Good practice:

Feelif smart devices for blind and visually impaired

Blind and visually impaired have limited access to the graphical digital content. They need specialized software and hardware, that would allow them to access pictures, maps, graphs, etc. Unfortunately, the hardware is rare and expensive to produce. Especially for elderly this technology is not practical; it offers too much information, providing bad user experience. This all contribute to bigger isolation of blind and visually impaired community in the society and maximising their dependency.
Our solution is revolutionary technology - Feelif, which enables users to feel pictures and shapes on a touch screen. It has a special relief grid, which with a combination of vibration, sound and speech ensures that the user knows exactly what is shown on the screen. Our software has allowed us to develop many applications, which has shown great potential in impacting the lives of blind individuals in ways not previously possible. It is portable, practical and not expensive and is offering blind and visually impaired elderly to engage more senses by playing Feelif games such as memory, chess and more. It allows them to be creative with an application Draw, and Camera. Moreover, we are working toward better inclusion of blind and visually impaired elderly into the society developing interactive applications, which can be used by many users of different age groups. Contributing to intergenerational socializing and exchange.
The beneficiaries are blind and visually impaired people.

Into the product 385.000 EUR was invested, mostly from grants, awards, and private investments.
Feelif team consists of 9 people, covering the fields of app and software development, sales, marketing, and administration. Moreover, our blind co-worker takes care of the testing and consulting.

In the study where our product were tested by a group of elderly blind and visually impaired users, age 60+ they all easily navigated through our software, which allows simplified calling and use of interactive games and creative applications.
Besides being awarded the Best Social Innovation in Europe in 2017 we most recently became the WSA Global Champion 2019 for the best digital content solution in the world.

One of the challenges continues to be the lack of funding and readiness for cooperation of the experts in the field of healthcare on a national level.

Blind and visually impaired have limited access to graphical information. We solved this problem by using vibrations and developing a specific application for smart devices. Our technology and the digital content we have developed are applicable globally. Since localization of our content is easy and is hardware independent.
Feelif technology is already translated into five languages, selling devices worldwide; we already have partners in Austria, Sweden and Turkey, working on expanding our distribution network. Feelif as well is entering public spaces since it is used in schools for blind and museums.