Dementia Glasses. That could help you to live independently

January 19, 2026

Discover glasses that could help you to live independently.

With one in three people forecast to develop dementia, the Alzheimer’s Society are funding projects designed to help sufferers stay in their own homes.

One such project is CrossSense spectacles which fitted with cameras and voice recognition can see danger coming and can help people with Alzheimer’s to live independently.

The software has been developed by Animorph Co-operative, a worker-owned technology company based in north London. It guides users through everyday tasks, identifying food in front of them, locating misplaced items such as keys, assisting with household controls like heating systems, and providing reminders for medical appointments.

According to Animorph, the system does not rely solely on direct voice commands. Eszter Muray, the company’s product designer, said the software can detect relevant information from casual speech and act on it later. For example, if a user mentions needing a haircut, the system can prompt them at a later time to book an appointment.

The technology can also help users recognise people around them. By logging the identities of key individuals — including carers, doctors and family members — the software can discreetly display the name of the person the user is speaking to.

During a demonstration at Animorph’s headquarters in Finsbury Park, the software was asked whether the weather was suitable for a walk and responded that conditions were good but advised taking a jacket.

Szczepan Orlins, Animorph’s software architect and developer, said the company’s aim was to go beyond symptom management. “What we say is that we will defy dementia, not just mitigate it,” he said.

He said recent advances in artificial intelligence and the emergence of lightweight smart glasses had made the project viable. Early versions relied on bulky virtual-reality headsets, which have since been replaced by smaller, wearable devices similar to those produced by brands such as Ray-Ban and Oakley.

Animorph plans to release the software as a subscription-based app by the end of the year, at an expected cost of around £50 a month. It will be designed to run on commercially available smart glasses, which currently cost £700 or more.

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