Alexander Du, a 17-year-old student from Sewickley, Pennsylvania, has been named a 2026 Presidential AI Challenge National Champion for inventing IRIS, an AI-powered wearable designed to help blind and visually impaired people navigate their surroundings.
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people → name → surroundings
The teen built the $170 system after watching his grandmother struggle to navigate the world differently after losing her sight.
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grandmother → build → sight
The lightweight, discreet glasses he developed act as a virtual guide dog, helping users detect obstacles and navigate around them using physical vibrations.
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users → develop → vibrations
An invention born out of pure necessity
Alexander Du never planned to become an inventor.
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Du → bear → necessity
But then he saw his grandmother struggle after losing her sight.
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grandmother → see → sight
He saw the toll of blindness firsthand.
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He → see → blindness
She held his arm tightly as they crossed streets.
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they → hold → streets
He became her guide, narrating curbs, sidewalk cracks, everything she could no longer see.
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she → become → curbs
“It can be detrimental to people’s lives,” Du told Trib Live.
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Du → tell → Live
“That inspired me.
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That → inspire → me
At home, I got more into it.
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I → get → it
I thought, ‘What if there’s a way to give my grandmother her independence back?’”
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I → think → independence
Du realised that all the help his grandmother got from the family was still inefficient.
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grandmother → realise → family
He wanted her to have her independence.
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her → want → independence
There were other technologies, such as smart glasses, but they were still expensive.
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they → be → glasses
So he decided to build one called IRIS (Intelligent Responsive Imaging System), a pair of lightweight glasses that cost $170 and work like a virtual guide dog.
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that → decide → dog
The device maps its surroundings in real-time 3D, guides users around obstacles through vibration feedback, and operates completely offline.
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device → map → feedback
How IRIS sees what others can't
The glasses Du built use AI to create a three-dimensional map of the environment.
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Du → see → environment
They are constantly processing what is ahead and around the wearer.
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what → process → wearer
When an obstacle appears, the glasses don't just alert the user; they steer them through vibrations.
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they → appear → vibrations
The results speak for themselves.
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results → speak → themselves
The system reduces collision accidents by 80% compared with a traditional white cane.
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system → reduce → cane
This system comes paired with a mobile app that handles the navigation.
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that → pair → navigation
GPS guides users between destinations.
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GPS → guide → destinations
There is a built-in AI assistant that transcribes text and describes scenes on voice command.
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that → be → command
Everything runs on the device; there is no need for it to be connected to the cloud or internet.
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it → run → cloud
And for someone navigating the world independently, these simple things really matter.
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things → navigate → world
The price point of the glasses also matters.
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point → matter → glasses
Commercial alternatives cost upwards of $6,000 and are out of reach for many visually impaired people worldwide.
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alternatives → cost → people
Du has built something powerful for a fraction of that cost.
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Du → build → cost
He spent late nights teaching himself AI and building IRIS from scratch.
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He → spend → scratch
Over those months, he cold-emailed professors at the University of Pittsburgh.
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he → email → Pittsburgh
That was when they granted him access to loaner lab space.
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they → grant → space
He failed multiple times before finding success.
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He → fail → success
Unfortunately, Du’s grandmother passed away before he completed his work on IRIS.
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he → pass → IRIS
But he is committed to making the system accessible to millions of others.
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system → commit → others
“In developing IRIS, I learned that when the path doesn’t exist you make it yourself — one paper, one cold email, one failed solder joint at a time.
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you → develop → time
Meanwhile, Du’s efforts also grabbed the attention of First Lady Melania Trump.
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efforts → grab → Trump
The teen was recognised at the White House during the Presidential AI Challenge awards ceremony, an event that honoured young Americans using AI to develop technology.
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that → recognise → technology
I’m still trying to process it.
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I → try → it
…and 2 more, not listed.
The Aporia
