Blind runner navigates Brighton Marathon using only smart glasses

April 13, 2026

At Sunday’s Brighton Marathon, the U.K.’s Clarke Reynolds, a blind runner with just five per cent vision, took on the 42.2K without using a physical guide. Instead, the 45-year-old relied on Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses, which have built-in speakers and a camera, and the Be My Eyes app, allowing remote volunteers to see his path in real-time and guide him.

Known professionally as Mr. Dot,Reynolds is a Braille artist and children’s author. He first lost vision in his right eye when he was six, and at 32 began noticing changes in his left. He was later diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa, an inherited condition that leads to progressive vision loss, and describes his current sight as “being underwater,” limited to shapes, shadows and some colour.

Reynolds completed the Brighton Marathon in just under six hours and 20 minutes, raising funds and awareness for Fight for Sight U.K. He had a backup guide runner nearby in case the technology failed.

Through live video and artificial intelligence, the Be My Eyes app connects blind or low-vision users with volunteers for everyday tasks, like identifying colours or finding a button on a TV remote. But Reynolds wanted to push the limits of what the technology was capable of.

During the race, one of the hundreds of pre-selected volunteers worldwide would take turns “seeing” through his glasses, offering real-time navigation. “They tell me if there’s a bin, a parked car or a person,” Reynolds said, per Fight for Sight. But the volunteers were also cheering him on. “Most of the time, we chat–and every half hour, I [had] a different person supporting me as I ran.” Canadian Running