New app allows deaf people to make phone calls

A Italian startup has reportedly rolled out an app for deaf people, which enables them to make phone calls.

The four-month-old Italian startup, Pedius, has got an app that converts a text message sent by a user to speech at the other side of the phone call, which is also reportedly accompanied by a clean looking website.

According to Tech Crunch, although the app and website are currently available only in Italy, it is set to expand to Brazil, the US and India soon.

The founder of Pedius, Lorenzo Di Ciacciao, has reportedly described the service as being 'fulfilling' a big human need, independence, as in other countries special call centres known as relay services are available for deaf people but they have to rely on another person for their call.

So far, 4,000 calls have been made from Pedius and it has 800 users, with 200 using the system daily and the app works in Italian, English and Spanish, and French would be available next month, the report added.