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LEAR Global, a nonprofit organization that provides multilingual communication services to marginalized communities around the world, has developed a compact information kiosk capable of not only disseminating information in multiple languages, but also answering user questions through automatic speech recognition technology. The device — called TILES (Touch Interface for Language-Enabled Services) — earned CLEAR Global second place in LocWorld 51’s Process Innovation Challenge (PIC) in June 2024.
TILES features an interactive tablet-sized screen that users can press for information on various topics, as well as voice AI for direct responses to spoken questions. To allow for use in remote areas, the device can function without internet access and can be powered by battery, solar panel, or wall socket. Its small size means that it can be placed essentially anywhere, ideally in a public space where people frequently gather.
CLEAR Global CEO Aimee Ansari said in her PIC presentation, “As technology becomes more and more central to the world we live in, we need to make sure that it can speak to and hear from everyone. Sometimes the greatest [creativity is required] to deploy technologies in challenging environments. The combination of high- and low-tech elements can deliver the greatest impact most effectively.”
This versatile invention has seemingly endless application possibilities, as it can contain any type of information in almost any language, depending on the client’s needs. “For us, what is really important is that the innovation is repeatable and applicable in countless situations,” Ansari added.
To test the prototype, CLEAR Global partnered with Indian tech company Gram Vaani (GV), which was looking to help farmers in Bihar, India, facing climate change-related challenges.
“These mostly subsistence farmers are dealing with changing rainfall patterns, veterinary diseases they aren’t familiar with, fires, and drought — impacts that affect whether they can feed their families and take care of their loved ones,” Ansari said. “Low literacy, lack of internet, lack of information in Hindi, and a paucity of agricultural support staff meant that it was hard to find a solution.”
CLEAR Global developed a targeted version of TILES by using their own speech data to refine an open-source AI voice model. TILES responds in Hindi to questions about the impact of climate change on farming. Specifically, the information addresses concerns that GV uncovered when speaking to local farmers, many of whom mentioned topics such as agricultural seasons, weather predictions, and practices to adapt to climate change.
“We followed a human-centered design approach to ensure that the process and the technology we built would be useful, identifying locations where farmers regularly visited and asking them the questions they wanted answers to,” Ansari explained.
TILES devices were placed in two shops: one that sells seeds and another that sells electronics. GV observed 200 people using them and interviewed 30 users (almost all men aged 18-45).
The results were impressive:
“In this age of Alexa and Siri, a voice-enabled tool that answers your questions may not seem innovative to us; but to the farmers in rural India, this is magic,” Ansari said. “A text-only version would not have reached the people it needed to.”
GV also gathered valuable feedback that CLEAR Global will use to improve the system, such as adding an on/off switch and tweaking the user interface. Given the success of the pilot program, the organizations hope to scale the project with expanded content and an improved system.
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