Amid warehouse staffing shortages, AI-powered drones and Meta glasses help visually impaired workers get the job done

Bosma Enterprises, a leading warehousing employer in Indiana, is breaking new ground by utilizing AI-powered drones and Meta glasses to assist visually impaired workers at its warehouse facilities. The demand for warehouse jobs has surged due to e-commerce growth, with 392,000 positions open in June 2023, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Bosma Enterprises, a major employer of blind individuals in the state, has adopted innovative assistive technologies to enable visually impaired employees to work on the warehouse floor with confidence and accuracy.

The warehousing industry faces staffing shortages, primarily driven by high demand from e-commerce rather than labor availability. Bosma Enterprises has solved one challenge by implementing AI-based assistive technologies, such as Meta glasses and drones, to enable visually impaired employees to perform inventory counting tasks with minimal human error.

These technologies include drones that autonomously fly in the warehouse, capture photos of products, convert images into inventory data, and compare them against system records; Meta glasses that provide live AI views of the warehouse floor, helping employees identify obstacles and perform tasks with greater ease; and screen readers that convert text into speech for hands-free operation.

Eric Knight, a manufacturing manager at Bosma Enterprises who became visually impaired due to diabetic retinopathy, has embraced these technologies. He uses Meta glasses to read barcodes, SKUs, and documents, as well as to receive auditory guidance about his surroundings, preventing accidents and boosting his confidence. The glasses also allow him to verify inventory accuracy with remarkable speed, counting inventory in minutes instead of days.

Jeff Mittman, Bosma's CEO, emphasizes that the company's success stems from selecting assistive technologies that offer transferable skills applicable to any organization, not just those focused on blind workers. Mittman stresses the importance of dispelling misconceptions about visually impaired employees' capabilities and actively engaging potential employers to demonstrate the benefits of hiring and integrating visually impaired workers into warehouse roles.