An Android-based braille phone with tactile features, targetted at the visually impared, is set for launch next month. Designed by Sumit Dugar, an interaction designer, the phone allows the person to feel and touch various shapes, figures and maps.
Speaking at ‘Earthian 2013’ organised by Wipro, on Saturday, Dugar said the product, in the testing stage, would enable a blind person do almost everything a normal person could.
The software is compatible with smart phones and enabled with voice feed back system to ensure the response about the option chosen is given to the user. An internship during his first year of engineering at a remote Gujarat village was what inspired this Delhi-based designer to invent the braille phone. He said the phone is being priced at an affordable Rs 2,000.
The event saw participation of schools from across the country. As many as 19 schools and eight colleges were rewarded based on their project presentation about contribution towards environment. Among the panellists, who spoke at the event, included Girish Mallya the only Indian among 1,023 participants who ran the 251-km ultra marathon. “We ran continuously for six days across Sahara desert carrying a backpack weighing over 12 kilos and water,” Mallya said. The 37-year-old covered the tough terrain despite extreme changes in temperatures.