Fully voice-controlled smartphone enables elderly and disabled people to do tasks easily
RealThing Ai, an Australian technology company, has launched RealSAM Phone, an accessible smartphone for elderly individuals that functions by voice command to carry out tasks simply and easily.
RealSAM Phone is operated by simple voice controls. Users tap a large area on the phone’s screen and use their voice to ask RealSAM to make a call, send a text, or use one of the built-in personal assistant features designed to make life easier. These include a magnifier that can read handwriting or printed text out loud.
The accessible smartphone aims to help the UK’s estimated 5.6 million people who struggle to use modern mobile phones due to health barriers as well as disabled people who may find it easier to operate a smartphone by voice. This may include people with sight loss; physical barriers such as multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s, and arthritis; or memory impairments, such as dementia. RealSAM Phone can also connect to hearing aids, using Bluetooth to stream the phone’s audio directly.
UK Country Manager for RealThing Ai, Louise Humphreys, said: “With the Christmas season giving many families the first opportunity in three years to come together, we’ve seen a leap in enquiries from loved ones seeking a solution to stay in touch with their parents and grandparents.
“Often contacting us having already explored other options, we’ve been told of relatives struggling to operate mobile phones with small buttons, to install apps or use menus on a touchscreen.
“We believe there is a need for an alternative phone in the market that’s easy to use, with less features, and that can be operated just by using your voice. We hope that with the launch of RealSAM Phone we can deliver on this need and help many families to stay connected this winter.”
The accessible smartphone has no on-screen apps or buttons; users tap the screen and talk to access its features.
The features currently available on RealSAM that can be used by voice include: making and receiving calls, sending and receiving messages, alerting contacts that the user needs assistance, turning on the inbuilt video magnifier, adding contacts to the address book, getting help from the Be My Eyes Service (https://www.bemyeyes.com/), setting reminders, finding out the time, and checking the weather.
RealSAM Phone’s integrated AI has the capability to multitask. For example, if a user is using the phone to check the weather and a call arrives, they will be alerted to answer the call and returned to the weather at the end of the call.
The phone is based on a customised Samsung Galaxy A04 handset installed with the RealThing Ai voice software.
For more information, call the RealThing Ai Customer Service team on 01733 514612 or visit the RealSAM UK website. (https://realsam.co.uk/realsamphone/)
One year ago, RealThing Ai launched a similar smartphone, the RealSAM Pocket V4. This fully voice-accessible phone aims to meet the daily frustrations that visually impaired people face, including the ease of accessing choices when shopping, challenges in being independently mobile, and a need for a reliable solution to read text in confidential situations, such as banking and healthcare.