App called Suno-Be My Ears aims to bridge communication barriers between deaf & hearing people

On #TechThursday, we profile the app Suno-Be My Ears developed by Bengaluru-based techie Adarsh Hasija that is making communication easier between deaf and hearing people. Users can type out what they want to ask on their mobiles and the app will convert it to speech.

Recently when Mumbai-based working professional Preeti*, name changed, visited Bengaluru on work, she struggled to understand the routes in the city. As a deaf person in a new city, she had a hard time finding someone who could understand where she wanted to go. Then she heard about the mobile app Suno-Be My Ears. With the app, she could type out what she wanted to know to a hearing person and was able to commute easily.

The app has been developed by Adarsh Hasija, who got the idea when he started volunteering with Enable India in Bengaluru. Vishnu Soman,, Founder of the NGO Smiley’s asked Adarsh to create something to help deaf community members. As a software engineer with a keen interest in accessibility features, Adarsh decided to develop an app that could help a deaf person communicate better.

If you are a deaf person, you can type out what you want to ask to another person on your mobile. Suno app will convert it to speech. This bridges communication barriers between a deaf person and the hearing. I created this app a year back and have been getting great responses for it. – Adarsh Hasija, Founder, Suno App.

The app is currently available on both iOS and Google Play. Nearly 100 people from India, the United States and Canada are using the app, claims Adarsh. “Since I can monitor the analytics, I know how many people have been using the app from different parts of the world”.

Leading technology giants Apple has contacted Adarsh for advice on how to develop and enhance the app. Adarsh hopes that he can introduce local languages to ‘Suno-Be My Ears’ so that more people can access it. “If two or more phones can be connected via Bluetooth, this will help in better communication and more people can be involved. So I am working on something like that next”, says Adarsh.

Soman believes the Suno app has great potential to be scaled up. “Suppose an interpreter is needed for interviews at companies. The app can bridge that communication gap between the interviewer and interviewee. There will be a future where technology backed interviews will help companies to interview and hire deaf people without much hassle due to such apps”, he says.

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