Smartphone app for the visually impaired launched

An application equipped with Braille typing feature that promises to assist the visually-impaired in using all features of a smartphone was launched here Thursday on World Sight Day.

An application equipped with Braille typing feature that promises to assist the visually-impaired in using all features of a smartphone was launched here Thursday on World Sight Day.

SimplEye, a custom-designed application developed by Kriyate, a Delhi-based enterprise, is available for all android-based devices and was launched by Minister of State for Rural Development Upendra Kushwaha at the Jawaharlal Nehru University here.

It can be downloaded for free from Google play store.

'A user can navigate, take notes, listen to the news or even use a Braille keyboard to reply to messages as it removes all the clutter from the screen to present only one element at a time,' Sumit Dagar, founder of Kriyate said.

'A voice narrates which element is put on screen. The user can interact with this element using simple gestures. For example, swiping up/down scrolls through the elements in order. Swiping left takes the user one step back,' he explained.

Kriyate has already started working on future updates to the application that would include predictive typing, colour identification and location sharing, Dagar said.

Over 70 visually impaired students in JNU have started using the application, Ramesh C Gaur, university librarian told IANS adding that the app would also help in using library e-resources such as e-books, e-journals and e-newspaper.