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Bangalore International Institute of Information Technology (Photo | Facebook)
Bengaluru: According to a report published by the Indian Journal of Ophthalmology in 2022, there are an estimated 4.95 million blind people and 70 million visually impaired people in India, of which 240,000 are blind children. However, this number will soon cease to be a barrier for visually impaired students as students of the International Institute of Information Technology, Bangalore (IIIT-B) develop first-of-its-kind technology to help visually impaired students have a seamless learning experience. Physical classroom learning experience.
Mayank Kabra, a final year M.Teach student, along with his peers – Divyansh Singhal, Chinmay Sultania, Soham Pawar and Anshul Maduwar, developed this cost-effective technology to promote inclusivity in all educational institutions , and obtained a patent for “system and method”. Help the visually impaired. ”
“Today, many visually impaired students are unable to continue their education with other classmates due to their disability. There is no solution, either they have to invest in a very expensive device, they have to study alone, or they have to study alone,” Kabra told TNIE. Stop schooling. He added that they hope to solve this problem and help visually impaired people have a seamless learning experience.
“The idea was to create something that would help the visually impaired follow what the professor was teaching in a live class. The technology comes with hardware that fits on the finger and uses a tablet. When the student places their finger on a flat surface, The blackboard will actually be mapped onto it. Vibrations inside the device will help them track the shapes of diagrams, graphics or text on the digital board,” explains Kabra.
This device uses a six-dot Braille system, a micro motor and a microcontroller. The device weighs as much as the oximeters used during COVID-19. He further added that the device comes with a Braille point that allows users to understand text instantly. These devices will connect via Wi-Fi or local floor to transmit messages. The team has been working on the device for about a year. Kabra said similar devices in the market cost over Rs 50,000, however, this device is cost-effective and can be used by all segments of the society.
This finger-mounted device is designed keeping in mind the needs of school children as they are the first to drop out of school. The IIIT-B team is considering testing it in some schools and NGOs, confident that it will only require basic tweaks and children can start it with the click of a button. The team is looking for collaborators to help them manufacture the device at scale and bring it to the public.
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