A groundbreaking attempt is underway as a blind artist prepares to run the Brighton Marathon, guided by remote volunteers leveraging artificial intelligence technology – a world first in its application.
Clarke Reynolds, known artistically as Mr Dot, will navigate the 26.2-mile course with the aid of Meta AI glasses connected to the Be My Eyes app.
This innovative app typically connects visually impaired individuals with volunteers worldwide for everyday tasks, such as locating household items or identifying products.
However, Mr Reynolds, 45, from Portsmouth, aims to redefine its capabilities by using it for the demanding marathon. He will be running in support of the Fight for Sight charity.
Speaking about his pioneering endeavour, Mr Reynolds told the Press Association: “When I got these glasses and the app, I was thinking: what could I do to push the boundaries of what this technology could do for the blind community?” His ambitious use of the technology seeks to demonstrate its potential far beyond its original design.
“And I thought, you know what, let’s run a marathon again with complete strangers in my ear holes.”
The charity’s ambassador hopes the challenge will help tackle the stigma around sight loss and perception of blind people.
He has the inherited condition of Retinitis Pigmentosa and describes his vision like looking underwater, seeing shadows and shapes.
Mr Reynolds started using Rayban Meta AI glasses last year and has also used them to go to art galleries and have the art described to him in the voice of Dame Judi Dench.
Connecting the app to the glasses, the artist voice commands for Be My Eyes to be activated and gets linked up to a volunteer ready to help, who can see Mr Reynold’s view through his glasses.
“By doing these things and saying I’m not amazing, I’m not a superhero. I’m just like you, just, I found a workaround so that I could do a marathon, and it’s just a new way of living my life,” he told PA.
“Technology is a game changer for the sight loss community. There’s loads of cures to come along but we can’t wait for those cures. We’ve got to live the best life we can.
“And I always say, I love being blind. I can’t change it. You know, I love who I am. I’m not disabled, I’m blind.”
On training for his marathon so far he has had more than 100 helpers, his first volunteer was a woman from Virginia, USA and others include a Scottish woman on holiday in Thailand and a retired naval officer in Canada.
“I have actual volunteers who look through the glasses … as if they’re got my bird’s eye view,” he said.
They support him by pointing out bins or parked cars, as well as having “amazing conversations”.
Usually, he said, the volunteers get involved because a member of their family have sight loss.
“I get so much in in the space of – what, 10-15 minutes? – and just chatting away and running, and before you know it, I’ve run three miles,” he said.
Mr Reynolds previously ran the London Marathon with a guide and said “never again” because he could not train properly as it relied on another person being there throughout and encountered issues such as a difference in stride patterns.
Instead he is finding it much easier running with remote help, doing laps of 0.8 miles around his home.
“I’ve got my own pace now. There is no strain. I don’t have to … rely on some different stride pattern.
“You get lost in conversation, just we talk about anything from the sport to the weather, especially if they’re from a foreign place.
“It’s the conversation of different people and from around the world, which I really enjoy.”
On marathon day, Fight for Sight is lining up volunteers, including family, friends and potentially some “unexpected celebrities” to help guide Mr Reynolds to cross the finish line, which he is aiming to do within six hours.
The comedy fan hoped for TV presenter Victoria Coren Mitchell to be among them, who was unable to do so, but instead the Only Connect quiz show host has donated £250 to his fundraiser.
Overall his target, which started at £750, has now increased to a £2,000 target after big donations, also from Be My Eyes.
Eleanor Southwood, director of impact and external affairs for Fight for Sight, which funds research for vision loss, said: “Watching one of our ambassadors take on such an extraordinary challenge is phenomenal.
“As well as raising vital funds for our work, Clarke is raising awareness in a unique way by involving Be My Eyes volunteers along his route. We can’t wait to cheer him on!”
The Braille artist also works to raise awareness through his art in a “fun and playful way”.
He has had solo shows from America to India and has got an art installation coming up next year of a shop with everything in Braille from the brand to money and signage.
“It’s going to be my Tracey Emin moment,” he said.
“This is what I’ve worked so hard for. So you experience the shop through play and wear different glasses that simulate different sight loss conditions and you experience a daily thing I do every week.
“I go shopping every week and you imagine how hard it is when there’s no Braille on products.”
He added: “We as the blind community can offer so much to a sighted world, just given the opportunity, not just through running, but through jobs.”
He said he is still not taken seriously with his art and it is still seen “as a hobby” because of being blind, and “that needs to change.”
“I want to inspire the next generation of visually impaired children growing up that they’ve got a world that they can thrive in, it doesn’t matter if they can’t see it, they’re part of the fabric of society.”
