She has been searching for a new way to learn her lines ever since her sight began to deteriorate nearly 15 years ago, even hiring an assistant to read scripts to her.
But now The Mail on Sunday can reveal Dame Judi Dench is able to study her scripts by herself – and possibly prolong her stellar career – thanks to high-tech spectacles featuring artificial intelligence.
Dame Judi – who has age-related macular degeneration – now sports a pair of £300 RayBan Meta glasses after being told of the new technology by the vision loss charity Sight for Surrey, of which she is the patron.
The glasses feature a camera which can read the words on a script and convert the text to speech. The glasses then discreetly play an audio feed which can only be heard by her.
The technology could even enable the 91-year-old – who played M in multiple Bond films – to continue working, without the need for an assistant.
A source said: ‘Dame Judi has been working with the charity for a while. They are brilliant and have been working on state-of-the-art equipment to help people struggling with their sight.
‘That’s how she learned of the glasses… [they] are the perfect tool for Dame Judi. She clearly doesn’t want to give up work, and because of these glasses she doesn’t have to.’
Dame Judi has been battling reduced vision since 2012. She speaks of her condition regularly and has become an advocate for the blind and visually impaired.
Dame Judi Dench is able to study her scripts by herself thanks to high-tech spectacles featuring artificial intelligence
Dame Judi now sports a pair of £300 RayBan Meta glasses of the type pictured here
Last year she told how her failing vision was becoming increasingly problematic while working, explaining: ‘I can’t see on a film set any more. And I can’t see to read. But you just deal with it.’
She also revealed she no longer attends events alone, admitting: ‘Somebody will always be with me. I have to now because I can’t see and I will walk into something.’
The actress, who won an Oscar for her portrayal of Elizabeth I in Shakespeare in Love and earned an astonishing 27 Bafta award nominations, has substantially reduced her workload in recent years.
However, she is currently working on an adaptation of Enid Blyton’s fantasy novel The Magic Faraway Tree.
