These S’poreans constructed a bus navigation app for the visually impaired

[This is a sponsored article with the Singapore Government Partnerships Office.]

For many of us, catching a bus is second nature and a routine. A shade of vivid inexperienced comes into our view, we look on the service quantity, take one step ahead, and that’s it—we’re on our approach. 

However for somebody visually impaired, that on a regular basis activity can really feel utterly completely different. At a crowded bus cease, they depend on the distant hiss of brakes or snippets of dialog to guess whether or not the subsequent bus is theirs. 

One unsuitable step may ship them to an unfamiliar neighbourhood and derail their complete day.

This fixed rigidity turned painfully actual for Lee Kiah Hong, who watched his uncle wrestle in his each day commute after shedding his sight. “One thing so simple as a visit to the market turned a supply of actual anxiousness.”

Decided to discover a resolution, he and his three mates—Ryan Yeo, Chia Wee Leong, and Sriram “Ram” Jeyakumar—based Oculis, a cellular app created to return autonomy, assurance, and dignity to visually impaired commuters. 

That they had large ambitions, however actuality hit 

Kiah Hong, Ryan, Wee Leong and Ram met one another while pursuing their Diplomas in Utilized AI at Singapore Polytechnic, and bonded over a shared curiosity in utilizing know-how to create significant, real-world options. The quartet typically participates in hackathons and competitions collectively, and Oculis is one in every of their many initiatives. 

“What actually introduced us collectively was discovering that we complemented one another extremely properly,” mentioned Ram. “We’d typically discover ourselves debating not simply methods to construct one thing however whether or not it was value constructing within the first place.” 

So once they learnt about Kiah Hong’s uncle’s struggles after being identified with glaucoma,  it revealed how independence might be hindered by visible impairment—and impressed them to develop an answer.

And it was an formidable one at that. The founders initially aimed to sort out the broad problem of navigation, designing a instrument that would assist with every thing from discovering your approach by purchasing malls to studying road indicators and figuring out landmarks. However the scale was too formidable, and the quartet needed to shift gears shortly. 

“Duties that appear easy to us turned out to be far more difficult to copy by know-how, particularly on the pace wanted for real-world use,” defined Ryan. “We wanted our resolution to work immediately and reliably, and reaching that throughout all navigation situations felt unattainable.”

To achieve extra firsthand insights and refine their app, the quartet linked with organisations just like the Singapore Affiliation of the Visually Handicapped (SAVH) and Purple Symphony. Via them, they met members of the neighborhood—not simply to check their app, however to grasp what each day life was actually like.

“Earlier than assembly them, we thought we understood the challenges like normal navigation and getting round massive areas,” shared Wee Leong.

“However our understanding was fairly surface-level and formed extra by assumptions than precise experiences. Working with members of the neighborhood confirmed us firsthand how they required a whole lot of reliance on different individuals when navigating extra unfamiliar environments.”

Via their conversations, they found one urgent ache level: bus navigation. This perception finally led to the creation of Oculis. 

How the app works

Navigating the cellular app is easy—all it takes is 3 Ss: Choose, Sign, Scan 

1. Choose: Customers choose the bus service they’re presently ready for at a selected bus cease. 
2. Sign: Customers look forward to the audio sign, which informs them when any of the bus companies they’ve chosen is arriving through the use of information offered by LTA. 
3. Scan: Customers elevate up their telephone to scan for buses, which is able to audibly announce the bus quantity and arrival. 

The method sounds easy to execute, however it took over 200 navigation classes at greater than 100 bus stops with 30 visually impaired customers to get it proper. Kiah Hong recounted an occasion when one in every of their testers instructed them he discovered it troublesome to find out the place to level the digicam—a easy remark that made them realise what the app was lacking. 

“We have been constructing an app to assist visually impaired individuals determine buses, but we’d missed the truth that they won’t be pointing in the appropriate course as a result of we had been so centered on making the AI recognition correct that we hadn’t absolutely thought-about the person expertise from their perspective,” he defined. 

That remark pushed the crew to additional develop the app’s haptic suggestions features, which use vibrations to information customers in aiming their cameras in the appropriate course. “It was a reminder that accessible know-how isn’t nearly what the app does however about how individuals will truly use it in actual life,” Kiah Hong mirrored.

With its new enhancements, they’ve obtained optimistic suggestions from testers. Some had even shared that Oculis was simpler to make use of than current navigation apps—signifying to the crew that they’re heading in the right direction. 

