The problem
Smartphone apps are text-dependent, primarily in English, resulting in accessibility and usability challenges for low-literate, vernacular speaking internet users. Challenges are amplified in apps where money is involved, such as e-commerce and financial services, and are perceived as high risk by vernacular-speaking users. Because of this, there is a noticeable difference in app drop-off and user retention rates between urban and rural users.
The company
Navana Tech is a B2B SaaS company that develops text-independent, image-based and voice assisted technology for low literate users around the world.
Project description
Navana Tech plans to develop a new conversational AI voice bot, enabling digital actions through two-way conversations in 5 Indian languages (Hindi, Gujarati, Tamil, Assamese, Punjabi). The voice bot will be integrated into financial services and e-commerce apps making them far more widely accessible for those who would previously have been unable to use them due to the language barrier or a lack of digital skills. The AI voice bot will help users to build confidence in using mobile apps by offering it in their local language with no typing or reading requirements.
Donor(s)
SDGs impacted
