Being deaf makes it difficult for a person to enjoy live theater, which is why it’s so great that a new piece of technology is allowing them to do just that!

The Royal National Theater in London has been handing out “smart caption glasses” to deaf audience members to allow them to enjoy the show just like everyone else. The incredible glasses use lighting, timing, and stages cues to display the scripted dialogue on the inside of the lenses. Even if an actor onstage skips a line, the glasses will be able to notice the change and show the correct lines.

The glasses have been tested out for months and have been a huge success, so the theater is planning to start offering them for all of their performances in 2019. The company that designed the glasses is hoping that more theaters will follow suit and start offering the glasses themselves.

“This new technology allows the deaf and hard of hearing to have complete access,” said Sarina Roffé, the former president of the National Cued Speech Association. “It’s really amazing how far we’ve advanced and how it has positively affected the quality of life for people who are deaf and hard of hearing.”

It really is amazing what technology can do these days, and we’re so glad that these glasses will help people who are deaf enjoy a live theater experience just as much as a hearing person. We can only hope that more theaters start offering these glasses to patrons in the years to come!