Editor’s Note: At Google, we’re interested in exploring how technology can help improve people’s daily lives and experiences. It has been a rare honor to work with Fatmir Seremeti, a paralympic goalball athlete who spreads awareness on what it is like being visually impaired. We created a new version of Project Guideline, an early-stage research project leveraging on-device machine learning, to enable Fatmir to independently run a crowded half marathon – using a phone and headphones to follow a sighted guide in front of him. Below, Fatmir shares why he collaborated with us on this research project, and what the journey has been like for him.
Last week, I tested Project Guideline’s technology as I ran – and completed – the Stockholm Half Marathon.
As a teenager, a severe eye disease drastically changed my life. It transformed my path from a young boy in Rosengård, Malmö, into an elite athlete in the sport of goalball, designed specifically for athletes with a vision impairment. Despite the challenges, I’ve always sought out new possibilities, from reaching the world elite in goalball to inspiring others through lectures, books, and my presence on social media.
In my everyday life, I navigate with the help of my incredible guide dog Comet and a network of supportive people. I vividly remember the feeling of receiving a guide dog for the first time. It felt almost like regaining my vision. Having Comet or a trusted person to hold on to as I live my life has become second nature to me at this point.
When Google approached me about testing their new machine learning technology for running independently, and free of physical contact, I was immediately on board. We set a course for the Stockholm Half Marathon and began looking at ways to make this dream a reality.
The concept is easy. I would wear a phone on a harness across my chest. The phone’s camera would then look for a physical guide a few meters in front of me and provide audio signals depending on my position relative to the lead runner. Whenever I would veer too far to either side, I would hear a sound get louder, guiding me back to my original position. When testing the technology with the team from Google outdoors in Stockholm, it didn’t take long until we could run kilometers at a time. It was the first time in a very long time that I had been able to run without being physically tied to either my dog or a guide. Now, it became a matter of trying to run even faster.