The Blind Revolution

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TECHNOLOGY INITIATIVE FOR THE BLIND OF WORTH
TRUST, KATPADI A PRESENTATION BY Col.K.RADHAKR
ISHNAN MANAGING DIRECTOR, WORTH TRUST, KATPADI
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TECHNOLOGY INITIATIVE FOR THE BLINDLET US FIRST
LOOK AT THE MIND-BOGGLING FIGURES OF INDIAS
POPULATION OF THE DISABLED
Type of Disability Census,
2001 (in lakhs) Locomotor 61.05 Visual 106.3
5 Hearing 12.62 Speech 16.41 Mental 22.64 T
otal 219.07 THE STARTING POINT FOR ENABLING
THE DISABLED IN THE COUNTRY IS PROVIDE THEM WITH
DEVICES THAT HELP THEM TO SEE, HEAR AND MOVE AND
THEREBY ACQUIRE LITERACY, EDUCATION AND SKILLS TO
EARN A LIVING.
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TECHNOLOGY INITIATIVE FOR THE BLINDOF WORTH
TRUST, KATPADI
WORTH TRUST, KATPADI IS A UNIQUE NON-PROFIT
ORGANIZATION THAT FULFILLS ALL THESE BASIC
REQUIREMENTS. IT IS UNIQUE IN THAT IT RECRUITS,
TRAINS AND EMPLOYS DISABLED PERSONS IN TO ENGAGE
IN INDUSTRIAL PROCESSES, AND IN MANUFACTURE OF
DISABILITY PRODUCTS FOR THE DISABLED. AND USES
PROFITS FROM THE FORMER ACTIVITY, TO MAKE ITS
DISABILITY PRODUCTS AVAILABLE TO THE DISABLED AT
NO-PROFIT PRICES. THESE PRODDUCTS ARE MADE
TO INTERNATIONAL QUALITY, INTERNATIONAL
SPEIFICATIONS BUT AT A FRACTION OF INTERNATIONAL
PRICES LET US LOOK AT SOME OF OUR PRODUCTS, NOW
AVAILABLE OR UNDER DEVELOPMENT.
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TECHNOLOGY INITIATIVE FOR THE BLIND TWO
IMPORTANT EXAMPLES OF ESTABLISHED PRODUCTS
(1) THE PERKINS BRAILLER THIS IS A PRODUCT OF
PERKINS, USA, THE WORLDS LEADING MAKER OF
BRAILLERS, OUT-SOURCED BY FOR ASSEMBLY BY WORTH
TRUST IN KATPADI. WE OFFER IT IN INDIA FOR US
275, FOR US 450 IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES AGAINST
THE US AND DEVELOPED COUNTRY PRICE OF US
690 (2) THE UNIVERSAL BRAILLE KIT THIS IS AN
ORIGINAL WORTH PRODUCT. IT HAS BEEN DESCRIBED IN
DETAIL IN THE LAST PRESENTATION. WE OFFER IT AT A
UNIT PRICE OF US 10, WHILE THE COMPONENTS
SOURCED IN THE USA OR ANYWHERE ABROAD WOULD
TOGETHER COST AROUND US 100.
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TECHNOLOGY INITIATIVE FOR THE BLIND
AN IMPORTANT EXAMPLE OF A NEW
PRODUCT THE DIRECT SLATE
THE DIRECT SLATE IS A PATH BREAKING INVENTION OF
AN AMERICAN WELL-WISHER NAMED LARRY HAWK WHO HAS
GIFTED TO US THE PLASTIC MOULD EQUIPMENT FOR ITS
PRODUCTION BY WORTH TRUST. A SIMPLE DESIGN
APPROACH REPLACES THE PITS BY RAISED DOTS IN THE
TRADITIONAL SLATE SURFACE, AND THE SOLID
ROUNDED PIN TIP OF THE CONVENTIONAL STYLUS IS
REPLACED BY A HOLLOW CUPPED TIP. THEREBY, THE
PUNCHING ACTION ON THE PAPER SHEET CREATES
RAISED DOTS INSTEAD OF DEPRESSED DOTS.
IMPORTANTLY, THIS CHANGE MEANS THAT BRAILLE CAN
BE WRITTEN, NORMALLY WITHOUT LATERAL INVERSION
AND FROM LEFT TO RIGHT. THIS NEW SLATE WILL
BECOME PART OF FUTURE UBKs THE NEW SLATE WILL
NOW BE AVAILABLE FOR US 3
AGAINST THE US PRICE OF US 30
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TECHNOLOGY INITIATIVE FOR THE BLIND
ANOTHER IMPORTANT EXAMPLE OF A NEW
PRODUCT THE NINA
UNIVERSAL BRAILLE TEACHER
THIS IS A SMALL BOX, WHICH HAS 6 SWITCHES,
NUMBERED 1 TO 6, FOR ENTRY OF BRAILLE CODES FOR A
LANGUAGE PROVIDED IN READY RECKONER CARD. DOR
EXAMPLE, IF ONE PRESSES THE SWITCHES
1-2-3-ENTER, WHICH IS THE CODE FOR THE LETTER L,
THE BOX WILL SPEAK THE CODE AND LETTER OF THE
LANGUGE. WE NOW HAVE BOXES FOR


