Allison interviews Bertrand Descours from Lili about two of their products, the Lili Lamp and the Lili Display, which help people with dyslexia read more easily.
Both products utilize a flickering light source to reduce the effects of dyslexia. Most people have one dominant eye that helps readers track where they are on the page. But dyslexics have two dominant eyes that compete with each other which complicates vision and reading. The flicker interrupts the visual perception of two dominant eyes which makes reading more fluid and improves comprehension.
Since dyslexia varies from person to person, the flicker rate is adjustable by the user, allowing them to optimize their ease of reading.
The Lili Lamp is a battery-powered LED lamp and is currently available for purchase. It uses flickering light reflected off of the reading material to achieve its function. Adjustment of the flicker rate is done through a connected app on a mobile device. The lamp is foldable to a compact size so it’s very portable. The Lili Lamp comes with a carrying case and can operate for up to 7 hours on a single charge.
The Lili Display uses a similar technique, but the flicker is built into the monitor’s backlight. In this case, the flickering light source is emissive, so reading is done directly from the display. The flicker rate is adjusted by the user with display driver software. The Lili Display is expected to be released in the first half of 2025.
Learn more a https://liliforlife.com
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Transcript of Interview:
Allison: There’s a large group of people gathered around a dyslexic screen and I’m here with Bertrand Descors from the dyslexic screen and I’m just curious – what is this?
Bertrand Descours: It’s a specific screen that is being developed to help people with dyslexia. I don’t know if you have the figure in mind but dyslexia represent nearly 10% of the population in the world and so people with dyslexia has this reading difficulty and they use usually monitors and computers and so here it’s the first screen that uses a specific technology to help them.
Allison: Alright well I’ve definitely been familiar with it I did not know the statistic was that high so how does this work?
Bertrand Descours: So we know that people with dyslexia have usually visual stress and visual difficulties and so this produces
Bertrand Descours: strobing effect, a flickering effect, can be a bit disturbing for some people but
Bertrand Descours: for dyslexic people they will adjust it to the good position and the frequency
Bertrand Descours: they will find will be the comfortable point for them.
Allison: So you’re purposely making it flicker but flicker at a frequency for the individual?
Bertrand Descours: Yes yes we have changed the hardware of the product it’s not the software it’s
Bertrand Descours: really the hardware of the screen that has been changed and so we manage the
Bertrand Descours: frequency of the backlight of the screen to really manage to find the comfort of
Bertrand Descours: reading for people with dyslexia.
Allison: I notice you’ve got a small remote controlyou said you’re using this for the show? He’s got a little dial in his hand how would you normally control the flickering if you were the user?
Bertrand Descours: So if you have this screen at home or at your office you will have to launch a file and so it will… Like a driver? A driver yes, particular driver and it will help setting with your mouse the frequency so you will see the screen and just with your hand just as I do it for the show here with the remote controller you will adapt it and just tell you wow here it’s working now.
Allison: That’s fascinating so is it cross-platform for Linux, Windows and Mac?
Bertrand Descours: Yes yes yes yes all the platforms are working on it. Yeah it’s all in the hardware really? Yeah yeah absolutely
Allison: Can you show us it flickering what it what this looks like?
Bertrand Descours: Yes ofcourse. So you have it here I have put on the screen and the monitor the lowest possible frequency it’s 60 Hertz so it’s visible and for many people can be a bit disturbing and even for dyslexic people so the goal will be to improve the frequency with the mouse and then find the good the good position yeah.
Allison: Now what’s the science behind why that’shelping people?
Bertrand Descours: We have worked with two scientists in France and they have founda new cause of dyslexia and this cause is the non-dominance of your eyes so when you are dyslexic your both eyes are seeing at the same speed so the speed of your eyes is absolutely the same so the visual perception is troubled because two messages are arriving at the same time.
Allison: So you’re supposed to be slightly off between your two eyes? It’s supposed to be. Typical would be the two signals are a little bit separate?
Bertrand Descours: For readers a quicker eye it’s a question of two milliseconds it’s very quick.
Allison: One eye is quicker than the other? Yes. But if you’re dyslexic if you’re if you’re atypical in that you would have them at the same time?
Bertrand Descours: That’s it and this flickering effect is recreating for the brain this delay. Absolutely you know the strobing in the discos you see it’s giving a view that you have the impression it’s sequencing the things that’s the way it’s working for your brain here.
Allison: That’s fascinating. So when will this be available?
Bertrand Descours: It’s in the first semester of the year of 2025.
Allison: What’s the name of the company?
Bertrand Descours: Lili for Life.
Allison: Can you spell that?
Bertrand Descours: L-I for life so the light for life. I got it.
Allison: Do you have a price point on it yet?
Bertrand Descours: It’s not launched for the moment it will be I think two times the price of a normal screen.
Allison: Okay that’s still not bad because screens aren’t that expensive anymore.
Bertrand Descours: Yeah yeah you’re right.
Allison: All right thank you very much Bertrand this is fascinating. Thank you for coming thank you. But wait there’s a little bit more I noticed a lamp on the table and I made Bertrand come back up and show us this is the Lili lamp correct?
Bertrand Descours: Yes it’s the first product we have developed with the Lili technology. It uses the same flickering effect but this time on a lamp an LED lamp.
Allison: So this would be reflective instead of emissive out of the screen.
Bertrand Descours: Yeah absolutely you’re right absolutely Alison and it works with the smartphone this time so you use it by setting the good frequency on the smartphone and then just as for the screen you set the good one.
Allison: So he’s dragging a couple of dials around to change the frequency and this is already available.
Bertrand Descours: Yes it’s available we have a website yes. How much is the Lili for life?
Allison: And how much is the Lili lamp?
Bertrand Descours: 300.
Allison: Okay 300 yeah very cool all right I’m glad we snuck that in.
Bertrand Descours: Thank you.