Artificial intelligence (AI) firm RealThing Ai has announced the UK launch of its latest fully voice assessable smartphone for people with sight loss.
The RealSAM Pocket V4 has been engineered to meet the daily frustrations visually impaired people face, such as accessing choices when shopping, being independently mobile and reading text in confidential situations.
New features include as Optical Character Recognition (OCR), Object Recognition and an enhanced Emergency On-call Assistant2 to make everyday tasks such as cooking and completing shopping easier.
Device users can now set a reminder detailing their shopping list, use guided navigation and receive reminders to avoid obstacles such as kerbs and low-hanging trees.
Meanwhile, the voice-activated Object Recognition and OCR features enable users to review items on the supermarket shelf, compare prices and select products with a preferred sell by date.
UK Country Manager for RealThing Ai, Louise Humphreys, said:
“The development for Pocket V4 began in April 2021, when we partnered with The Royal National Institute of Blind People to interview people living with sight loss in the UK who had not previously experienced RealSAM technology.
“Our objective was to understand people’s everyday frustrations and to turn these insights into a meaningful roadmap for product development. Our research uncovered the three consistent areas of concern for blind and partially sighted people.”
RNIB Digital Transformation Manager, Paul Porter, said:
“Speaking directly with blind and partially sighted people to find out their thoughts and frustrations with accessible smartphones was essential for this product development.
“We hope the updated features of the new phone will help to meet the needs of customers with sight loss.”
Age-related vision impairment is among the top contributors to later-life disability, affecting one in nine people over the age of 60.
Sight loss is increasingly common among in older people due to a rise in medical conditions such as diabetes and obesity.
RealThing Ai was founded in 2008 by a collective of AI researchers and developers with a background in defence, aviation and research.
RealSAM Pocket was launched in 2018 in partnership with the RNIB and O2.