An assistive speech software hopes to help thousands of Nigerians with visual impairment

Lagos, Nigeria (Minority Africa) — Driving a technological innovation was never going to be a task of one person, neither is it a race with one track. It is building an ecosystem where creative minds support one another in making a difference.

For millions of Nigerians who struggle with visual impairment and little to no vision, Visis—a text-to-speech software application—has been designed to enable them to independently and conveniently carry out their activities.

Irrespective of the etiology and forms of visual challenges experienced by people, the Visis App designed by Vinsighte responds to problems of visual loss. Most often, eye conditions are evaluated by primary physicians to know if such conditions are repairable by surgery or management. However, the tech solution is used by all categories of visually-impaired persons. It also helps users read printed materials including the ones that are not available in braille among other various functions.

“Vinsighte came about when me and my co-founders observed the rate of school dropout affecting visually impaired persons in our institution (University of Ibadan),” says Dr. Olarinde Olokuntoye, the organization’s Chief Operating Officer. “It became so close when it happened to a friend of ours and as medical students in school, we came together to brainstorm on the idea that could help visually impaired persons to read books and become educationally inclusive just like their sighted peers.”

This ‘friend’ who in 2018 had almost lost his eyesight after a terrible accident while playing football became one of the co-founders. Vinsighte was created by Oluwatomisin (Tomi) Kolawole (now a biomedical engineer and doctor) when he was an undergraduate medical student at the University of Ibadan in 2018. He and his friends birthed the idea of giving vision and creating insight, which led to the creation of the digital health venture. Their dream has been to help thousands of blind people achieve their dreams by helping them to read and navigate their environment. 

When Mustapha Yusuf, 28, joined Bethesda Home for the Blind – a non-governmental organization providing support and rehabilitation for blind persons – he never imagined what life would turn out to be in the coming years; he never thought he could graduate from university. At a young age, Mustapha was raised in Bethesda where he was sponsored by the NGO through his primary education until the completion of his undergraduate studies at the University of Lagos (UNILAG). 

“It is very heartbreaking when all [blind persons] keep hearing is that ‘there is ability in disability’ and at the end of the day, there is no action by the government to prove this. Action speaks louder than words,” he says. 

The ‘heartbreak’ to which he refers is the quality of education that remains uncertain for students with visual impairment because of little or no accessible learning materials. This issue is often exacerbated by the expensive cost of specialized materials and the lack of support from the government. 

“For example, if a sighted person is buying books and biro, the equivalent of that for a blind person needs to be a laptop. A blind person struggles to read twice as hard as a sighted person, so if the government is providing laptops for visually-impaired students, it’s not too much for any government,” Yusuf says. “When a laptop is being provided, as well as screen softwares and maybe a subsidized tuition fee, we feel less marginalized. Blind persons also need additional supplies especially extra allowances for those who assist them around. And for graduates like me, we need jobs.” 

“I’m one of those in Bethesda who [uses] the Visis App. It is a speech software that helps us navigate our way [through] what is written on the screen,” Yusuf says. “The software application is just like an offshoot of what has been provided before, something like JAWS (Job Access With Speech). It enables you [to] read whatever is on the screen. For example, maybe on your laptop, all you need to do as a blind person is know your keystrokes and then once you are able to do that, the App reads out what is on the screen.” 

According to Dr. Olokuntoye, the Visis App is unique compared to braille and other assistive tech solutions, as it reduces visually impaired persons’ dependence on human aid, thereby increasing their confidence while reading. “The app is easy to use as it guides the user in accessing all the features available and is quite compatible with affordable devices. It helps them to read [and] detect objects, colors and scenes around the user,” Dr. Olokuntoye says. “For the reading feature, It works by taking a picture of a book in front of the user. [It] scans the texts in the book [or] printed material and reads it aloud for them to listen to. For the detection, it works by taking a picture of the object, color or scene around the user, processes it in milliseconds and gives an audio output to the user. Our solution does not work with the internet to perform its functions.”

