Apple’s App Store Awards feature a so-called Cultural Impact category.
In a press release posted to its Newsroom site, Apple on Monday announced the nominees for this year’s App Store Awards. There are nearly four dozen finalists spanning a dozen categories, which include an App of the Year for each of the Cupertino-based company’s platforms.
One such category is called Cultural Impact, of which Apple describes as “[bringing] users powerful stories and [helping] them bring out their best selves to create a lasting impact.” One finalist is an accessibility-oriented app called Oko. Apple has recognized the app for “making street-crossing safer and more accessible to all.” On its website, Oko’s developers explain its app helps people “navigate and explore places confidently,” adding “we’ve revolutionized the pedestrian experience by addressing the top challenges faced by urban explorers using traditional maps.” In technical terms, Oko leverages artificial intelligence to help people read street signs. Users can hold up their phone and Oko will notify them when the Walk signal flashes, allowing them to safely cross the street. The software uses various modalities for sensory input—audio, visual, and haptic—to provide feedback to the user. The developers note every bit of the AI processing happens locally on device.
The Oko website features a testimonial from a Denver man named Jeffery, who reports he was in Florida in 2011 when he was hit by an SUV and suffered a herniated disc as a result. Since the incident, he says he’s “always paranoid crossing the streets,” but using the Oko app changed him. He “gained a much higher confidence level that I haven’t felt in years.” Oko is “an absolute game-changer for safety,” Jeffrey said.
Although not explicitly stated, the reality is Oko has extreme pertinence to the Blind and low vision community. As a person with low vision myself, I can personally attest navigating the world on foot—as I do often when I don’t have access to a car of some sort—is somewhat nerve-wracking when I need to cross streets. Especially in broad daylight with a bright sun, it can be hard to see the various signals. I have yet to test it, but Oko seemingly would solve that problem by telling me when, say, the Walk signal started flashing. Likewise, sometimes I get lost trying to find places because I can’t see address numbers on buildings or houses, so Oko would be beneficial in that circumstance as well. The big idea is Oko can be about more than sheer safety. For disabled people like myself, Oko can serve as a bonafide assistive technology in getting around.
Oko is similar in spirit to the Commute Booster app built by NYU. While NYU is trying to make the vast New York City subway system navigable to Blind and low vision people, both Commute Booster and Oko lean on the modern smartphone’s compute power in driving the technology.
I had a briefing with the Oko team at WWDC back in June. We talked about just the scenarios I outline here, with the developers telling me they created the app partly for accessibility reasons. They spoke candidly about the realization that Oko indeed can have more applicability than keeping people safe when they’re out and about in their neighborhood.
The winners will be announced “in the coming weeks,” Apple said.
