Captioning follow-up review for Deaf & HoH

Hiya folks. I've written a couple of reviews about the Even G1 and G2 and wanted to follow up now that Even Hub and Mentra support have been out for a bit.

I'm hard of hearing with hearing aids and use the glasses as an accessibility device. I've covered hardware - display, mics, and all that jazz, in a previous review so I'm just going to focus on the software side of things here. Specifically the phone apps available, captioning capabilities, and related app considerations for deaf/HoH.

**- Phone apps for the G2 -**

• Even, from Even Realities Android / iOS / Discord
• Mentra, from Mentra Labs Download page / Beta / Discord

Mentra is the only non-ER app that I know at this time that supports G2s. If anyone knows others, drop a link and I'll check it out.

My review of Mentra is based off the beta version, which can be joined by anyone. As far as I know there aren't significant differences between the beta and regular but call it out in the comments and I'll update the review with notes.

[ + ] for pros / [ - ] for cons

**- Apps overview -**

Both apps have a mini-app store, both are amazingly responsive on their discords. They each have developer channels on their discords, along with channels for discussion, support, and feedback.

Even:

• + Made by ER for the G2 glasses and R1 ring. The connectivity and usability is pretty stable and responsive.
• - Requires you to pair a device to explore the app.
• + Even uses Even Hub as their mini-app store. There's a good amount of variety on there and I have found a few mini-apps that I love.
• - It is not possible to run mini-apps at the same time as other mini-apps. That includes the built-in ones like Conversate for captioning. So I have to switch back and forth between Conversate for captions and anything in the Even Hub. Not a huge deal but it would be nice to have accessibility-related mini-apps like captions always ready.
• + Switching between mini-apps is pretty easy with the R1 ring.

Mentra:

• + Supports other models of glasses if you have multiples.
• ++ Has a screen-free option so you can explore the app before buying glasses.
• Mentra uses the MiniApp Store to install mini-apps. These apps seem to cover the same functionality as Even's built-in apps, but I haven't explored that much.
• +/- While there are dev-created apps outside of the Mentra team, they're not super accessible. I've downloaded a couple from the discord but it would be nice if I could see them all in the MiniApp Store so I could browse.
• The Mentra app is a bit more streamlined than Even. If you want just captions, the app can show just the mini-app for captions.
• + The discord has a channel specifically for deaf/HoH.
• Mentra has their own line of glasses which may take business priority as their product line grows. We may see captions-centric glasses in the future from Mentra. Right now they've been quick to support ER glasses and consistent with updates.

**- Caption mini-apps -**

Captions are great on both apps.

For both Even & Mentra:

• Internet speed affects accuracy.
• Captions are quick but not instant. I would say under 1 sec delay on average.
• Mini-apps need occasional, quick restarts.
• Not accurate enough to replace hearing aids, but very close.
• Caption servers are pretty stable nowadays. Both ER and Mentra respond quickly when captions go down and it's usually fixed within 12 hrs.

Even: ER's mini-app for captions is Conversate.

Captions accuracy: ~60-95%

• + Conversate is a built-in app. So it comes with the main app, no searching and download necessary. The captions are through a 'live transcription' setting.
• +/- Conversate is a big tool with multiple uses. It has settings for live transcription but also AI cues, it creates an AI summary, saves the transcript, allows you to upload prep notes, export the conversation or results, and save action items directly to a quick list for later. Whether this is a positive or negative depends on the person. It's kind of like a swiss army knife. If you just want captions it can feel like overkill. If you want transcription and like the idea of a mini ai-assistant, it's worth a try.
• - - The captions are not ephemeral - a transcript will ALWAYS save to the app. This restricts where I can wear the glasses. It also makes some people uncomfortable because their words are recorded and saved.
• - Likewise, there is no way to turn off AI summaries.
• - There is no easy way to delete multiple transcripts. If you are dependant on captions, that can mean individually deleting a dozen conversations by the end of the day.
• - No speaker recognition (diarization) in the captions. The after-conversation summary might be able to specify speakers depending on how names were used in the conversation.
• Even though there's no diarization, the lines break up speakers and pauses well. The captions read naturally and I don't struggle to differentiate between my own words and another speaker.
• + While Conversate is running, a clock is on the upper right hand corner. I love this feature.
• +/- Next to the clock is a small animation to show Conversate is running. This used to be larger and distracting but ER has listened to feedback and now it's smaller and less intrusive. I like it, but it's a personal preference.
• - Neither clock or animation can be toggled off.
• - Captions stay on the glasses as long as Conversate is running. That "goodbye" from an hour ago is infront of you until you turn the app off.

Mentra: Mentra's mini-app is called Captions.

Captions accuracy: ~70-95%

• Captions is a mini-app that needs to be installed from the MiniApp store. This is a pretty straightforward process.

• + Where Conversate is a swiss army knife, Captions is a sleek chef's knife. It does captions and it does it well. The mini-app settings are minimal, useful, and straightforward.

• - Integration with G2 and R1 commands like menus, scrolling, etc are not as tight as with the Even app. I might have to do the same action a few times before it works.

• ++ Ephemeral captions. This allows me to wear my glasses in more places and I don't have to worry about saved transcripts.

• +/- If you do want a saved transcription, there is a mini-app in the store called Mentra Notes.

• + You can run multiple mini-apps at once.

• If you want the full offerings of Conversate, Mentra has a few mini-apps that can run simultaneously to create that experience. I haven't played with this a lot but it's there.

• ++ Diarization! While the captions don't show names, there is diarization identifying speakers by numbers. This is very helpful in a group setting even when it's not 100% correct.

• + Line numbers and width settings.

• + Captions disappear from view after a reasonable pause.

• +/- A blank screen means I sometimes don't know the captions aren't running in the background. This is usually user error - I close the app and forget to restart it. Then I jump into a conversation and am without captions. Having a clock or even a small dot in a corner would be nice to tell me the app is active in the background.

• Some people say the positioning works better for their face. Personally I like Even's positioning tool a lot.

• ++ Offline captions are available in Mentra. As far as I know this is the ONLY offline option available for the G2. That said, they are rough. It's usually a block of text with ~50-70% accuracy. Still, knowing that a dead zone won't make communication impossible is the most incredible security I could ask for.

I hope this helps some as they consider glasses and apps. I'm still not sure I could give these glasses to someone without basic tech knowledge, but I can suggest them with confidence to anyone who can operate a smartphone.

To say this is life-changing for me is an understatement. The glasses don't replace hearing aids. They aren't quite yet a complete transcript for someone with total deafness. But they're very close. They boost my comprehension and fill gaps. I no longer feel unable to go to social events or restaurants. My family and friends say I don't ask people to repeat as often.

The dedication both ER and Mentra have shown towards captions and making life more accessible for those of us with hearing, auditory processing, or attention challenges is overwhelming. I've been following smart glasses for over a decade and to see it come so far in the last couple of years is truly incredible.