BELAGAVI: The greens of the lush pastures, the pinks and reds of flowers, the blue of the skies and the colours of the world we live in are either a blur or simply absent in the eyes of the visually disabled. While they are shut from the hues of the world, keeping themselves updated on the things happening around them is impossible too.
To bring the world to their fingertips, and to enable Kannada-speaking, visually impaired listen to Kannada newspapers and books, Siddalingeshwar Ingalagi from Bailhongal, Belagavi has striven hard for two years with Google. His efforts have not gone in vain as Google is finally including Kannada in its ‘Lookout Assisted Vision’ Android app.
The 32-year-old Ingalagi, himself visually impaired, is a government employee who works as an Account Assistant at the taluk panchayat office in Bailhongal. He is known in the little town for his exceptional skills in handling technical infrastructure and software designed to help the visually impaired carry out their daily chores, like other individuals. He went a step ahead when he contacted Google to provide their smart applications in regional languages, making them useful for the visually impaired in the country.
Setting out on a mission to include Kannada in the app, he contacted Google through the Google Disability Support Desk, while tweeting repeatedly on X and tagging the Google team. After two years of persistent effort, the Google Disability Support team included Kannada in the ‘Lookout’ app on August 17, 2023. Ingalagi was a regular user of the app, but he knew that Kannada and other regional languages should be included to make the lives of people like him better.
The ‘Lookout Assisted Vision’ app can be used in smartphones that are equipped with a back camera. It converts images and videos into text and then converts the text into speech using the ‘Text to Speech’ (TTS) tool. The application throws open a window to the outside world for the visually impaired and
enables them to listen to newspapers, and books, and know the denomination of currency notes and scripts on computers. The app was initially available only in English, Hindi and other widely used languages. Now, with Ingalagi’s efforts, Kannada too has been included.
Speaking to The New Sunday Express, he said there are over two lakh visually impaired people in Karnataka. “I hope the inclusion of Kannada in the ‘Lookout’ app will ease their lives and help them accomplish their daily targets. It will now help them lead a self-reliant life,” he said.