Sketching device for the blinds.
Imagining a fluffy cloud in the sky and a happy sun rising from within two mountains does not need one to be visually-abled. And now realising that vision on canvas has also become a possibility for the visually-impaired. Pragnya Bhatt and her husband Dilip, have collectively put together an innovative sketching device for the blind. It was initially conceived as a way to let their visually-impaired son, Nikunj, express himself freely on canvas. Now, it's been developed as a device that can be used by all visually-impaired children. The most fascinating aspect of this device is the way it works. Explains Bhatt, "This sketching device consists of a drawing surface (a board made from a hook, a loop of nylon fabric or velcro strips) and a specially designed sketching pen with a thick thread inside it. So, simply by holding the pen against the velcro slate, one can start drawing different figures, free form sketches, alphabets in any language, graphical symbols and even numericals. The drawing is made by the thread clinging on to the velcro surface. The same can be erased simply by pulling out the thread from the surface of the slate, making it very convenient for a visually-impaired person to reuse this device." A sketching device for the blind may not warrant as the most earth-shattering invention, given the existing products in its league available in the market. How does this device, then, score above them? Bhatt says, "Presently, Braille is used worldwide by the blind for reading and writing script characters, but it does not support drawing. This device is said to provide a 'drawing stimulus' to foster creativity, while serving as a learning aid as well. Everyone must have the right to express themselves creatively. This sketching pen device, being the first of its kind internationally, has a remarkable feature of 'draw as you think' compared to available tactile devices where 'embossing' of the graphical entities is carried out." If giving one the freedom to sink into one's imagination and create visual poetry wasn't already a noble deed, Bhatt ensures this device is low-cost and easy to manufacture. Presently being incubated by IIM Ahmedabad, Bhatt has encouraged the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, to upgrade the present model. Bhatt explains, "This will serve as an educational aid for allowing the blind to learn graphics, sketches, alphabets and for enhancing learning skills for subjects like mathematics, geometry, geography etc." with regards prateek agarwal. Cell: +9 1 9 9 2 8 3 4 1 1 9 7 E-mails: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] 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
