28 October,2022 10:25 AM IST | Mumbai | Shriram Iyengar
Differently-abled individuals use technology with distinct ways and gestures
Scientist and philosopher Carl Sagan put it succinctly when he said, "We are capable of using our compassion and our intelligence, our technology and our wealth, to make an abundant and meaningful life for every inhabitant of this planet." With the Louie Voice Control app, Pramit Bhargava is walking on Sagan's path. Since 2020, the application has sought to enable users to access mobile phone functionalities using only voice commands.
Named after Louis Braille - the inventor of the Braille language - the Louie voice app works on phones with an operating system of Android seven and above. It remains the rare Indian voice app with such features. Through commands, users can make phone calls, message over text and WhatsApp, access YouTube, email and Facebook efficiently.
Pramit Bhargava
Bhargava's company is currently working to add linguistic diversity with 20 major languages to be added by 2023. "We are about to release Hindi, Bengali and Spanish versions. What we have also developed is a combination of Hindi and English. Any combination of two languages - Hindi and English - would work too," he notes.
An IIT-BHU (Varanasi) and IIM-Bangalore alumni, Bhargava's flying corporate career hit a major roadblock when he suffered visual impairment in the late 1990s, till he completely lost sight 12 years ago. "My confidence took a complete hit," he reveals. To regain his independence, he turned to technology for help.
Learning to work with screen-reader apps was not easy, the Gurugram-based entrepreneur admits. But they helped him restart a career as a consultant. It was during a meeting for a start-up that the idea for an app that helps visually impaired people was sparked. "It imprinted upon me the idea that technology for any differently abled person should simplify the task," he explains.
"No sighted person can help differently-abled individuals understand technology, since they perceive and use it differently. So, how does a differently-abled person learn?" Bhargava asks. The solution was to turn to the most natural and form of communication - voice commands.
A regular user of Google Assistant, Siri and Alexa, Bhargava admits that the current apps are effective but lack specificity. "The idea was to close my eyes and imagine a friend helping me out. To imagine what they would say, how they would act or help me make selections. Louie enables a continuous, two-way interaction, end to end," Bhargava emphasises.
The app also shaped Bhargava's perspective of differently-abled people, he admits. Once a sighted person, he was looking at things from the outside in. "There is a lack of awareness about people's abilities. One has to bring in consciousness that there is technology to enable differently-abled users to do things on their own," he shares.
The founder adds that he often is surprised by the feedback he receives. From the elderly who struggle with clicking apps to the physically challenged, the users extend far beyond the visually-challenged demographic Bhargava had initially targeted. But more needs to be done, he maintains. "There is a need for the government and society to come together on this, since the number of differently-abled people is quite large and capable of contributing to society," he concludes.
Richi Rungta, a Masters student at Tata institute of Social Sciences (TISS, Mumbai), understands the challenges faced by Bhargava better. As a visually-challenged student, Rungta depends on the use of talk-back apps and Google Assistant for digital accessibility. Having used Louie, he tells us, "I found it unique. It was quite like Google Assistant, only better." Rungta was left impressed by the app's ability to perceive commands and interact with the user. "I did not have to touch my screen or make any gestures for making calls or text messages or searches.
On occassions when it did not decipher my voice command, it would ask again," he says, adding that the app recognised his texting style of Hinglish in WhatsApp and adapted accordingly. This is not to say the app is without flaws. Rungta points out that as a new application, it is still in the process of evolution. "The only hurdle was that the voice command often opens the app at the search bar, rather than the home screen. If you wish to scroll through the screen, you have to turn the voice app off," Rungta advised, adding that these issues can be sorted out over time. "One has to give the app some time. If they improve on some features, it might just be among the best options around," he remarks.
Log on to: Louie Voice Control app on Google Playstore, or Louievoice.com
