Seems I should learn Braille soon. This project looks promising. Please help me with Braille training centers in & around Mumbai.
On 4/13/13, avinash shahi <shahi88avin...@gmail.com> wrote: > Sumit Dagar is a 29-year-old visionary who calls himself an > 'interaction designer'. His technological skills, inventiveness and > passion for design have prepared him for a place among today's young > entrepreneurs. But there is one difference: he wants to put people's > lives before profit. > http://www.indianexpress.com/news/opening-door-to-new-technology-for-visually-challenged/1101487/0 > In conversation with Purabi Bora of Indianexpress.com, Dagar talks > about a prototype of an affordable Braille smartphone he has designed > that will open the door to new technology: > > Q1. What inspired you to come up with the idea of developing a Braille > smartphone? How do you intend to make a difference with it? > > A:During my student days (as an engineer and later as a designer), it > was a long standing motivation to design solutions for minority user > groups. Coming from frequent experiences with rural Indian population, > I observed a vast gap between technological power of majority user > groups and minority user groups (like rural population, disabled users > et al). As I delved further into problem finding, I observed a > negative trend in this gap, which seemed to be widening further with > time. While mainstream users got increasingly more "superpowers" > thanks to the technological innovations, minority groups were further > left behind. > > One particular innovation stood out, recent (at that time) > transformation of almost all the interfaces into touch-based systems > meant that devices, which were normally usable by blind users were > suddenly rendered useless. Ubiquitous devices, including phones and > tablets were increasingly becoming reliant on touch/multi-touch > systems. > > My motivation was to start solving this problem, and in parallel > provide a perfect technological solution for the blind users. It > should be a technological companion, which provides comprehensive > features and is comfortable to use. Hence, the solution was to make a > tactile touch screen-based phone -- a hand-held device that is > feature-rich and as advanced as other mainstream competitive devices. > > Q. Why we need this and the difference it will make > > A:There are 300 million blind people in the world. Of these, 90% live > in developing countries, with India having the highest number of > visually impaired (38 million). Of these, 39 million are totally blind > worldwide and 17 million in India. Of the assistive devices available > for visually impaired, Braille display-based devices are usually the > most preferred solutions. In comparison to speech-based devices, they > are quiet and are more accessible universally, beyond limitations of > language. These displays cost in the range of Rs 1,75,000 to Rs > 7,50,000 depending on capability. Braille Notetakers, which are > portable devices with typing functionality costs in the range of Rs > 60,000 to Rs 1,50,000. With our first version of the product, we will > look to redefine these numbers. This product family will bring upon a > revolutionary change in accessibility for blind people. > > - It will be competitively priced (priced around Rs. 9000) > > - Its USP will be its capabilities and design. > > - It will also encourage increased designâled innovation in assistive > technologies for all kind of handicaps. > > - At a penetration of 2%, we will look to sell about 3,50,000 units in > India in first year > > - In following years, we will look to increase this penetration in > India and abroad. Our second version product, and subsequent versions, > will be one of its kind products that will be launched for global > markets. > > Q. Give us a brief about your educational background? > > A:I did my schooling from various schools in Delhi and pursued > engineering in ICT form DA-IICT, Gujarat. I followed it up with > masters in Information and Interface Design from the National > Institute of Design (NID), Bangalore. > > > Q. You were chosen as a TED* fellow to present your Braille smartphone > concept at the TED 2011 conference in the United States. How the > experience was and what did you gain from it? > > A:It was the first time the project came to a world stage. It was a > great moment of validation, not from the users but from the > technologists and the thinkers. I got an overwhelming response from > the audience; and continued to attract attention for the next four > days of the conference. This led to immense international exposure for > my work and a great talk online which conveyed the future needs of the > project. > > > Q. What are the difficulties, if any, you faced initially to make this > unique concept a reality? > > A: "Difficulty" is a continuum for the project. But at the same time, > that is the excitement which keeps one going. The technology is quite > challenging, so we have to shift from all-technology-in-house model to > collaborate-and-make model. From design front, this kind of project is > a first of its kind for this particular user segment. So, we had no > guidelines or best practices to refer to. We spent more than a year to > conduct studies and devise our own guidelines (which we are happy to > share). From financial aspect, raising money for a small user segment > is anyways a problem. This being a cutting edge technology, effort for > such a user group meant that we were in the dark for really a long > time. The Rolex Award came in at the right time and further provided > an impetus to the project. > > > Q. When do you intend to unveil the final product? > > A:We are working to complete our first version product by end of 2013 > and to subsequently unveil it in 2014. > > > Q. Please explain the main features and apps which will be embedded in > the device? Any tie-up plans with big corporate for the manufacturing > of the smartphone? > > A:The device will be a completely capable smartphone, and even more so > for its user segment. It will have a refreshable Braille display that > users can touch-to-read. It will have basic functionalities like phone > call, messaging, contacts, organiser, dictionary and more advanced > ones like games, music, GPS, camera (yes you read it correct) etc. In > context of user, it will have many more contextual innovations, most > of which we won't be able to share yet but some of them are color > identifier, currency identifier etc. > > > Q. Do you intend to introduce the Braille smartphone in overseas > market as well? > > A:Yes, very much. > > Q. How has Rolex Awards for Enterprise helped you realise your dream? > How much of a help the title 'Young Laureate' is proving to you? > > A:Rolex Award has been the biggest milestone for the project. It has > taken this work from a work of fiction to a tangible working > prototype. As I noted before, funding had been a problem for the > project which lacks any instant return-for-investment. For a reputed > organisation like Rolex to come in and support our work so > comprehensively (with funding, network, mentoring and spreading) has > helped the project beyond our imaginations. We have gained from their > dedicated and open-minded support. They have encouraged and allowed us > to experiment and fail, which has further meant that we explored the > field in its entirety. Not to miss, the recognition and credibility > that has come since Rolex Award is irreplaceable. Our work is now well > known, and is being looked upon by other initiatives. We would love to > complete our product someday, and present the first one to Rolex. > > > Q. Tell us about your other passion for making sci-fi short films? Any > new project in the pipeline? > > A:As a designer, having spent most of my time pondering upon various > aspects of design and life juxtaposition, I have developed an > ever-growing interest in storytelling. Storytelling, I believe deeply > connects one to another. As an individual, short-flims, designs and > traveling are my mediums of choice for storytelling. I am almost > always excited to explore any of these three mediums. Being from a > technical background, I have been more inclined towards making science > fiction movies. In fact, my first international award (Imagine Cup) > was for one of my short films. > > From short film point of view, two of my films were in development > till I got too busy with the Braille Phone work > > > (*The TED Fellows program brings young innovators from around the > world into the TED community in order to amplify the impact of their > projects and activities. ) > > > -- > Avinash Shahi > MPhil Research Scholar > Centre for the Study of Law and Governance > Jawaharlal Nehru University > New Delhi India > > Register at the dedicated AccessIndia list for discussing accessibility of > mobile phones / Tabs on: > http://mail.accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/mobile.accessindia_accessindia.org.in > > > Search for old postings at: > http://www.mail-archive.com/accessindia@accessindia.org.in/ > > To unsubscribe send a message to > accessindia-requ...@accessindia.org.in > 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 > > -- Best Regards, Zujar... An optimist laughs to forget, whereas a pessimist forgets to laugh! Register at the dedicated AccessIndia list for discussing accessibility of mobile phones / Tabs on: http://mail.accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/mobile.accessindia_accessindia.org.in Search for old postings at: http://www.mail-archive.com/accessindia@accessindia.org.in/ To unsubscribe send a message to accessindia-requ...@accessindia.org.in 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