Visis has now been distributed across seven visually impaired schools in Nigeria with an estimated number of 5,000 users. But the app has its limitations. In the past two years of using the Visis App, Yusuf views his user experience as considerably okay. However, some features like pictures and image detection do not function properly. “The experience has been okay thus far. At least, we are able to use it and it works well with various devices,” he says. “It’s a little bit very hard. To a certain extent, images, scenes and objects are not always detected. Meanwhile, the text-to-speech feature is satisfactory.”

There are more than a million people with visual impairment and about three million persons with little-to-no vision in Nigeria, leaving more millions at risk of visual loss. While speaking with Minority Africa, Dr. Diane Hilal-Campo, a board-certified ophthalmologist in the United States, says that solutions are tailored to each patient, but what allows eye experts to do so is having access to a wide range of tools, equipment, devices and advancements in ophthalmic care, all of which are expensive.

“Technology is key to accurately assess eye conditions and provide an optimal outcome. Without it, patients may not get any care, let alone the customized care for an ideal result,” says Dr. Hilal-Campo. “However, those who live in low and middle-income countries do not have access to quality ophthalmic care or in many cases, any ophthalmic care. Until health policies are taken seriously worldwide and quality health care is not restricted to select nations, eye health will unfortunately take a back seat.” 

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Meanwhile, optometric practice in Nigeria as compared to other parts of the world is backward. After over 40 years of its existence in the country, experts in the field of optometry experience harsh work conditions and lapses that do not complement Nigeria’s goal towards the attainment of Universal Eye Health, which is an integral component of the Universal Health Coverage (UHC). Thereby, creating a marginalization of visually impaired persons.

Although recent data published by the World Health Organization (WHO) shows a significant change in Nigeria’s UHC between 2000 and 2019; 20.00 for the former and 44.00 for the latter, measured on a scale of 0 (worst) to 100 (best), the federal government has not done enough to ensure the proper implementation of its healthcare policies. In areas where people have limited access to regular checkups, treatment and care, eye conditions — such as near- or far-sightedness, glaucoma and cataracts — may be left to worsen, making life needlessly difficult for them. Sadly, this is true of some rural communities in Nigeria as described by Dr. Miracle Dumbiri, a consulting Optometrist with Crystalview Eyecare, Ibadan.

“Whenever we have an opportunity to screen villagers, especially in rural areas, we see a lot of them with issues that are beyond repair. Usually, many of them fall victim to quacks who pose as doctors. However, if each community center has access to an Optometrist, it would be very impossible for quacks to penetrate those areas,” says Dr. Dumbiri 

“My lecturer once said that ‘if optometry at 40 was backward, then what people say about a fool at 40 being a fool forever is actually true.’” he says. “Because the truth is that the government actually is not encouraging optometric practice in Nigeria. Optometrists are primary eyecare specialists, which means that all primary health centers in the country are entitled to one optometrist, but the government does not make such a provision.”

Initially, Vinsighte set out to build a hardware product but did not get the adequate funding needed, and then they pivoted to a software solution. “Investors being careful or too careful while choosing their investment is a normal part of challenges faced during the early stages of investment, and we had a similar experience especially with our angel investor who was probably doubtful of the reality of our solution, but as entrepreneurs, we grew through it and today, we have been able to scale our solution and presence to the US,” Dr. Olokuntoye says. “We underwent a couple of iteration cycles to be able to come up with our current market-fit product. We believe that for any solution to make a lasting impact, a lot of research and iteration needs to be involved.” 

Looking forward, Dr. Olokuntoye tells Minority Africa, “We plan to extend our reach to all schools and institutions of the visually-impaired across Nigeria and beyond and we look forward to more partnerships in this journey of fostering a more fulfilled and inclusive life for the visually impaired.”

Edited/Reviewed by Khadija Sanusi, Caleb Okereke, and Uzoma Ihejirika.