CENTENNIAL, CO / ACCESS Newswire / October 14, 2026 / When twin sisters Irina Crocker and Silvia Stelea were 19, they were told that the genetic condition they were born with would eventually cause them to go blind.
But Crocker and Stelea never let that diagnosis define them.
Today, they are motivational speakers, members of the Romanian Paralympics Archery Team and the subjects of a new film exploring the future of blind mobility. Produced by BBC StoryWorks for Arrow Electronics, the film follows the sisters as they learn to navigate the world with more freedom, thanks to a new wearable intelligent device developed by Arrow customer .lumen.
Available as a durable, weatherproof headset, .lumen's "glasses" rely on the same type of technology that powers autonomous cars. Using a combination of machine learning, cameras, and haptic sensors that stimulate the sense of touch, the device scans the environment, identifies safe paths and guides users through directional vibrations felt on the forehead.
"Wearing the glasses felt like I'm pioneering something that you could only see in the movies, and it was a privilege to be one of the testers," said Stelea.
Stelea and Crocker are among 1,200 blind individuals in 40 countries who have tested the glasses. Currently available through a public assistive program in Romania, .lumen is also launching the product more widely in Europe and has plans to expand internationally.
Arrow is helping the startup scale by identifying, sourcing, and integrating the lengthy list of processors, cameras, sensors, and connectors the device requires.
"With the support of Arrow, they helped us on the prototyping side and they helped us on the manufacturing side," said .lumen's CEO and Founder Cornel Amariei.
The film featuring Crocker and Stelea is part of All In, an original content series launched last month and presented by The Valuable 500, a business collective working to end disability exclusion.
"Seeing how technology makes life better for people with physical limitations - and helps create new opportunities - is what drives our Five Years Out brand," said Joe Verrengia, Arrow's global director of marketing, brand and storytelling. "Our purpose is to guide innovation forward."
Arrow is a pioneer in using semi-autonomous to improve mobility for the disabled. The company developed a series of semi-autonomous (SAM) cars that a quadriplegic race car driver controls with the help of an AI model and electronics developed by Arrow engineers. .lumen's proprietary glasses extend the SAM concept beyond paralysis to people with visual impairment, representing the most advance assistive technology worldwide for the blind.
About .lumen
.lumen builds Physical AI for Mobility, from Glasses for the Blind to Humanoid Delivery Robots. The first application of this technology is the .lumen Glasses for the Blind, which bring the principles of autonomous driving to pedestrian mobility. The device uses artificial intelligence and haptic guidance to reproduce the main functions of a guide dog in a scalable wearable system.
About Arrow Electronics
Arrow Electronics (NYSE:ARW) sources and engineers technology solutions for thousands of leading manufacturers and service providers. With 2025 sales of $31 billion, Arrow's portfolio enables technology across major industries and markets. Learn more at arrow.com.
About All In
All In is an original content series presented by The Valuable 500 and produced by BBC StoryWorks. The series brings together stories from across industries, including health, technology, arts and culture, and consumer goods, to explore more inclusive innovation, accessibility by design and productive partnerships in business. The series is hosted at www.allinthevaluable500.com and distributed across BBC.com and BBC StoryWorks' social platforms.
Find more stories and multimedia from Arrow Electronics at 3blmedia.com.
Contact Info:
Spokesperson: Arrow Electronics
Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/arrow-electronics
Email: info@3blmedia.com
SOURCE: Arrow Electronics
View the original press release on ACCESS Newswire:
https://www.accessnewswire.com/newsroom/en/electronics-and-engineering/arrow-electronics-commissions-new-film-exploring-the-future-of-blind-mo-1236909
