[This is a sponsored article with the Singapore Government Partnerships Office.]
For most of us, catching a bus is second nature and a routine. A shade of bright green comes into our view, we glance at the service number, take one step forward, and that’s it—we’re on our way.
But for someone visually impaired, that everyday task can feel completely different. At a crowded bus stop, they rely on the distant hiss of brakes or snippets of conversation to guess whether the next bus is theirs.
One wrong step could send them to an unfamiliar neighbourhood and derail their whole day.
This constant tension became painfully real for Lee Kiah Hong, who watched his uncle struggle in his daily commute after losing his sight. “Something as simple as a trip to the market became a source of real anxiety.”
Determined to find a solution, he and his three friends—Ryan Yeo, Chia Wee Leong, and Sriram “Ram” Jeyakumar—founded Oculis, a mobile app created to return autonomy, assurance, and dignity to visually impaired commuters.
They had big ambitions, but reality hit
Kiah Hong, Ryan, Wee Leong and Ram met each other whilst pursuing their Diplomas in Applied AI at Singapore Polytechnic, and bonded over a shared interest in using technology to create meaningful, real-world solutions. The quartet often participates in hackathons and competitions together, and Oculis is one of their many projects.
“What really brought us together was discovering that we complemented each other incredibly well,” said Ram. “We’d often find ourselves debating not just how to build something but whether it was worth building in the first place.”
So when they learnt about Kiah Hong’s uncle’s struggles after being diagnosed with glaucoma, it revealed how independence can be hindered by visual impairment—and inspired them to develop a solution.
And it was an ambitious one at that. The founders initially aimed to tackle the broad challenge of navigation, designing a tool that could help with everything from finding your way through shopping malls to reading street signs and identifying landmarks. But the scale was too ambitious, and the quartet had to shift gears quickly.
“Tasks that seem simple to us turned out to be far more challenging to replicate through technology, especially at the speed needed for real-world use,” explained Ryan. “We needed our solution to work instantly and reliably, and achieving that across all navigation scenarios felt impossible.”
To gain more firsthand insights and refine their app, the quartet connected with organisations like the Singapore Association of the Visually Handicapped (SAVH) and Purple Symphony. Through them, they met members of the community—not just to test their app, but to understand what daily life was really like.
“Before meeting them, we thought we understood the challenges like general navigation and getting around large spaces,” shared Wee Leong.
“But our understanding was quite surface-level and shaped more by assumptions than actual experiences. Working with members of the community showed us firsthand how they required a lot of reliance on other people when navigating more unfamiliar environments.”
Through their conversations, they discovered one pressing pain point: bus navigation. This insight ultimately led to the creation of Oculis.
How the app works
Navigating the mobile app is simple—all it takes is 3 Ss: Select, Signal, Scan
- Select: Users select the bus service they are currently waiting for at a specific bus stop.
- Signal: Users wait for the audio signal, which informs them when any of the bus services they have selected is arriving by using data provided by LTA.
- Scan: Users lift up their phone to scan for buses, which will audibly announce the bus number and arrival.
The process sounds simple to execute, but it took over 200 navigation sessions at more than 100 bus stops with 30 visually impaired users to get it right. Kiah Hong recounted an instance when one of their testers told them he found it difficult to determine where to point the camera—a simple comment that made them realise what the app was missing.
“We were building an app to help visually impaired people identify buses, yet we’d overlooked the fact that they might not be pointing in the right direction because we had been so focused on making the AI recognition accurate that we hadn’t fully considered the user experience from their perspective,” he explained.
That comment pushed the team to further develop the app’s haptic feedback functions, which use vibrations to guide users in aiming their cameras in the right direction. “It was a reminder that accessible technology isn’t just about what the app does but about how people will actually use it in real life,” Kiah Hong reflected.
With its new improvements, they have received positive feedback from testers. Some had even shared that Oculis was easier to use than existing navigation apps—signifying to the team that they are on the right track.
That said, there is still room for improvement. Ryan shared that the app sometimes struggles with older LED displays on buses and that the team is working to fix this so that Oculis works reliably across Singapore’s entire bus fleet, regardless of how old the buses are.
Filling the gaps through partnerships
While their tech backgrounds meant that they had the technical side down, that was only part of the equation. The team joined the Build For Good Accelerator, an initiative by Open Government Products (OGP), where they picked up skills beyond tech, such as operations, marketing, and business strategy.
The financial support from the accelerator also allowed them to focus their efforts on building the best possible solution without worrying about costs. “We didn’t have to cut corners on testing, compromise on features due to budget constraints.”
Beyond the resources and funding, what the team really needed was something they could not build themselves: connections and trust.
We had the technical skills and the energy to build quickly, but we had no relationships with the community. We were just sending cold emails, hoping someone would reply. The Build for Good team opened doors for us, connected us with organisations like Purple Symphony, and gave us credibility. Without that, we were just four students with an app idea.
Lee Kiah Hong, Ryan Yeo, Chia Wee Leong, and Sriram “Ram” Jeyakumar, founders of Oculis
Since completing their pilot testing in 2025, Oculis has partnered with more organisations that helped to grow its reach and impact. MINDEF Nexus has provided the team with opportunities to present the app at events such as the National Day Parade Stakeholder Engagement, while Purple Symphony connected them with testers who used Oculis in their daily routines.
“These partnerships helped us meet people we wouldn’t have reached otherwise,” the team shared.
Keeping focused on creating solutions for those in need
The response has been encouraging so far, but it is only just the beginning for the quartet. Currently, Oculis is available via TestFlight for beta testing. Ryan explained that iPhones are the preferred choice for many visually impaired users due to their built-in accessibility features, which is why the team decided to focus on iOS first.
The app has already made its way through several accessibility group chats within the visually impaired community—including Kiah Hong’s uncle, who has finally tried the app for himself.
It wasn’t a dramatic, movie-worthy moment, but seeing something we built to address the exact challenge that started the journey felt deeply meaningful. It started with a real person we cared about.
Lee Kiah Hong, founder of Oculis
And it’s not just that one moment that keeps them going. “Every time someone tells us Oculis made their commute less stressful, or we watch someone use it successfully on their own for the first time—those small wins remind us why we’re doing this”.
Looking forward, Wee Leong revealed that the team will be focused on enhancing the overall user experience, such as refining the interface and smoothing out any friction points. They are also working towards developing the app to work independently on Android devices as well, even before expanding it to wearable devices such as smart glasses.
“Success for us isn’t just about the number of downloads or navigation sessions completed, but more about the meaningful impact. In the next one to two years, we want Oculis to become a trusted, everyday tool for the visually impaired community in Singapore,” the quartet shared.
“Ultimately, we want Oculis to be so seamless and reliable that it fades into the background, just a tool that works, allowing people to focus on where they’re going, not how they’ll get there.”
Their advice to others with ideas? Find people who can help. The team had the technical skills, the community had the lived experience, and the partnerships gave them access and credibility. None of them could have done it alone.
Through the Build For Good programme, the quartet could collaborate with like-minded individuals who remained focused on solving real-world issues for those in need, beyond profits and transactions.
“This alignment in values made all the difference and allowed us to build something that truly serves the community rather than chasing commercial goals,” shared the founders.
Learn more about Oculis here, or discover other initiatives through the Build For Good programme.
Inspired to launch your own community project? On top of project guidance, the Singapore Government Partnerships Office has launched a new SG Partnerships Fund to support citizen-led initiatives at different stages of development. Applications for the Seed and Sprout tiers of the fund start from 1 Apr 2026. Visit www.sgpo.gov.sg/sgpf to learn more.
Featured Image Credit: Oculis