Software for deaf-blind to communicate | Fusion - WeRIndia

This new technology is helping deaf blind people deal with SMS.

It is made by a professor Arun Mehta.

He is an IIT Delhi alumnus and he wants to help people with disabilities communicate.

He founded an NGO called BAPSI for this purpose.

PocketSMS is one of the apps the NGO has developed.

The app converts the text into Morse code vibrations for the impaired individuals to read and send text messages.

PocketSMS was made using the Google App Inventor for Android phones. It can be used on all smartphones.

The concept behind it is to use vibrations for people to interact with phones. When a message is received it vibrates in long and short vibration pulses.

 

The vibration helps people read the message using Morse code. All they have to do is tap the screen to make the message play.

Arun Mehta is a teacher, software engineer and disability rights activist.

When was running his software consultancy firm, he came with the idea to create the software called Elocutor.

This software is aimed at solving the writing and speaking needs of people who have motor and speech disabilities.

The software was specifically designed for professor Stephen Hawking.

The software is made in such a way that Professor Stephen Hawking could type a text using a single button.

Arun didn’t stop there.

He wanted to make sure that all people with disabilities can use it to make their lives easier.

When he worked on the software, he realized how important such technology is.

To make his vision a reality, him along with his partner Vickram Crishna founded BAPSI (Bidirectional Access Promotion Society) in 2009.

He started this NGO because it was not commercially viable to develop the software as a company.

The NGO is dedicated to developing learning solutions and communication software for people with disabilities.

Arun says that there are half a million deaf-blind people in India alone.

Image Reference: Thebetterindia, Tech2