One small point, Dolphin systems is a UK based company. On 2/19/08, vishnu ramchandani <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Tech finally at hand for India's 60 mn disabled > > Source: livemint.com > > It's early days but different organizations are > developing and creating affordable products and > solutions > > Regina Anthony > > New Delhi > > Priti Rohra, a 30-year-old Mumbai resident, is your > regular working woman with a corporate job and travels > by local trains to work. But her poor eyesight, > at 40% of normal, means she has difficulties reading > signs or negotiating potholes. > > At work, Rohra uses a screen reader on her computer > that gives an audio playback to every click she makes > on her keyboard. Her English screen reader, from > Florida, US-based Freedom Scientific, costs Rs60,000 — > clearly unaffordable for most Indians with acute > vision problems. > > "In India, no firm or organization is anywhere near to > making cost-effective solutions for us. Around 98% of > the products and solutions such as websites > available in India, are inaccessible. Each one of us > (physically challenged) have brains and can learn any > technology but make it usable and affordable," > she says. > > Rohra works as an accessibility tester and consultant > at BarrierBreak Technologies, a unit of Mumbai's Net > Systems Informatics (India) Pvt. Ltd, that provides > software solutions to make computing accessible for > people with disabilities. > > The 2001 > census > , the latest nationwide count of heads, estimates > some 22 million physically challenged in India with > nearly half of them suffering various forms of visual > impairment. The 11th Plan, running to 2012, has > budgeted for as much as 5-6% — equivalent to up to 60 > million people — with disabilities. Estimates are > hard to come by, but people working closely with the > physically challenged reckon half of this number is > poor. > > It's early days but different organizations in the > country are developing and creating products and > solutions for the physically challenged. > > C-Dac, or Centre for Development of Advanced > Computing, a research and development organization > headed in Pune, is developing low-cost products for > the > physically challenged person with limited purchasing > power. C-Dac has developed a digital programmable > hearing aid that, with a two-year battery life and > at Rs2,000, is just one-tenth the price of the > cheapest digital hearing aid in the market today. > > "In India, a pessimistic estimate would be that 30 > million people have hearing disability and there is > still a lot to be done. Private organizations are > not doing much to address the bottom of the pyramid > and good products are marred by a poor ecosystem," > said R. Ravindra Kumar, senior director at C-Dac's > Thiruvananthapuram offices. > > Along with the hearing aid, C-Dac has also developed > an application called Shruthi, that can be used by > audiologists and doctors to customize the hearing > devices to the particular hearing characteristics of > each patient. "The government is distributing at least > three-four lakh free analog hearing aids every > year to below the poverty line people, but 90% of > those are wasted because they are uncomfortable, are > not customized and need a change of batteries every > 7-10 days," Kumar added. An analog hearing aid costs > under Rs500, but the quality is typically poor. > > Several prototypes of C-Dac's products have been > fabricated, tested successfully and sent to > organizations such as the Ali Yawar Jang National > Institute > of the Hearing Impaired in Mumbai. "Discussions are on > with various manufacturers for the transfer of > technology," Kumar said, adding that C-Dac will also > look at taking these products to other third world > countries in Africa. > > Kerala is using another of C-Dac's tools for the > visually impaired called Braille Mozhy (currently in > Malayalam), an assistive device that is an integration > of Braille-to-text and text-to-speech technologies. > > Kumar says that while in the US the government puts in > a lot of money for subsidies of high quality hearing > aids, the same cannot be replicated in India. > Demand for solutions for the physically challenged is > high in India but not at the expensive prices they > retail at. > > Government-run research and development organization > Media Lab Asia is also supporting the funding and > development of various assistive technologies > including > a screen reading software called Safa, developed in > collaboration with the National Association for the > Blind (NAB). Safa is available in Hindi and English, > enables a visually impaired person to operate a > computer using speech output and has been worked on by > developers some of whom are blind. Media Lab Asia > is providing funds of Rs45 lakh for three years for > the project. > > "Safa is freely available by downloading it from our > website. However, if people want a better voice and > accent quality, that costs Rs2,000," said Prashant > Ranjan Verma, project manager of the technology > training centre at NAB. > > Media Lab Asia and NAB are also working on the > development of a smart cane to assist the blind people > in movement by enabling them to detect obstacles that > are waist-high up to 2ft away. The cane will also > identify route numbers of buses through a system-based > on wireless radio frequency communication technology. > > The smart cane, which uses directional, > ultrasound-based technology to detect obstacles, gives > the user distance information through a varying > vibratory > pattern produced by a cellphone vibrator. > > "The final prototype is ready. Around 50-60 pieces are > getting made for testing and the smart cane will be > available later this year for a few hundred rupees," > said Verma. > > Even BarrierBreak Technologies, with current revenues > of Rs1.18 crore, is entering the market for products > aimed at the physically challenged with the launch > of a screen reader with English and Hindi versions. > The product belongs to an Ireland company called > Dolphin Computer Access, and will be customized and > distributed in India by BarrierBreak. The Indian > company plans to launch the products at 50-55% less > than international sticker prices of around $1,000 > (Rs39,700). > > "The biggest challenge in India to create awareness > about these products is that it is difficult for > people to accept a change in technology here and > getting > companies to understand what is required," said Shilpi > Kedia, the founder-managing director of BarrierBreak. > > > Forgot the famous last words? Access your message archive online at > http://in.messenger.yahoo.com/webmessengerpromo.php > > To unsubscribe send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with > the subject unsubscribe. > > To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please > visit the list home page at > http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in >
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