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Pedius App

Overall rating:

 4/5

Technology:

Applications and software

Needs:

Hearing and communication

Related reviews:

Image gallery:

Infographic of how the Pedius app works: A person sends text that Pedius transforms into voice so that another person listens to it and responds by voice, which is transcribed into text back to the sending person.

Pedius app: image of the menu, settings and introduction tutorial

Call in pedius with proof of correct transcription.

First introductory message in Pedius: "Hello, this call is made through Pedius, calling service for deaf people"

What does it consist of:

This application supports people who are deaf or have communication difficulties when making a call, functioning as a voice assistant by reading what the user writes on the screen, and in turn, transcribing into text what the contacted person answers by voice. The voice detection technology used allows the conversation to take place in real time and without the need for any third party intermediary. In addition, Pedius facilitates contact with different essential services.

Forms of acquisition:

The mobile application is available on iOS or Android at the following links. The Pedius web platform It also provides download links:

Technical assessment:

Author: Genaro Rodríguez Calatayud

Date: September 2023

To register in the app you only have to enter an email and a password; apart from accepting the privacy policy and terms of use. This greatly speeds up the process and can provide security to the user, since since it is an app designed to make calls, it is logical that it does not ask for other personal data at this point.

Interface

The three sections of the interface are easily differentiated: The contact book, making calls and accessing other services. Let's analyze them and explain step by step how to make a call:

Contacts: First of all, the application asks for access to the contact book to synchronize them. This is not essential, but it has been proven that by doing so all the contacts saved on the mobile device are saved in the "Contacts" section of the application, which is very useful to call any of them directly from Pedius, also counting with the services that this app offers. However, you can add a new contact directly from the icon at the top right or place a call by dialing a phone from the keypad opening at the bottom.

Calls: It has been very intuitive to make a call despite being the first access to the application. Once a contact has been selected or a phone number has been dialed, the option appears to write a first message to narrate to the recipient. It is interesting that Pedius offers the option of writing what you want or choosing between 3 different introductory messages that appear as an example to guide and save the user time. Once written, there are two ways or options to launch the call.

Mode 1

The telephone icon, located on the left, allows you to launch a voice exchange call by both participants. Mode 1 allows you to mute the microphone and switch to mode 2, unlike mode 2, which does not allow you to enable voice.

Mode 2

The telephone icon together with a smaller message icon, located on the right, launches a call in such a way that the sending user can type by keyboard what they want to be told to the receiver, and the recipient can respond by voice using their words. They will be transcribed on the screen to the sender (for the receiver both modes work in the same way). This is the mode that provides accessibility in calls to people who are deaf or have communication difficulties.

In the first introductory message, it is advisable to ask the recipient to speak calmly and, if possible, away from noise or other people speaking, to avoid errors in transcription. This is missing from the Pedius example messages. Once the call is launched, the recipient receives a standard call regardless of whether they have Pedius installed or not. You are simply informed, through the first pre-written message, that you are speaking to a person who is deaf or has communication disabilities and that your voice will be understood. In tests, it has been found that the simulated narrator uses a legible tone and an appropriate speaking speed. The person called spoke in a calm tone and the transcription worked properly. It is very advantageous that the Pedius narrator automatically notifies the receiver by voice when the sender is writing, which promotes patience and prevents communication failures.

Services: This section is under development. The app mentions that contact options for different affiliated services will soon appear at this point in the interface.

Other interface access: A standard account has 20 free minutes per month to make calls. The available minutes are displayed in the upper right corner and, since they are limited, at this point in the interface you can expand the plan according to the specified offers. Furthermore, the menu display allows you to edit the personal data of the account, change the settings, review the available credit or obtain extra minutes, contact the promoting company and finally consult the privacy and data policy. The settings section, apart from allowing you to change the call language or other parameters, has two interesting options to improve the usability of the user:

- AAccess to a tutorial of the application about the optionalities when making calls

– Save new default messages to start the call and set them as favorites.

Usability

Pedius is an application that adapts and simplifies its interface to its objective: supporting people who are deaf or have difficulty communicating on telephone calls.

It meets its objective through a simple and intuitive organization of the buttons and a professional visual appearance, with good adaptation of typography and headings.
The use of the app is adapted to any person or age, with big buttons and understandable functionalities.
It has the icons necessary to streamline navigation and use of the app.

Accessibility

Accessibility for people with reduced or no visibility

The Android voice narrator, Talk Back, and the IOS one, Voice Over, have been tested and errors have been found in the alternative texts of several icons, which leads to incoherent narrations and makes it difficult for these people to use the app. . The contrast of the text color with the background color could also be improved.

Accessibility for people with hearing difficulties

The application does not present barriers for people with hearing difficulties, since it does not include audio elements and is focused on use for these people.

Accessibility for people with compression difficulties

It is not focused on this group, although its interface is not very complex and it has tutorials to help understand how it works and the options when making a call.

Conclusion

This application is highly recommended for people who are deaf or have difficulty communicating and meets its objective effectively without gaps. This makes people clear about its usefulness.

Highlights

Facilitates and improves communication with their family or friends, as well as consulting other services (gastronomic, help, consultations, etc.).
One of the keys is that it improves autonomy and independence of these people by being able to call and communicate with others without the need for external help.
The person who receives a call for the first time will not notice much difference in communication compared to other calls, which also contributes peace of mind and security for users.
Also providing reliability and efficiency is the fact that no latency in transcription that makes communication difficult, and that the voice of the artificial narrator sea highly readable.
The application is developing more services, which indicates that it is aware of updates.

Improvement points

Include more context in predefined messages to guide recipients to understand the technology used, not its internal complexity, but so that they understand that with a calm tone of voice y no outside noise This will work better and will be enough for good communication. In everyday use or with people who are already familiar with its use, this is not necessary, but when contacting people for other questions it is very convenient. In these cases, you could also be notified that the narrator will automatically mention by voice when the sender is writing.
Manage to extend the free minutes: the tool is very useful and more people could join in its daily use.
Improve accessibility for blind people by adapting the alternative texts of the icons

Design and manufacturing:

 3.5/5

This section refers to the physical aspects and details of the manufacturing of the technological product

Technical benefits:

 4/5

Description of the quality of the technical specifications of the technological solution

User experience:

 4/5

This criterion is linked to the user's assessment when relating to the technical product or application.

Accessibility:

 4.5/5

It is the degree to which people can use or access a product, technological solution or service, regardless of their technical, cognitive or physical abilities

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product analyzed

Pedius App

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BetterMe app

Remente App

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What does it consist of:

Forms of acquisition:

Technical assessment:

Interface

Usability

Accessibility

Conclusion

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Are you interested in us doing a more in-depth analysis of this product?

Links

Information

Follow Us