As a country, Estonia has a digital vision, aiming to be a personalised e-state that pairs advanced AI and ease of use. Now its young innovators are working to give a different sense of vision to people across the world.
Estonian startup 7Sense, founded by Johannes Väänänen and Raido Kislov, has caught the interest of Deutsche Telekom and Nvidia with its technology that translates digital information into tactile signals. This could significantly improve the lives of visually impaired people.
7Sense’s main product is a proprietary haptic “material” created after years of intensive R&D and prototyping. “This technology can translate digital information into a nuanced tactical output in real time – for example, display a camera image, as our first product SuperBrain 1 does,” explains 7Sense’s Sales and Marketing Director Madis Päev.
SuperBrain 1 is a head-mounted device for people with severe visual impairments. It allows the user to perceive the surrounding environment through the senses. Simply put, the user regains the ability to “see” the surrounding objects, movement, speed, and distance. The 7Sense product is unique because it is a self-contained, hands-free solution that does not use sound.
“Our market is actually the whole of Europe because aids for the blind are a niche market. However, despite its size, it is quite fragmented, and every country does things in its own way. Therefore, we have had to choose target countries to focus on,” Päev explains. The main targets are Spain, England, Germany, and neighbouring Finland.

Global competition in this area is strong, but 7Sense is currently the only company that can offer a working telehaptic solution. “There is no such technology on the market yet. Telehaptics has been studied a lot in universities, and various projects have been carried out, but at the moment, only we offer a solution that actually works,” says Päev.
Introducing the first-generation device to the market is just the beginning. Although the current device is functional, its size may not suit children or people with other physical disabilities. The company plans to develop smaller and lighter devices suitable for mass production.
7Sense works closely with local companies such as Balti Trafo and Incap, but the biggest attention has come from Deutsche Telekom and Nvidia. “Both companies have said they haven’t seen anything this exciting in years. This recognition is very important for us,” says Päev. The support of large partners gives 7Sense credibility and makes it easier to enter the market.
In addition to that, the company has received state support from Enterprise Estonia and has been actively cooperating with its German export adviser in product development and in seeking international attention.
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