To the Access India Group,
I am writing to express my profound fascination with the "solution" provided by the Reserve Bank of India for currency identification: the MANI (Mobile Aided Note Identifier) app. One has to wonder, in the hallowed halls where this app was conceptualized, how many of the designers have ever actually tried to conduct a financial transaction in the wild-say, at a bustling metro station or a crowded vegetable market-while balancing a white cane in one hand, a wallet in the other, and keeping a phone steady enough to capture a perfect, well-lit, non-soiled image of a banknote. It is truly a marvel of armchair engineering. The assumption appears to be that a person with visual impairment has the luxury of standing perfectly still in a quiet, well-lit studio environment, carefully positioning a pristine, crisp banknote before their rear camera to wait for the software to "think." In the real world, however, we deal with reality: The Noise Factor: Try explaining to an impatient shopkeeper or a crowd of commuters pushing past you that you need a moment of absolute silence to hear the app's audio announcement. It's almost as if the designers imagined the entire population of India would pause their lives to accommodate a smartphone's processing latency. The Multitasking Nightmare: Asking someone to juggle a cane, a phone, and a wallet in a crowded public space is a logistical absurdity. If I have to perform a complex, multi-step digital scan just to confirm I'm handing over the right denomination, I might as well just surrender my wallet and ask the shopkeeper to take whatever they feel like. The Soiled Note Problem: Let us not forget the irony that the app struggles with the very notes that actually circulate in our economy-the worn, crumpled, or slightly soiled ones-which, unsurprisingly, are the ones most often handed to us. One has to ask: who was consulted during the development of this tool? Was it actual users who navigate the chaos of Indian public transport daily, or was it a committee that thought a "vibration notification" was a sufficient substitute for a truly accessible, tactile-friendly currency design? Is this a solution, or is it merely a box-ticking exercise in "digital inclusion" that ignores the fundamental mechanics of daily life? While the intent may have been noble, the execution demonstrates a staggering disconnect from the lived experience of the people it is meant to serve. A truly accessible solution would require no apps, no cameras, and no "perfect" lighting conditions-just currency that is designed to be identified instantly by touch. You can view the details of this tool here: https://rbikehtahai.rbi.org.in/mani-app.html I am curious to hear your thoughts. Do you feel this is a solution that you concur with? If not, what do you believe needs to be done to address such negligence and ignorance when designing solutions for the community? Warm regards, <https://www.blogger.com/profile/04580049257592982490> Mister Kayne Author: <https://www.mister-kayne.com/> The Somebody, Nobody, Anybody & Everybody Blog! Mail: <mailto:[email protected]> [email protected] Sent from OutlookR for Windows 11 -- Disclaimer: 1. Contents of the mails, factual, or otherwise, reflect the thinking of the person sending the mail and AI in no way relates itself to its veracity; 2. AI cannot be held liable for any commission/omission based on the mails sent through this mailing list.. Search for old postings at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "AccessIndia" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/a/accessindia.org.in/d/msgid/accessindia/00e601dcfb23%242ebcbb20%248c363160%24%40mister-kayne.com.
