Visually impaired users may soon use voice commands to book Grab rides

Ride-hailing operator Grab is testing a voice assistant feature to allow visually impaired users in Singapore to book rides using voice commands.

- Esther Loi

Users will be able to speak to the Grab app in a similar way to how one talks to a friend, and a new artificial intelligence (AI) tool will converse with them to confirm or clarify information needed to book a ride.

A launch date for the feature has not been set.

Announcing this among a slate of upcoming features at the launch of its AI centre of excellence on May 23, Grab said that its new centre will hire at least 50 product, engineering, data science and analytics professionals by the end of 2025.

It declined to disclose the cost of the new centre at its headquarters in one-north.

Speaking at the launch, Grab's chief technology officer Suthen Thomas said: "The promise of generative AI is that it will make computing more accessible, enabling people to interact with technology and computing in ways that are more intuitive and natural."

Describing the voice assistant feature as one that Grab built with the community, Mr Thomas said that members of the Singapore Association of the Visually Handicapped have participated in focus group discussions and were involved in testing the feature.

He said the members' insights allowed the platform to better understand the needs of those who are visually impaired.