Globally, 340 million people have impaired or complete loss of vision due to age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy and other retinal diseases.

In an attempt to restore vision in these patients, Israeli company ICI Vision recently developed digital eyewear that has the potential to provide at least some measure of visual signal.

The company’s high-tech glasses, called Orama, combine artificial intelligence, eye-tracking software, a 3D camera, computer vision and other software and hardware tools to fill in gaps from vision loss and optimize images in front of the user’s eyes. Eye mapping personalizes the experience to each user by establishing the location of healthy retinal cells. The glasses then project images onto portions of viable retina to enhance central vision.

Patients were able to recognize faces of loves ones and have clearer central vision during initial trials, ICI reports. If all goes according to plan, Orama glasses could be sold globally by mid-2020, the company notes.