Lazarillo — A University-Incubated Voice-Guided GPS App Built With Blind Users, Now Active in Dozens of Countries

Lazarillo is a free voice-guided GPS navigation app for blind and low-vision users, launched in September 2016 by founder René Espinoza in Santiago, Chile, as a spin-off of ISCI (Instituto Sistemas Complejos de Ingeniería) at the Universidad de Chile, with support from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile and Chile's ANID research agency. People with visual disabilities were part of the design team from the start.

The app aims to narrate nearby streets, intersections, businesses and transit stops for blind and low-vision users, letting them save important addresses and navigate independently.

Beyond everyday navigation, the app has been used for one-off accessible-mapping projects such as guiding blind attendees through the Lollapalooza Chile festival in 2017. Institutional users cited by ISCI include BancoEstado, DUOC UC, Red Salud UC Christus, Santiago's Museum of Memory and Human Rights, and Banco de Costa Rica.

Independent Chilean media (El Mercurio's VCM) reported 6,000 monthly active users and over 25,000 downloads across 14 countries in 2019; ISCI's own spin-off profile more recently cites 12,000 active users across 29 countries and 20 languages.

The company's own promotional materials claim far higher reach (350,000+ users in 48 countries), a figure not corroborated by an independent source at the time of writing, so it is reported here as self-reported rather than verified.