Glide April Updates: First Unit Fully Assembled!

This week marks a significant milestone in Glide's story, and we’re excited to share it with our community.

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Back in 2023, our earliest conceptual prototype of Glide was the equivalent of an RC car taped to a broomstick (Hey, it did prove the concept!!).

As of late Tuesday night, our first fully assembled Glide came off the line at our manufacturing partner - the result of years of work.

There’s still quite a bit of testing and validation to do with these first manufactured units, but this means our plans are on track. It's a huge leap in our journey, and you can bet our team is celebrating!

As we outlined in our March newsletter, we're taking a phased approach to rollout, and it all starts with this manufacturing validation build. The team is beginning with circuit board validation and testing to confirm everything works on the electrical front, which will be followed by software validation to ensure everything runs smoothly on these manufactured devices.

From there, we’ll move into small batch productions of assembled devices — essentially another dry run that lets our mechanical, electrical, and software engineers ensure everything fits together, and make adjustments before we build at higher volumes. We’ll also focus on honing the manufacturing process itself — as every optimization now pays off many times over once we're building at scale.

A bit of fun on the side: We've also started exploring accessories! Ideas have been bubbling up for a while in Glider feedback conversations and team brainstorms — things like white cane mounting clips, and ways to personalize or customize your Glide. We're starting to evaluate which of these would genuinely make your day more efficient, safe, or convenient. More to share on this in the months ahead!

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Updates on Pioneer Testing & Developing the "Glide Technique"

Earlier this month, six Founding Gliders came to our offices for a round of usability testing focused on two things: the unboxing and onboarding experience, and how Glide communicates during tricky scenarios — specifically, narrow pathways and overhead obstacles.

For the onboarding portion, Gliders followed instructions on their phone to learn the physical shape and components of Glide, then simulated first-time use. Their feedback was invaluable, and is directly shaping how customers will learn to use Glide on their own when devices arrive.

We also built an indoor obstacle course to test how Glide communicates through tight spaces and around overhead obstacles. The feedback was overwhelmingly positive — particularly around moments like Glide stopping and announcing an overhead obstacle, or beeping while moving through a narrow passage so the Glider can proceed single file with confidence.

Outdoor testing continued the same week, with Gliders helping us refine road crossings and develop troubleshooting techniques out in the real world.

Meanwhile, the Glide technique itself keeps expanding — from unboxing, to crossing streets, to boarding escalators. Ellie and the team are deep in the process of refining a step-by-step accessible user's guide to support both onboarding and long-term success with Glide.

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Glide Fleet Insights: How Will Glide Keep Getting Better?

One of the things that makes Glide different from many assistive technologies is that it doesn't ship and stay the same. Glide is a connected product, designed to keep learning and improving from real-world use.

This month on our Glider’s call, Shane — who leads our cloud and fleet infrastructure work — gave the community a window into what this actually looks like behind the scenes.

The “fleet management tools” he is building help us understand what's happening across all Glide devices in the field. For example: Are they online? Healthy? Running the right software? Are there issues we should address to before they affect a Glider's day? This visibility matters because Glide isn't just another piece of technology — it's something you'll depend on daily, and so support and reliability are everything.

These tools will also reshape what support feels like. When you contact us regarding your Glide, our team can start from a much better place: your device's status, software version, connectivity, and update history are already in front of them. That means less explaining, faster troubleshooting, and support that's actually informed about your situation.

And then there's the bigger picture. As a small team, we can test a lot — but we'll never fully recreate every sidewalk, every airport, every crosswalk, every weather condition, every daily routine. Once Glide is out in the world, you - our community - helps us understand the product in ways lab testing alone never could. Over-the-air updates let us respond: refining behavior, improving reliability, fixing issues, and making Glide safer and smoother over time.

In short, Glide will continue to get better as the community uses it, and these fleet tools are how that loop closes!

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A New Face on the Team 👋

Last but not least, we're excited to welcome Yong Il Kwon, who joined us this month to lead Quality Assurance. Yong comes to us from a leadership role at National Instruments and is already working closely with Lorien on product, Ellie on the Glide technique, and our engineering team on the software side.

As we develop new features and encounter new challenges, Yong will be in the lab and out in the field making sure Glide remains consistent and reliable!

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