Qualcomm Partners With Project Ray to Develop Android Smartphone For The Blind

Technology is for humans and Qualcomm affirms that it's for a better life as it teams up with Israeli firm Project RAY to create what they named Ray, a multifunctional smartphone for the visually impaired and blind.

As part of its Wireless Reach initiative, Qualcomm will partner with Project RAY, which designs accessibility tools for blind and visually impaired people, to develop a mobile device that is synchronized with Israel's Central Library for the Blind, Visually Impaired and Handicapped audio books content. This collaboration sets a new standard in accessibility tools and ease of use for visually impaired people.

Today, a majority of blind and visually impaired people use simple 2G mobile phones for voice telephony only. In addition, they depend on an array of specialty devices, such as audio book-readers, colour readers, navigation tools, raised Braille labels, special bar-code scanners, and large-buttoned, voice-enabled MP3 players which are prohibitively expensive.

In an apparent solution to this, based on an off-the-shelf Android OS smartphone powered by Qualcomm's Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, the Project RAY device integrates the capabilities of smartphone technology and the capabilities of these multiple specialty devices into a single, cost-effective handset with 24/7 mobile broadband connectivity and a UI designed for eye-free interaction. A trial project is currently underway that is testing the new system with 100 participants throughout Israel.

"The breakthrough UI defines a new language for human-device interaction that is built ground-up for eye-free operation," said Boaz Zilberman, chief executive officer of Project RAY. "The user touches any position on the screen and that position becomes the starting point for selecting an audio-book, messaging or other activity. Navigation is enabled by a few simple finger movements in different directions. The phone's built-in vibration capabilities and voice prompts provide user feedback and the UI learns to adapt its behaviour based on users' preferences and usage patterns."

The UI supports many services including phone calls, text messaging with vocal read-out, navigation, object recognition, social network services, remote assistance, audio-book reading, and other leisure and entertainment offerings.

"Audio-books, magazines and periodicals are an important method for accessing information for blind and visually impaired people, but the current system requires renting items by mail, which is not timely. Subscribers can now use RAY devices to easily access and download audio assets from the library over an advanced mobile broadband network, rather than waiting to receive CD copies," said Amos Beer, chief executive officer of the Central Library for the Blind, Visually Impaired and Handicapped. "Our library is delighted to be working with Qualcomm and Project RAY to build a system enabling people with vision impairments to remotely access and download audio assets from the library. Also, the system is being designed specifically for Project RAY devices and specific user identities to ensure digital rights management protection for copyrighted material.

"We believe the Project RAY device will enhance the ability of blind and visually impaired people to access resources and information independently," said Don Rosenberg, executive vice president and general counsel for Qualcomm. "This project, which is part of our Wireless Reach initiative, demonstrates one of the many ways Qualcomm technology can improve people's lives and we are proud to support this important program," he said.

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