39 million people worldwide are blind and 246 million more suffer from vision problems. ViaOpta, the eye care division of the leading pharmaceutical company Novartis is a dedicated supporter of visually impaired people. Their mission is to connect with them and increase the quality of their lives.

In 2014, ViaOpta initiated the development of the ViaOptaDaily application to exploit the functionality of smart phones in order to significantly increase the independence of visually impaired people. The interface and user interactions have been optimised to reflect the peculiarities of their usage of mobile phones and help them cope with their everyday visual challenges.

The app is freely available for iOS and Android in 9 languages. It excels in 6 functions by converting visual information to audible. The money and colour recognisers identify various banknotes and the colour of objects put in front of the camera. The talking timer, contact book and weather report functions convert text to speech. The magnifier is a single click loupe for low vision users.

The variety of functions, streamlined design and mission critical communication make the ViaOptaDaily an extraordinary companion to blind and low vision users.

The app is freely available for iOS and Android in 9 languages. It excels in 6 functions by converting visual information to audible. The money and colour recognisers identify various banknotes and the colour of objects put in front of the camera. The talking timer, contact book and weather report functions convert text to speech. The magnifier is a single click loupe for low vision users.

The variety of functions, streamlined design and mission critical communication make the ViaOptaDaily an extraordinary companion to blind and low vision users.

Many blind and low vision people, especially in developed countries, are active computer and smart phone users. Digital technology also has an increasing role in special education for blind students. Research (Facebook) shows that visually impaired computer users are deeply involved in social networking on the Internet.

Extensive testing of the app has been done by hundreds of users to elevate phase 2 of the development and support the release of an even more innovative version of ViaOptaDaily in 2015.

The ViaOptaDaily application received the European Excellence Award in “Mobile Communication and Social App” category in December, 2014.