Emmanuel Bard remembers the day he skipped lunch during a school field trip to a local miniature golf course. The San Jose teen, who was declared legally blind when he was 7 years old, was embarrassed that he couldn’t read the menu at the concession stand, so he just went hungry. Out of his hunger, an idea was born that may change his life—and the lives of many other visually impaired individuals—for the better.
On that day, Bard hatched the idea for EyeMenu, a smartphone app that will allow the vision-impaired to quickly “read” menus without having to ask a cashier or someone else in line for assistance.
The idea for the app earned him an Inspiring Youth Entrepreneur Award, and a chance encounter between Emmanuel’s mother and the founders of Ideator—an online platform designed to turn ideas into business plans—led to the current production of EyeMenu. They have already reached a fifth of their goal through GoFundMe but are still looking for help from the community.
Bard has been featured in the San Jose Tech Museum and in Silicon Valley De-Bug’s magazine. In an article for the Tech Museum, Bard’s mother, Emilie, says her son doesn’t think of his condition as entirely negative anymore.
“He now sees his disability as an asset,” she says. “If he weren’t legally blind and hearing impaired, he may not have come up with the idea to help others who have his condition.”
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