Visually Impaired Technologies

YGA has transformed its 10 years of experience working with the visually impaired into two large-scale projects. These projects aim to ensure the full participation of visually impaired people in social life.

My Dream
Companion
WeWALK

My Dream Companion

My Dream Companion, a project brought forth by the collaboration of YGA and Turkcell, makes life easier for the 150 thousand visually impaired people in Turkey by ensuring their access to the latest information and technology.

100 elementary school students, 400 high school students and 100 university students as well as 12 visually impaired members of the advisory committee have provided support for My Dream Companion project.

IVR (8020) provides service both as a mobile application and as a web application. To make the lives of the visually impaired easier, My Dream Companion provides service in three areas:

The Latest Content With My Dream Companion, visually impaired people can access the latest news, opinion columns, thousands of audio books, hundreds of instructional texts, daily horoscope, popular and widely read magazines, their location, weather forecasts, the closest pharmacy, hospital and restaurants, currency exchange rates, or even the score in the matches of their soccer team at no extra cost.

Audio Description in Movie Theaters The visually impaired can access audio descriptions in movie theaters through My Dream Partner without needing any extra equipment, device or software. Thanks to My Dream Companion Cinema, which was developed with audio recognition technology, visually impaired people can follow along with movies in theaters at the same time as everyone else and without missing any details.

My Travel Buddy Visually impaired people can now receive audio navigation in shopping malls and roam freely thanks to the i-beacon technology integrated into My Dream Companion by YGA graduates.

Click here to watch My Dream Companion’s Turkcell commercial.

Awards for My Dream Companion

In 2014, My Dream Companion was designated the winner of the "Social & Economic Development" category of the GSMA, largely considered the Oscars of the GSM sector.

It became the first project to be awarded twice with a second win at GSMA in 2016.

YGA Graduate Duygu Kayaman, a My Dream Companion project member with vision impairment was selected as the "Innovator of the Year" at the "Innovators Under 35" contest organized by MIT, one of the most prestigious universities of the world.

The project was also deemed worthy of the “30 Under 30” award by the Forbes Magazine.

WeWALK

WeWALK is a smart white cane with revolutionary features that was developed for the visually impaired by YGA and Vestel engineers. After breaking the Turkey record of Arıkovanı, Turkcell's crowdfunding platform, and completing the prototype stage, YGA-designed WeWALK is now being produced in Vestel City, one of the biggest factories in Europe.

WeWALK is not only a product: it is also a social platform that gathers all visually impaired people in the world under the same roof, raises public awareness and promotes accessibility, social inclusiveness and equal and full participation in society.

By transforming the traditional white cane into a more innovative and smart version, WeWALK helps the visually impaired to move more independently and safely, and allows them to participate in society as equally as everyone else through its three features.

Obstacle detection

Senses chest-high and eye-level
obstacles.

Smart phone connection

Once WeWALK is connected to your smart phone through a Bluetooth connection, it enables navigation with Google Maps via WeWALK app.

Open Platform

Developers all across the world can develop their own applications for WeWALK by using its software development kit (SDK). Thus, WeWALK is able to gain new features through new integrations such as Google Maps, My Dream Companion Indoor Navigation, Uber, LYFT and BlindSquare.

Awards for WeWALK

Gold winner in the Edison Awards attended by Forbes 500 companies. Two-time exemplary project under the title of "Technology for a better life" in the United Nations.

Social Innovation of the Year award at the TIM Innovation Week.

WeWALK is selected as one of the Best Inventions of 2019 by TIME Magazine

WeWALK on CNN International