Giving sight to the blind is the goal of the company LDOT, created by a 17-year-old Westminster High School student.
An acronym for long-distance object tracker, LDOT is an app that uses artificial intelligence to verbally identify objects shown in a phone's camera. Derrick Day of Westminster, a rising senior at Westminster High, is blind and created the app for personal use. But when he took the Principals of Business Administration and Management class at Westminster High, teacher Emily Brynes, 27, of Westminster empowered him to turn his creation into a viable business, he said.
"Even if nobody else buys it, it's worth it because it really has helped me," Day said.
LDOT is one of five finalists selected to compete for prizes in the 12th annual Carroll Biz Challenge, run by the Carroll County Chamber of Commerce as a way to showcase local entrepreneurs and give them an opportunity to pitch their new business ideas. Finalists will compete for a $10,000 cash prize to help start their business as well as a number of smaller prizes.
The app uses an AI neural network — a machine-learning program designed to let technology excel at a specific skill — to identify objects and how far away those objects are. Day said a data set containing thousands of pictures trained the app to recognize 128 obstacle classes, meaning it can determine 128 types of common objects and assess their distance from the camera.
One type of object LDOT can recognize is a so-called human rectangle, a silhouette that the app can determine to be the shape of a human body. LDOT can also know who a human is thanks to a facial recognition algorithm. Day said adding a person to be recognizable by LDOT's algorithm is analogous to adding contact information to your phone. The 17-year-old did not create the algorithm, but did design the app to use it seamlessly.
LDOT describes the user's surroundings using voice preferences from the voice-over app, which Day said blind iPhone users are almost certainly familiar with. The app has its own default voice for those who don't use voice-over, which sounds much like Siri or Alexa. LDOT also reads signs and menus out loud.
The app is designed to tell a user what is around them, letting them use their own judgment for navigating their surroundings, Day said.
"It essentially works as eyes for a blind individual," Brynes said, "and really helps even the playing field between someone who is sighted and someone who is blind. It helps them navigate."
Day and his sister have a condition called leber congenital amaurosis, which usually causes retinal deterioration. He is likely to lose all vision by the time he is 30. Day said he could see light and shapes several years ago, but is now limited to mostly perceiving only light and darkness.
As a neurological disorder, leber congenital amaurosis is often associated with mental issues, but Day said he is fortunate that neither he nor his sister have experienced that aspect of the disease.
Carroll County Chamber of Commerce President Mike McMullin said it is impressive that someone so young created something with so much potential to revolutionize the experience of navigating the world as a blind person.
"What an amazing app," McMullin said, "to help people who can't see to navigate the world better — it's like being their eyes. Something like this could have far-reaching implications to help people, not just in Carroll, but all over the place, so I was very impressed with this one."
Day said he has always been interested in both economics and technology, and began teaching himself to code on a Braille-interface computer at a young age. The young entrepreneur initially created LDOT for personal use, but realized the market viability of the app when he took Brynes' class last school year.
Principals of Business Administration and Management is like an introduction to business course, during which students take an entrepreneurial concept and develop it into a viable business model, Brynes said.
"I hope they leave the class feeling more prepared for the world," Brynes said, "and maybe a better human."
The teacher has encouraged students to sign up for the Carroll Biz Challenge since she began teaching the business class five years ago, but Day is the first to take her up on the offer, she said.
Despite a 10-year age difference, the duo works well together and compliments each other's skillsets well, Day said.
"He asked me if I would be a part of the process and help him with some of the business side," Brynes said. "He's really good at all the tech stuff and being the idea guy, so we make a pretty good team together."
The plan is to release LDOT to the public early next year. Brynes said users will be charged $25 per month after a seven-day free trial, after which they should understand how LDOT can improve their life. A handful of organizations support the blind community in purchasing this type of product, she added, and becoming a well-known insurance-covered service that doctors may recommend would be ideal.
"Thankfully, LDOT is a low startup-cost business," Brynes said, "which I think really lends itself well to the Carroll Biz Challenge. Ten grand would be a drop in the bucket for most businesses, but for us it's really all we need. Our startup costs are just under $9,700."
Winning the Carroll Biz Challenge grand prize would provide LDOT with the funds to register for LLC status, garner legal advice, buy insurance and market the app, Brynes said.
"It's a decent time commitment," Brynes said, "but it's something I really enjoy. It doesn't feel like work. My passion is to help kids with their passion, and this is absolutely Derek's passion. It's been so fun, and I'm really thankful that I have this opportunity."
One of LDOT's biggest success stories came when Day used the app to go roller skating. He said he skated for nearly an hour without crashing once, and was able to enjoy the birthday party activity alongside his sighted peers.
"Any blind person that says that it won't be helpful just doesn't understand the power of the technology," Day said, "because it's already improved my life."
An advisory committee chose the 2023 finalists from among 35 entries. Each was scored and deliberated upon by the committee before finalists were announced on June 20. Described as "American Idol" meets "Shark Tank," the Carroll Biz Challenge finale will be held Thursday at the Carroll Arts Center, 91 W. Main St., Westminster, from 5 to 9 p.m. Each finalist will have five minutes to deliver a pitch and seven minutes to answer follow-up questions from judges.
"I'd like to think it's the best event that happens in Carroll during the course of the year," McMullin said. "It's a lot of energy."
In addition to the $10,000 grand prize, a people's choice winner will receive $2,023 and the United Way of Central Maryland Changemaker Challenge Award winner will receive $5,000. The Challenge Award winner may be any of the 35 entrants.
The Carroll Biz Challenge is supported by donations from sponsors, McMullin said, and the Carroll County Chamber of Commerce is not and has no official relationship with any government entity.
The winner of the 2022 Carroll Biz Challenge was Hannah Brookfield of Westminster, who used her $10,000 prize to open the shop BotaniGal, a retail houseplant and horticulture therapy business, in October in Sykesville.
©2023 the Carroll County Times (Westminster, Md.). Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
