Smartphone is no longer limited to the mainstream, the world’s first smartphone for the blind people is now in the making in India. In the near future, blind people will be able to receive SMS’s and emails on their smartphones, which automatically converts text into Braille patterns.
The smartphone uses Shape Memory Alloy technology, based on the concept that metals remember their original shapes, i.e. expand and contract to its original shape after use. Its screen has a grid of pins, which move up and down as per requirement. The grid has a Braille display, where pins come up to represent a character or letter. This screen will be capable of elevating and depressing the contents to form patterns in Braille.[more…]
“We have created the world’s first Braille smartphone,” Sumit Dagar, creator of the phone said. Dagar is a post-graduate from the National Institute of Design (NID). His company is being incubated at the Centre for Innovation Incubation and Entrepreneurship, located in IIM Ahmedabad campus. According to Dagar, he was motivated to develop the device when he realized that so far, technology was only serving the mainstream while neglecting a minor group in the society. He is collaborating with IIT Delhi on making the prototype, which is currently being tested at L V Prasad Eye Institute in Hyderabad.
“The response during the test has been immense. It comes out as a companion more than a phone to the user. We plan to do more advanced versions of the phone in the future,” Dagar adds.
The project has been initiated by Dagar three years ago while studying interaction designing at NID. After working with a couple of companies, he gave up his job to concentrate on his technology, formed a team of six people and started his venture, Kriyate Design Solutions. Currently, the venture is being funded by Rolex Awards under its Young Laureates Programme.
