Lending a helping hand: Assistive technology for the differently-abled

At the Techshare India 2014 conference which took place on DATES, several companies were able to exhibit devices that helped aid people with hearing, speaking and visual disabilities lead improved lives. The conference cum exhibition takes place once every two years. It aims to highlight the issue of disability and the work being done in this field , and it is in its fourth year now.

When we talk about technology the focus tends to be on things like phones and tablets, but the upswell in breakthroughs has led to innovations that can help empower everyone. Here is a round up of a few of the devices that were specially showcased during the event:

Zychem Swell Paper
Created by Zychem Ltd, the Zychem Paper (see top) is a special kind of paper that makes use of nano-tubules embedded in the paper to make tactile diagrams. According the Philip Eccles, Marketing Director of Zychem Ltd, once a tactile diagram, printout or writing is created on the paper it is passed through the Zyfuse heater. "After a heating process that lasts a few seconds, the paper comes out on the other side with the diagram raised up that can be read by tactile contact. Currently the paper is available in India through Barrier Break Technologies and it costs Rs 75 per sheet of paper," he says.

ClearReader+
Aimed with helping people with a vision impairment, Optelec, based out of The Netherlands, manufactures magnifiers and readers for those with low vision. Amongst others the magnifiers come with the option of taking screenshots, reading the text out for the user, and reading it over different backgrounds for improved contrasts. Jim Pors, International Sales Manager, Optelec, says, "Some of the products that were showcased include the ClearReader+ (see above), Compact Touch HD, ClearView+ Speech, amongst others. These are products who are severely visually impaired but have not lost vision completely. The devices help them to magnify print and for those who cannot read devices like the ClearView+ Reader can help them listen to their documents."

Conversor Pro
Based out of the UK, Conversor Limited, is a firm that specialises in assistive listening devices. At Techshare India 2014, one of its flagship devices which was displayed was the Conversor Pro (see above). The complete unit consists of a microphone transmitter and a wireless pendant reciever. Jeremy Brassington, Managing Director Coversor Limited, says, "The microphone transmitter syncs wirelessly with the pendant receiver, that is worn around the neck of the individual listening. The speaker can be as far away as 50 metres indoors or around 100 metres outdoors. The receiver also has a headphone output that can connect directly to the hearing aid. As a result not only can a person hear the speaker at a distance clearly, but the patented noise cancelling software enables the listener to filter out all the sounds, such that only the actual voice reaches to the user. In addition the tool is ueful for educational organisations, wherein a student listening to a lecture as such can even record and make notes on the subject later on."

The Grid 2: Another firm based out of the UK, Sensory Software International Ltd exhibited its proprietary software called The Grid 2 (see above). Designed specifically for those with a speech impediment it provides computing access to people with little or no clear speech. Paul Hawes, who owns the firm says that the software can help users with Symbol Chat, Text Chat, Computer Control and a lot more. In addition it has been translated into 20 languages." Interestingly a free app called the Grid Player has been released by Hawes and his team for users to access content on their iPad.

Plextalk Vachak
The digital talking book (see above), for the visually-impaired is a first of its kind device made for the Indian markets. The device has been created by Plextalk, owned by the Shinano Kenshi Company Ltd in Japan. Toshiki Kutsukake, of the Business Development Section, Assistive Technology Products Business Unit, says, "The Plextalk Vachak, is specially designed for the Indian market and has audio support for Hindi. MS Word documents in Hindi and English can be stored on it and it reads back in Hindi. It makes use of the DAISY (Digital Format) medium to do so. In addition people can record items as well as read books on it and even listen to music."

HIMS LifeStyle HD730
A portable magnifier, the LifeStyle HD 730 (see above) mainly helps people with very low vision magnify documents for extending reading, viewing pictures and even performing hobbies. The device, manufactured by HIMS Korea, has various magnification modes on it that allow the user not only to magnify images and project them either on a 22-inch or 24-inch screen, but also take screen shots, widen the space between letters to make it more readable.