hopes this innovation will afford other blind individuals similar opportunities to experience independence in sports and daily activities. The technology aims to be accessible to anyone, regardless of their athletic experience, providing them the cues needed to navigate their environment intuitively.

Fatmir's vision impairment, caused by an eye disease at age 13, left him only able to perceive shades of light and dark. Despite these challenges, Sarametti has turned his limitations into strengths on the Paralympic stage and now uses his experience to inspire and impact others positively.



Blind athlete guided by AI technology

Fatmir Sarametti makes the final adjustments to a piece of kit that could become a giant step forward for blind people. One that's already transformed his life as an athlete nearly 30 years after losing his sight. A smartphone on his chest uses artificial intelligence to track the movements of a runner in front of him, sending back audio signals to guide his direction and speed. It's given Fatmir yet another achievement after a career spanning three Paralympic Games with Sweden. It's a huge, huge freedom, huge feeling of freedom. It gives me audio cues via headphones that I have on me like this. So if he moves to the right then I get a cue to follow to the right and if he moves to the left then I get an audio cue to move to the left. If I'm too far behind then it tells me that I need to speed up. We have now tried this out during a full race and it works. The technology is developed by Google's Project Guideline. This month in Stockholm, Fatmir used it to become the first blind athlete to finish a half marathon without any physical help or guidance. We did a Stockholm half marathon with 18,000 other runners. Getting to that finish line was magic. Being able to do that for the first time for being blind so long, it was a magical feeling. Fatmir's guide dog Comet won't be completely retiring as his training partner, but the hope is that this technology can give blind people more freedom in sport and in everyday life. Now, Fatmir has used this equipment as an elite athlete and a Paralympian, but the idea is for anyone to be able to run with it. So let's see how it goes for someone with no experience at all. The answer is extremely badly at first, but then following the signals becomes intuitive, almost relaxing, although not very athletic looking. For Fatmir, the eye disease he contracted when he was 13 means he can only see shades of light and dark. Turning that into a strength on the Paralympic stage was just a start. What he's doing now could mean more to more people than any medal. Paul Rees, Al Jazeera, Stockholm.

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