ENGLISH, HINDI, PUNJABI, TAMIL, MALAYALAM AND
ARABIC,
DOT 1-2-3 IS
THE CODE FOR L OR ITS EQUIVLENT IN ALL THESE
LANGUAGES.
THIS PRODUCT WILL BE
AVAILABLE FOR Rs 700 or USS 20 AND IT WILL BE
VERY USEFUL AS IT CAN BE SHARED BY ALL AS A
CLASSROOM RESOURCE LET ME NOW REQUEST LAKSHMI TO
GET AFROSE TO DEMONSTRATE THE USE OF THIS UNIT
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THE NATIONAL INITIATIVE FOR THE BLIND A
PATH-BREAKING PRODUCT UNDER DEVELOPMENT NEARING
COMPLETION
THE NATESAN
REFRESHABLE BRAILLE DISPLAY

• This will enable reading by the blind of of
  braille versions of all text downloads from the
  Internet. The price of this product will be
  around Rs 2000, not the US 2000 plus that now
  obtains for conventional Refreshable Braille
  Display offered in todays market.

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THE NATIONAL INITIATIVE FOR THE BLIND OUR NEXT
MAJOR DEVICE
THE NATESAN BRAILLE PRINTER

• This is planned as an add-on enhancement to
  the Natesan Refreshable Display Unit .
• It consists of a paper carriage mechanism
  sitting on top of the Natesan Refreshable
  Display, where a sheet of braille paper can be
  pressed down on the text reading line of the
  Display, as and when each refreshed line of text
  is formed. This is what is to become the Natesan
  Braille Printer This Braille
  Printer will be available at an add-on price of
  Rs 400, not the US 4000 plus, that now obtains
  for the conventional Braille Printer offered
  in todays market.

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THE TECHNOLOGY INITIATIVE FOR THE BLIND
A new Path Breaking Project An
Industrial Workshop Unit for the Blind

• This is a unique path-breaking Project
  designed and under implementation now at Worth
  Trust by
  Ted Moallem, a PhD scholar of the
  
  Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard,
  USA.
• Let me introduce Ted at this point and request
  him to make a brief presentation of this Project.
  As he has not been able to make it to Chennai to
  make this presentation in person, we have
  arranged him to make from Boston through a Skype
  international telephonic conference connection

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BlindLeadInitiative
www.blindlead.org

• Ted Moallem
• (moallem_at_mit.edu)

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Blind Lead Initiative
An Industrial Workshop
Unit for the Blind

• This is what I believe may be a unique
  path-breaking Initiative to establish an
  Industrial Workshop Unit for the blind.
• A team of 4 - 6 blind persons are now being
  trained at Worth Trust, Katpadi to acquire
  industrial workshop skills to be able to
  themselves make affordable devices to serve the
  needs of the blind across the world. They would
  handle production at all stages starting from the
  basic stage processing of the raw materials to
  building the components, and finally assembling
  and finishing them as final products. All the
  equipment to handle the processes at all stages
  are specially designed to enable handling by the
  blind workers themselves, without any compromise
  on safety standards, and to result in meaningful
  products for the blind.

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Blind Lead Initiative Motivation

• Establish a model for production, distribution,
  and ongoing development of low-cost 
• tactile and Braille literacy technologies...
•  
•  
• ...sustainable through the initiative and efforts
  of blind and low-vision individuals

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Blind Lead Initiative An Industrial Workshop
Unit for the Blind

• The first product of this Unit is the
  Blind-Lead Braille-It Labeller
• This is a pocket device, that enables the blind
  user to enter braille codes through a set of
  small buttons on its side that will produce
  labels on adhesive tape that will emerge from the
  top. The labels can be fixed (and later removed
  when no longer needed) on any object a book,
  medicine bottle, doorway etc) to provide its
  identity to the blind user.
• It will become available world-wide at a price of
  less than US 5 which would be less than
  one-tenth the price of commercial equivalents
  available today.
• Its importance also lies in its being a
  fore-runner to further useful devices for the
  blind, like note-takers etc.

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Braille-It Labeler

• Features
• 1.Pocket-sized
• 2. One-handed operation
• 3. language-independent
• 4. embosses durable Braille
• on ordinary clear tape 
• 5. Mechanical simplicity   
• 6. Common hardware parts
• 7. Local maintenance/repair

• Applications
• 1. Quickly label food packaging, medicine
  containers, media devices, CDs,
  householdappliances, etc.
•  2. Label borrowed items or novel locations
  without obscuring visual markings
•  3. Record contact information and paste into a
  notebook 
• 4. Record personal reminder and paste onto
  oneself!

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Production

• Braille-It labeler designed with the primary
  goal 
• of enabling safe and effective construction 
• by a team of visually-impaired workers.
•  
• Workshop facility for blind and low-vision
  workers
• to open this summer at WORTH Trust in Katpadi!
• Construction methods include 
• sheet metalwork, wire-shaping, press-fitting, 
• hole-punching, rivet/screw-fastening

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Blind Lead Initiative Acknowledgments

• N.Krishnaswamy
• Vidya Vrikshah
• T.G.Venkatesh and K.Radhakrishnan WORTH Trust,
  Katpadi
•  
• Sabriye Tenberken and Paul Kronenberg
• International Institute for Social Entrepreneurs
  (IISE)
• Matthew McGarvey 
• MIT/Sloan School of Management 
•  

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• THE TECHNOLOGY INITIATIVE FOR THE BLIND
• With that, let me close
  and say
• THANK YOU