Bucharest, November 26, 2018 – The Vodafone Romania Foundation launches EVA Facial Mouse, an application designed to enable people with neuromotor disabilities to use mobile phones and tablets. Devices that have this app installed can be operated by the user’s eyesight, which makes the device easy to hadle by any disabled person who is unable to use his or her hands. The application was developed by the Vodafone Spain Foundation and can be downloaded for free from Google Play, being available in several languages, including Romanian.
EVA Facial Mouse app addresses primarily people with amputations, cerebral palsy, spinal cord injuries, muscular dystrophy, multiple sclerosis, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and with different other conditions that cause immobilization or neuromotor disabilities. Both IT specialists and a group of potential users have participated in the design and development of this application. So far, the EVA Facial Mouse app has recorded more than 1 million downloads worldwide.
EVA Facial Mouse has a simple menu and can be installed on any phone or tablet using the Android 4.1 or higher operating system and equipped with a front camera. No other external equipment is required for the use of this app. The application identifies the movement of the user’s head and manages the cursor accordingly, with the app thus becoming the user’s interface with the touch screen of the mobile device.
In Romania, EVA Facial Mouse application will be presented to potential beneficiaries through the partner organizations of the Vodafone Romania Foundation, which are developing projects addressing people with neuromotor impairment, namely the Motivation Romania Foundation, the Mihai Neşu Foundation, the Junior Mother’s School Association and the SM Speromax Alba Association.
According to the National Authority for Disabled Persons within the Ministry of Labor and Social Justice, on 30 June 2018, the total number of persons with disabilities in Romania was over 800,000.
The Vodafone Romania Foundation is a Romanian nongovernmental charitable organization, establoished in 1998, which operates separately and independently from the Vodafone Romania SA’s business. During its 20 years of activity, Vodafone Romania Foundation has funded 1,104 programs run by 706 NGOs throughout the country, in the fields of healthcare, education and social services. These projects had a total of 2.7 million beneficiaries – children, young and old people and physically, socially or economically disadvantaged people. So far, the Vodafone Romania Foundation has invested over 28 million euros in projects run by nonprofit partner organizations. More details about the Foundation’s programs are available at fundatia-vodafone.ro, http://jurnaldebine.fundatia-vodafone.ro/ and www.facebook.com/fundatiavodafone.
