CSR: Samsung Launches ‘Good Vibes’ – An App For DeafBlind

Life for people with disability is not easy. It becomes very difficult for an individual who is deaf as well as blind to be able to express themselves. Especially to someone who is not acquainted with sign language. It is unfair to children with such disabilities because they do not get the opportunities every other child without disability gets or deserves.

Taking a step to address their woes Samsung has developed a made in India app called ‘Good Vibes’. The app enables the deafblind to have two-way communication with their caregivers and loved ones using their smartphones. It can run on any Android device, uses Morse code to convert vibrations into text or voice and vice-versa.

The app has two different user interfaces (UI). One has an invisible UI for the disabled, which uses vibrations, taps and gestures, while the other has a visible UI – a standard chat interface – for the caregiver. With the deafblind interface, a person uses a combination of dots and dashes to send their messages. The standard interface allows users to type or use voice to send messages to the person with a disability. The text or voice is received as vibrations in Morse code that the deafblind can interpret.

At present, the Good Vibes app can be downloaded from the Samsung Galaxy Store. Soon, it will be made available on the Google Play Store for other Android smartphone users.

As part of its Citizenship Initiatives, Samsung has partnered with Sense India, a not-for-profit dedicated to improve the lives of the deafblind in the country, to take Good Vibes to the deafblind across India.

So far, the company has conducted training workshops for Sense India educators and deafblind individuals along with their caregivers in Delhi and Bengaluru. It is now providing Samsung Galaxy A20 smartphones, with Good Vibes installed, to deafblind individuals and their caregivers.