'Glasses for the Blind' at CES 2026 aims to help visually impaired

As a kid growing up in Romania, engineer Cornel Amariei always dreamed about going to CES.

Now he's the president and CEO of .lumen and is also an exhibitor at the annual showcase this year - and he's getting a lot of attention.

His company, .lumen, is a 2026 CES Innovation Awards Honoree for his product, Glasses for the Blind.

The device goes on a person's head and acts in a similar way to a guide dog, Amariei said.

""We built a self-driving car, but not one which drives on the road, but actually one which you wear on your head in order to guide you," Amariei said. "They actually replicate what the guide dog for the blind does. So, if a guide dog works by pulling your hand, avoiding you from obstacles, and taking care of you, what we do is the same, but we don't pull your hand. We are on your hand so we actually pull your head using haptics."

For Amariei, the mission is personal. He said he's the only one in his family who doesn't have a disability and saw there was a huge need to address gaps in resources with technology.

He said the company is currently working on orders in Eastern Europe, and hopes to one day get into the U.S. market.

"The first time I ever saw a blind person navigating one of our systems, enabling what they had never done before, you know, it was amazing," Amariei said. "There were some tears involved."

-Erica Stapleton/Reuters