Sao Paulo, Mar 24 (EFE).- Inspired by his daughter afflicted with cerebral palsy, Brazilian inventor Carlos Edmar Pereira created the Livox app, which allows people with motor and audiovisual impairments to express emotions via a mobile device.

Pereira told Efe that to improve communication with 7-year-old Clara he created an interface in which the user can select from a lexicon of words that are then vocalized by the device.

“There are already some alternative methods for people who cannot communicate, and they usually consist in written signs,” he said. “I transformed them into a software.”

The app, which is available for devices with the Android operating system, adapts to the user’s disability, “correcting the word” according to the impairment.

The program offers also several license levels allowing the user to subscribe for one or two years, in the case of temporary impairment, or for life, if necessary.

Livox, which can be used in learning mathematics and languages, was recently awarded a U.N. prize as one of the world’s best apps for social inclusion.

The award, Pereira said, “could help to belie the world’s image of Brazil as a country that does not produce technology even though the app has not received any support or investment from the Brazilian government.” EFE