Novartis Launches Navigation App For Visually Impaired

Novartis launches navigation app for visually impaired on Apple Watch and Android Wear.

Novartis AG has unveiled new applications for smartphones with an aim to benefit those who are visually impaired. The company has designed the app so that navigation becomes easier for them. The device will cater to wearable devices for mobile which includes the tech behemoth Google Inc.’s Android Wear and Apple Inc.’s Apple Watch. The app is called “Via Opta Nav”. This app is said to be a modified version suited for wearable devices being part of the Via Opta Daily apps that can accessed on Apple iPhones since the previous August.

According to David Epstein, who leads the pharmaceutical division at Novartis Pharma mentioned during an interview to MobiHealthNews “Novartis is committed to providing innovative solutions which go beyond medicine, like these apps for the visually impaired which benefit their daily quality of life.”

The Via Opta Nav will allow the visuallt impaired individuals to navigate with ease at turns, intersections and landmarks. This will be done through vibration alerts and audio instructions. They will also get to know about their present location along with the ability to communicate it to their loved ones through the app. Apart from that, the application will acknowledge users about the changes in traffic lights through sound.

Mr. Epstein further added, “We are proud to contribute and play a role in making these simple and convenient tools like the ViaOpta Daily and ViaOpta Nav apps available around the world,” he added.

A spokesperson from Novartis acknowledged MobiHealthNews that the company’s previous initiative, Via Opta Daily that helps users in managing their daily activities is merely limited to smartphones since the application relies on smartphone cameras to navigate. The application is also equipped with “Scene Recognizer” and “Object Recognizer” abilities which primarily can be used to look for objects in the vicinity along with the sound when the camera is pointed at it.

This app can be downloaded from the app stores free of cost across the globe in several languages that includes German, Italian, English, Spanish, French, Hungarian, Arabic, Dutch, Portuguese and Japanese.

According to the data by App Annie, Novartis is currently offering 26 apps on the App Store which has doubled in number from previous August. At the same time, they have also discontinued several applications during this tenure. Moreover, the company is playing a fair share in developing new health-related apps for mobile devices.

Coming up with an app for visually impaired is a great idea and is likely to be well received by the community.