The young Egyptian, Mark Murad, aged 20, has turned his experience of losing his sight into an application that helps the visually impaired understand their surroundings. He developed ScribeMe to provide a direct audio description of people, places and objects captured by the phone’s camera.

According to a report published by Reuters, thousands of cases are currently using the app in 140 countries. It is specifically designed for people who have completely lost their sight and works on both iPhone and Android phones. It can also be integrated with Meta’s glasses, which are owned by Facebook and Instagram.

Karen Murad, Mark's sister aged 16, tested the app during a safari in Kenya in June after using it through Meta’s smart glasses. The app provided her with a continuous description of the animals around her, the distances between them, and what they were doing. This helped her to form a complete mental image of the scene.

"I thought this was impossible but it happened, I felt like I could actually see," Karen said about her experience. The app enabled her to follow the details of the journey without needing someone to describe each scene separately.

Mark Murad - Reuters report

Vision impairment in 2018

Mark's vision problems began in 2018, and tests conducted inside and outside Egypt showed that he had a rare and incurable condition affecting the optic nerve. However, doctors could not determine when his vision would be lost, and it took nearly three years for his vision to deteriorate. Meanwhile, Karen completely lost her sight within six months. By the end of 2021, both siblings were completely blind.

Mark Murad - from a previous report by Youm7

Reuters reported that Marianne Morris, who the agency presented as the siblings' mother, was in shock and did not know how to cope with what had happened. She would leave the family home in the Manial area of Cairo on the pretext of running errands so she could cry in private before returning home.

 

ScribeMe application

The study was one of the hardest challenges Mark faced, especially in physics and chemistry. Screen readers stopped at graphs, images, and equations, failing to provide any explanation for the visual content within educational files.

Mark contacted developers of foreign applications working on solving the same problem, but he didn't receive a response. So, he started learning programming himself through YouTube videos and managed to produce a functional version of ScribeMe by 2023.

The application received recognition in several technological competitions, including Vodafone AI Assistive Tools Hackathon organized by Vodafone Egypt to develop tools that assist people with disabilities. The competition win helped secure a founding partner for the project and expand the app's functions beyond reading documents.

Mark Murad Reuters report

ScribeMe is now able to answer user questions in real time through the phone camera, describing places, objects, movements, and interpreting visual content. It supports 20 languages, including Arabic, and Reuters indirectly stated that Mark said he didn't find support for Arabic in any competing tool he used.

The integration of the app with Meta's smart glasses allows users to receive continuous vocal descriptions of their surroundings without holding a phone, leaving their hands free to carry a cane and navigate safely. The app is available for free, while some features require a subscription costing $20 per month or $200 annually.

Karen uses the app to access her classroom, identify stores, choose her clothes, and assist with studying. Her father, Murad Sadqi, said that after trying the siblings' application, the family stopped considering any dream impossible.

Mark Murad - from a previous report by Youm7

American University publishes a report about Mark

The American University in Cairo had previously published a report containing direct statements from Mark Murad, where he explained that his constant reliance on others to explain PDF files, presentations, images, and graphics prompted him to develop the app. After five months, he was able to publish the first version through the Microsoft Store.

Mark explained to the university that the initial version extracted text from PowerPoint presentations and provided detailed descriptions of images. It could also analyze a large number of images within the file itself in seconds. He noted that he wrote the app's code using a screen reader, despite the fact that losing one comma within the code would have been sufficient to disable the entire program.

The university stated that the application, in its first stage, reached users in 52 countries and won first place in a hackathon involving 200 teams. It was also selected to join a nine-month incubation program as part of the Enable Inclusion in the Labor Market competition supported by the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ).

 

Vision Problems

A previous report published by "Youm7" stated that Mark's vision problems began when he was 12 years old, and he completely lost his sight about three years later. The family faced pressure to transfer him to a specialized school for the visually impaired, but he insisted on pursuing his dream of studying engineering or computer science. He taught himself how to use computers and program.

The report published in 2024 stated that ScribeMe was available for free through Microsoft Store and reached users in 52 countries at the time. The latest Reuters report indicates an increase in the number of countries using the application to 140.