Lauren Lee | June 3, 2025 - Atlanta, GA
Welcome to a new series about the startups bringing innovative ideas to the disability tech space! CIDI & GA Tech do not endorse or recommend any specific company or product featured in this series. This series is for informational purposes only.
Navigating the world as a person who is blind or visually impaired (BVI) is difficult in the best circumstances. Traffic, obstacles, and losing track of where you are all make travel challenging, to say the least.
David Furukawa, blind founder of Hear2There (H2T), wants to change that.
“All of this started because I was hit by a car, and my guide dog saved my life,” says Furukawa.
Soon-to-be cofounder of H2T Chris Webb visited Furukawa in the hospital and started talking about potential solutions.
“I’ve tried just about every [navigation] solution out there, and some are pretty good. But none of them solved the biggest problem I was having: locating where I was in space. If I’m using a GPS, it will get me to a city block, but not the specific doorway. And when you’re inside, how do I know what’s in there? Where’s the elevator? Where’s the emergency stairwell?”
Many existing tools rely on human assistance, such as visual interpreters, or wearable hardware. H2T works indoors—where people need the most help understanding complex layouts like transit hubs, hospitals, or government buildings.
Instead of using GPS, which has limitations with the granular details necessary to navigate complex indoor environments, H2T utilizes Bluetooth enabled devices in a location to give detailed information audibly. This way, anyone who has the free app can use it wherever H2T is available.
For example, a BVI person entering a City Hall might hear, “You’re at the entrance of the City Hall. To your left is the reception desk, straight ahead are the elevators.”
“[H2T] is useful for airports, restaurants, menus, all kinds of venues,” says CEO Jacob George. “In a nutshell, I think about us as being the virtual signage company for the blind and visually impaired.”
“It’s part of the Smart City initiative, where you're connecting all these different access points communicating with each other,” continues Furukawa. “That’s going to improve everyone’s lives, not just the disabled.”
H2T has been installed in a huge variety of places already, such as hotels, universities, and municipal buildings. Additionally, it can be helpful for more than just those with vision impairments. For those who have Alzheimer’s, for instance, having audible reminders of where things are can be incredibly helpful.
The future goals of this team incorporate the tenets of Universal Design. “Long-term, we'd like to make such an impact out there that all businesses, when they start building a new site, building a new business or even renovating, want to be accessible,” says Webb. “They don't even think twice about it.”
“I want this kind of technology to be mainstream,” says CIDI Interim Executive Director Dr. Zerrin Ondin-Fraser. “It is essential that when we plan new buildings, major events like the Olympics, or even new bus lines, this accessibility technology is built right in."
"When organizations leverage it, they effortlessly create a more inclusive world.”
Want to learn more about the H2T team?
