From the Smithsonian to Forbes "30 Under 30," Baltimore Company ReBokeh is Changing How Audiences See Art
Rebecca Rosenberg was born with oculocutaneous albinism, a genetic condition that diminishes eyesight. When she realized that existing assistive technology either tried to replace her vision—still her primary sense—or was cumbersome, she decided to invent her own. Now, the 26 year old graduate of Johns Hopkins Center for Bioengineering Innovation & Design (CBID) is using her own experience to help others with a variety of vision impairments in over one hundred countries as the founder and CEO of ReBokeh—work that just earned her a spot on the 2025 Forbes “30 Under 30 ” list in the Social Impact category.
Named for the Japanese art of defocusing light sources in photography, bokeh, the app enables each user to custom-tailor their smartphone’s existing camera in real time to accommodate their unique vision requirements. Imagine being able to Photoshop a live performance, enhancing the contrast to see details on a costume, or tweaking the hue of a painting that’s outside the spectrum of colors you can perceive.
But perhaps the most unexpected innovations Rosenberg is bringing to the assistive technology world are the company’s targeted collaborations with museums and other cultural institutions with funding for accessibility programs—licensing a premium version of the software to allow institutions’ visitors with vision impairments to experience artworks on their own terms, rather than through audio guides or other surrogate interpretations of visual art. We caught up with Rosenberg to discuss her story and strategy for bringing ReBokeh to the phones of art audiences everywhere.