JORDY glasses look like a visor, but they do much more than keep the sun out of one’s eyes.

The glasses are being used by ISU students who need assistance seeing what professors are writing on the chalkboard. Iowa State has only a single pair of the glasses, however, and is the only location in the state to carry them. After a year of operation, employees at Iowa State’s Assistive Technology Lab, which opened in 2004, said the lab has successfully helped students, and could carry more equipment if demand increases.

“The student is now able to take notes and participate in class as well as a student without disabilities,” said Alan Vetter, system analyst for Academic Information Technologies.

The glasses can help people with mascular degeneration, retinal diseases or anyone who needs things magnified. JORDY glasses can magnify images up to 30 times using tiny cameras to project an image onto people’s eyes.

Most of the time Iowa Vocational Rehabilitation is able to pay for the technology, said Corinne Holtz, lab coordinator.

The lab works in a partnership with the program to help people with disabilities get back to work.

The lab re-opened its doors in January after being closed as a result of funding problems.

It is funded by a grant through Iowa Vocational Rehabilitation Services. The lab helps both the Iowa State community and the state of Iowa.

The glasses’ name was inspired by LeVar Burton’s visored “Star Trek” character Geordi, according to the ISU Web site. The glasses resemble Geordi’s visor.

The technology includes tools that turn paper copies into Braille, magnify book pages onto computer screens and that serve as alternatives for computer mice.

Iowa Vocational Rehabilitation Services refers people with disabilities to the lab, which then finds the correct technology to accommodate the disability.

The lab is a resource for people who do not know what kinds of technology are available to help them said Janea Triplett, graduate assistant at the lab.

“It is very rewarding to meet with people, discover barriers to their daily living, and help them overcome them,” Triplett said.

“They are kind of like visual reality glasses,” Holtz said.

Holtz has also had a disability of her own to overcome. At age 30, she suffered a stroke that put her in a wheelchair. Doctors told her that she would never walk or go back to work again.

After three years of rehabilitation, Holtz is back to work, but has not regained the use of her left hand.