That mentioned, there may be nonetheless room for enchancment. Ryan shared that the app generally struggles with older LED shows on buses and that the crew is working to repair this in order that Oculis works reliably throughout Singapore’s complete bus fleet, no matter how previous the buses are. 

Filling the gaps by partnerships

Whereas their tech backgrounds meant that that they had the technical facet down, that was solely a part of the equation. The crew joined the Construct For Good Accelerator, an initiative by Open Authorities Merchandise (OGP), the place they picked up expertise past tech, akin to operations, advertising and marketing, and enterprise technique. 

The monetary assist from the accelerator additionally allowed them to focus their efforts on constructing the very best resolution with out worrying about prices. “We didn’t have to chop corners on testing, compromise on options as a consequence of price range constraints.” 

Past the sources and funding, what the crew actually wanted was one thing they might not construct themselves: connections and belief.

We had the technical expertise and the power to construct shortly, however we had no relationships with the neighborhood. We have been simply sending chilly emails, hoping somebody would reply. The Construct for Good crew opened doorways for us, linked us with organisations like Purple Symphony, and gave us credibility. With out that, we have been simply 4 college students with an app thought.

Lee Kiah Hong, Ryan Yeo, Chia Wee Leong, and Sriram “Ram” Jeyakumar, founders of Oculis

Since finishing their pilot testing in 2025, Oculis has partnered with extra organisations that helped to develop its attain and impression. MINDEF Nexus has offered the crew with alternatives to current the app at occasions such because the Nationwide Day Parade Stakeholder Engagement, whereas Purple Symphony linked them with testers who used Oculis of their each day routines. 

“These partnerships helped us meet individuals we wouldn’t have reached in any other case,” the crew shared. 

Conserving centered on creating options for these in want

The response has been encouraging thus far, however it’s only only the start for the quartet. At present, Oculis is out there through TestFlight for beta testing. Ryan defined that iPhones are the popular selection for a lot of visually impaired customers as a consequence of their built-in accessibility options, which is why the crew determined to give attention to iOS first.

The app has already made its approach by a number of accessibility group chats inside the visually impaired neighborhood—together with Kiah Hong’s uncle, who has lastly tried the app for himself. 

It wasn’t a dramatic, movie-worthy second, however seeing one thing we constructed to handle the precise problem that began the journey felt deeply significant. It began with an actual individual we cared about.

Lee Kiah Hong, founding father of Oculis

And it’s not simply that one second that retains them going. “Each time somebody tells us Oculis made their commute much less demanding, or we watch somebody use it efficiently on their very own for the primary time—these small wins remind us why we’re doing this”. 

Wanting ahead, Wee Leong revealed that the crew will probably be centered on enhancing the general person expertise, akin to refining the interface and smoothing out any friction factors. They’re additionally working in direction of creating the app to work independently on Android gadgets as properly, even earlier than increasing it to wearable gadgets akin to sensible glasses.

“Success for us isn’t simply concerning the variety of downloads or navigation classes accomplished, however extra concerning the significant impression. Within the subsequent one to 2 years, we wish Oculis to turn into a trusted, on a regular basis instrument for the visually impaired neighborhood in Singapore,” the quartet shared. 

“In the end, we wish Oculis to be so seamless and dependable that it fades into the background, only a instrument that works, permitting individuals to give attention to the place they’re going, not how they’ll get there.” 

Their recommendation to others with concepts? Discover individuals who may also help. The crew had the technical expertise, the neighborhood had the lived expertise, and the partnerships gave them entry and credibility. None of them may have completed it alone.

Via the Construct For Good programme, the quartet may collaborate with like-minded people who remained centered on fixing real-world points for these in want, past earnings and transactions. 

“This alignment in values made all of the distinction and allowed us to construct one thing that actually serves the neighborhood quite than chasing business objectives,” shared the founders. 

Study extra about Oculis right here, or uncover different initiatives by the Construct For Good programme. 

Impressed to launch your personal neighborhood undertaking? On high of undertaking steerage, the Singapore Authorities Partnerships Workplace has launched a brand new SG Partnerships Fund to assist citizen-led initiatives at completely different phases of growth. Functions for the Seed and Sprout tiers of the fund begin from 1 Apr 2026. Go to www.sgpo.gov.sg/sgpf to study extra. 

Featured Picture Credit score: Oculis