Eneko Calvo has a degree in Management and Information Systems Computer Engineering from UPV/EHU. Together with Uxue Mancisidor and Apurva San Juan, he directs LUP, which makes reading easier for people with visual difficulties, through a pocket magnifier or an app.

What is Lup and how does it work?

Whether you realize it or not, reading is part of most of the activities we do in our daily lives. Therefore, people with reading problems encounter many obstacles in their lives and can often lose their autonomy. And this is the barrier we are breaking through LUP, that of reading. We use LUP's computer vision and artificial intelligence for accessibility.

We develop solutions that turn text into speech, so that reading does not become an obstacle in everyday life.

We make a special effort in 3 areas:

• In the classroom.
• In the elderly.
• And in people who suffer LOSS OF VISION.

It is already a reality that, in the classroom, more than 5 million young people, in Spain alone, fail in their studies due to reading difficulties caused by dyslexia or a visual pathology. We would talk about 7 out of 10 children who fail in their studies because they are not able to read and understand the texts. Thanks to LUP's supported reading and text-to-speech conversion, we are solving the reading barrier so that these young students can focus on comprehension and learning. We could be talking about a 65% reduction in school failure.

On the other hand, today, the population pyramid is getting older, which means that around 50% of the population is over 55 years old. Age-related reading difficulties are inevitable and therefore, providing solutions that will facilitate reading promotes and favors active aging, but above all, improves the quality of life of these people. From LUP we make those daily actions, such as reading a newspaper, a bill, a brochure, a letter from the bank... a part of our users' routine again. We're your support so you can keep doing whatever you want to do.

If we talk about visual impairment, such as low vision, presbyopia, farsightedness, astigmatism, AMD, cataracts, etc., they are all pathologies that make reading difficult, but above all the number of visually impaired people is close to 300 million, more than 50% of the world's population. Our mission at LUP is to provide these people with an intelligent reader that will be their daily companion, creating confidence and security in everyday activities where reading is very important.

What solutions do you propose?

I present our solutions:

On the one hand, the first POCKET MAGNIFIER that integrates artificial intelligence and visual computing to make reading easier than ever. The first eye-independent magnifier that will read text and translate it into speech almost instantly. And on the other hand, our mobile application, LUP APP, a revolutionary application that puts technology at the service of accessibility. An ideal application for regaining autonomy in reading, but also useful to complete the treatment of a visual pathology.

Going deeper, first, under the magnifying glass, we are facing a unique device in the world, protected and patented. The smart pocket magnifier is a device designed to be carried in the pocket, a portable product, easy to use and independent of an internet connection.

Our magnifier gives you that confidence to read wherever you are and in any situation, even in the dark. The smart pocket magnifier integrates state-of-the-art electronics and hardware, which allows us to improve and incorporate new features based on user needs. We provide a scalable device that can be updated over time. Its use is very simple. Exactly, as if we were to take a picture with any mobile phone. That is, it is not necessary to move in the text, but it is enough to make a single capture. Once done, the device reads and saves the text, no longer as a picture, but as audio that we can listen to with or without headphones.

Moving on to the mobile app, we would be in front of an assisted digital reading solution that will read for you when reading is a barrier. We are the first application for private but also professional use, which can be integrated in clinics, residences, day centers, schools, etc., with the aim of facilitating reading and making any type of text accessible.

With the LUP APP, the user will be able to scan, save and share their readings, but with a slight modification, thanks to our character recognition and voice synthesis system, they will be able to listen. Our application is able to detect more than 30 languages and voice pronunciation of them

to suit each At LUP we have always believed that the use of visual rest was a critical point. It promotes use, supports and improves people's visual rest. That is why the LUP APP is the first application, with reading support, that integrates a system of optical filters, adaptable to each pathology, which provides visual support.

How did you come up with the idea?

We were still in university and we were introduced to a technology, computer vision, and we saw that it was a tool that could have a big impact on society. We wanted to incorporate this technology into people's daily lives and, after a long study, we realized that it could make life easier and create autonomy for people who have some kind of reading difficulty, almost 50% of the population in Spain.

How did you feel when you received one of the awards of the Mapfre Foundation for Social Innovation from among 350 nominations from around the world, specifically the Social Economy Award?

For LUP, this kind of recognition is the fuel and energy to keep going. This award confirms the social impact we are creating and will continue to create through our solutions.

It has been a pleasure to enjoy the experiences and activities we have done together with the community of social entrepreneurs from all over the world in Madrid.

Do you have any data on the difficulty of seeing accurately in Spain?

Directly, in Spain there are 1.2 million people with low vision, and 4.6 million people who suffer from dyslexia. According to SEEBV, a 10% increase is expected.

If we talk about other conditions that make reading difficult, such as cataracts, myopia, farsightedness, astigmatism, presbyopia... we would be talking about 54.3% of the population (roughly 25 million people).

What future projects do you have with Lupe?

If we talk about future investments, we are very clear. Today we invest and we intend to invest over time in the research and development of new solutions, but also in the improvement and robustness of the current ones. On the other hand, we want to bring LUP to the majority of clinics, residences, schools, day care centers... in short, to places where reading is an obstacle on a daily basis. Finally, internationalization, we want to adapt our solutions and make them known all over the world.

What is the best and worst thing about entrepreneurship?

The best ones are the contacts, friends, experiences, knowledge and skills you acquire. The worst part is the sacrifices you have to make to achieve your goal. It is not an easy path, but with passion and desire you will reach infinity.

How would you encourage people to use Lup?

If reading difficulties are affecting your independence in daily activities, we are here to help. With Lup we convert text to speech to make reading easier than ever. Regain the independence to go shopping, read a newspaper, a bill...whatever you want.

www.lup.es