New Mexico-based augmented reality developers take home MIT award

A team of New Mexican developers placed first at an annual Massachusetts Institute of Technology competition in January for their augmented reality mobility aid for older or injured adults.

The program works through smartphone sensors and Snap Spectacles — a pair of glasses that project images on the lenses. The program visually warns users when they attempt a risky maneuver or posture that could cause injury.

It also helps users adjust the height of walkers and canes, which more than half of older Americans use incorrectly, according to a study published in Geriatrics and Gerontology International.

Team Yeigo — made up of Akilah Martinez, Faith “Aya” Umoh, Sade Korbieh, Lauren Cason and Sam Jones — bested more than 400 other entrants in the 2025 edition of MIT Reality Hack. Cason, Jones and Martinez are all based in New Mexico.

Yeigo means “keep going” in Diné bizaad, Martinez’s native language. The technology was made with Indigenous and rural communities in mind, Martinez said, people who are often farthest from medical resources.

“In our perfect world, we would all go see a physical therapist to get fit. And the reality, especially if you’re in a rural community, is that your physical therapy appointment would be a two-hour drive away,” said Cason, a nursing student and co-founder of Refract Studios, a creative technologies group in Santa Fe.

The program is available in both English and Diné.

Cason and Martinez met at a previous MIT competition and formed Team Yeigo to create “technology that helps people help themselves,” Martinez said. The group also hopes to “put New Mexico on the map” within the augmented reality space, Martinez added.

Both Cason and Martinez helped ailing grandparents adjust to using walkers and canes, witnessing firsthand the discomfort caused by a maladjusted mobility aid, which spurred their work.

Contrary to popular belief, Cason said, older people are willing to adapt to new technologies and are sometimes the first to do so.

“We all wear AirPods now, but older folks adopted hearing aids (first) because it truly improves their lives,” Cason said. “They’ve shown they were willing to be one of the first adopters of a wearable technology.”

But the technology isn’t exclusively for older adults. Carson said a wide variety of people could use the technology, from athletes recovering from sports injuries to people at desk jobs looking to improve their posture.

Team Yeigo is “exploring opportunities” to bring this new tech to market, Cason said. There’s not yet a date on when it’ll be officially released to the public.