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.lumen tours Romania with a nationwide roadshow
- 2 days ago
- 3 min read
Cluj-Napoca, March 10, 2026 — .lumen, the Romanian deep-tech startup developing Glasses for the Blind, powered by Pedestrian Autonomous Driving AI, has launched a nationwide testing tour. The .lumen Roadshow will travel to every county capital across Romania, stopping in 50 cities, offering individual testing sessions for people who are blind or visually impaired.
The initiative began with stops in Bistrița, Baia Mare, Satu Mare, Oradea, Zalău, and Miercurea Ciuc in February and continues throughout March in Alba Iulia, Târgu Mureș, Sibiu, Bucharest, Constanța, Călărași, Slobozia, Giurgiu, Suceava, Botoșani, Piatra Neamț, Bacău, Iași, and Vaslui.
In April, the tour continues in Vrancea, Buzău, Galați, Brăila, followed by Cluj-Napoca (April 7–9), Timișoara and Arad (April 14–16), and Hunedoara, Deva, Reșița, Drobeta-Turnu Severin, and Târgu Jiu (April 20–24).
The final stages include Vâlcea, Craiova, Slatina, and Pitești, as well as Brașov, Ploiești, Târgoviște and Tulcea.
Each demo session is conducted individually and includes a technology introduction, two tutorials to understand the guidance system, indoor and outdoor guided walking, and a feedback session.
Early results from the Romanian Roadshow
During the first week of the tour, held across five cities, the team conducted over 90 individual testing sessions. The feedback collected so far highlights a clear demand for advanced mobility solutions that can scale and remain accessible.
“It was an incredible experience. I hadn’t walked outside on my own for almost 8-9 years. Being able to move independently without someone guiding me felt amazing,” said one of the participants.
“There are roughly 300 million people worldwide with severe visual impairments and only about 28,000 active guide dogs. The reality is simple: mobility is still a privilege,” said Cornel Amariei, Founder and CEO of .lumen.
“We built .lumen to scale that level of independence through technology. We do not want to replace the guide dog. We want to offer the same freedom of movement to anyone who needs it, without the limits of cost, availability, or infrastructure. The Roadshow is only the beginning. We want every blind person in Romania to have the chance to experience our technology. That is why we are going to 50 cities, across every county in the country.”
From Autonomous Driving to Pedestrian Mobility
.lumen technology translates the principles behind self-driving cars into a wearable device. The glasses use six cameras, sensors, and artificial intelligence algorithms to detect obstacles, identify safe surfaces, and guide the user through directional haptic feedback and audio cues.
Instead of describing the environment, the technology makes real-time decisions and guides the user safely through obstacles, replicating the functionality of a guide dog, without requiring extensive training or ongoing care. The device works fully offline, processing data locally without saving or transmitting images.
Distribution and Accessibility
The distribution model includes subsidy mechanisms through the Romanian Tech Assist program, which allows eligible users to obtain the device free of charge, as well as direct consumer sales.
In January, .lumen also announced a collaboration with Arrow Electronics. Through engineering expertise and supply chain support, Arrow helps .lumen transform a complex, high-performance wearable into a product that can be manufactured at scale, consistently and responsibly.
About .lumen
.lumen is a Romanian deep-tech startup developing Pedestrian Autonomous Driving (PAD AI), an innovation that brings the principles of autonomous driving to pedestrian mobility. Through its flagship product, .lumen Glasses for the Blind, the company enables independence and safer mobility for blind people by replicating the behaviour of a guide dog using artificial intelligence and haptic feedback. www.dotlumen.com
