Visually Impaired Runners Use AI Smart Glasses for London Marathon Training

She is preparing to run the London Marathon with her boyfriend as her guide, using AI-powered smart glasses to help her navigate and track her progress, @ABC reported.

“They are AI assisted,” she said. ” She said the glasses allow her to combine audio feedback with guidance from her running partner. “I can put my music on but still be able to listen to my guide runner,” she said. Dowler is among a growing number of visually impaired runners using AI-enabled smart glasses, which are wearable devices that combine standard consumer products with cameras, microphones, and open-ear speakers.

These smart glasses can be controlled with voice, buttons, or simple gestures and use artificial intelligence to interpret surroundings and provide audio feedback, @ABC reported. The most well-known smart glasses are from Meta in partnership with Ray-Ban and Oakley. More than 7 million pairs of Meta Ray-Bans were sold in 2025.

But they’ve also stirred privacy worries, including being used to film people without their knowledge as well as concerns that Meta was sending the video to human reviewers for AI training. Sha Khan lost around 90 percent of his vision in 2021 due to retinitis pigmentosa and Stargardt disease. Khan uses AI smart glasses as part of daily life and training, @ABC reported.

“It’s like literally a part of me now,” he said. ” Khan also relies on his guide dog, Moby, in his day to day life, using him for navigation outside of running. He said the hands free nature of the glasses is especially useful because it allows him to stay focused on working with Moby without needing to handle a phone.

Khan began running in 2022 after a volunteer from Guide Dogs UK, a charity that provides guide dogs and mobility support for people with vision loss, encouraged him to try it after his sudden loss of sight loss and the impact that it had on his mental health.

While training with guide runners, he uses voice commands to interact with the glasses. “If they say that’s Big Ben ahead of us I can just say ‘hey Meta take a picture,’” he said.

He said the hands free nature of the device is important. “I don’t need to be worrying about fumbling with a mobile phone,” he said. Smart glasses use a front-facing camera to capture visual input and artificial intelligence to analyze it, converting the information into audio delivered through speakers in the frame.

Chris Lewis, a technology analyst who is visually impaired, has used smart glasses while skiing.

“The AI is taking the images coming in, analyzing it and giving you the information about what’s in front of you, what might be moving and what might be changing,” he said. He said this allows users to receive information in real time without losing awareness of their surroundings, which is important for activities such as running.

Lewis noted that marathons pose challenges for smart glasses due to large crowds pressuring mobile networks and weakening signals.

Guide Dogs UK, which also provides other services to help people live independently, says the technology should be used alongside existing support systems rather than replacing them. “These glasses can really support and enhance somebody’s independence but they’re not there to be relied upon or replace core independent skills,” said Tommy Dean, a technology specialist at the charity.

He said guide dogs, mobility training and human support remain essential, particularly in complex environments.

Ben Hatton, an analyst at CCS Insight who studies emerging consumer technologies, said reliability is a key challenge. “If you’re going to allow visually impaired people to walk down the street or cross busy roads with the technology then it has to be perfectly reliable every single time,” he said.

He said factors such as accuracy, connectivity and cost will determine how widely the technology can be adopted.

Lewis also said that consumer technology enhances the experience for people with sight problems and adds to potential independence. More than 59,000 runners are expected to take part in the London Marathon on Sunday, according to organizers, following a 26.2 mile route through the capital that starts in Greenwich and finishes near Buckingham Palace.

Tilly Dowler posed in front of Buckingham Palace on April 23, 2026. The article was published by Mustakim Hasnath of the Associated Press on April 24, 2026, at 12:19 PM.