From research laboratories to the marketplace?the journey for most innovations from India?s leading technical and research institutes like the Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT), Indian Institute of Science, among others, is long and a difficult one. The creative minds behind these products operate on a shoe-string budget and survival is dependent on the loan given by the institutes as seed money or personal finances from friends and family. The net result: a lot of the developed technology ends up inside another product which is then sold to the end-customer.
An academia-industry initiative from IIT Delhi seems to be defying the trend. The institute?s Assistive Technologies Group (Assistech) has developed an innovative and affordable navigation aid for the visually impaired. The device, called SmartCane, helps users detect all obstacles above the knee-level. Utilising modern sensor technology, this device detects obstructions up to a distance of three metres and is compatible with the standard folding white cane currently used by millions of visually impaired people across the globe.
According to the World Health Organisation, 285 million people are estimated to be visually impaired worldwide, with 90% residing in developing countries. India is home for 12 million people with blindness, the largest for any country in the world. Affordability is a key barrier to adoption of technology-based solutions as the few devices that are available, the average price point is in the range of R65,000 to R85,000. In contrast, SmartCane costs only R3,000.
SmartCane was developed in Assistech (a lab which is part of IIT-Delhi that focuses on developing affordable technology for the visually impaired) by Rohan Paul, a Rhodes scholar from Oxford and an IIT alumnus, who chose to develop and launch it in India?letting go of many other opportunities in the west to take the product from concept to reality. ?While it is commonplace for prototypes to be developed, very few of those prototypes eventually become products. What makes SmartCane even more special is that it is affordable and can be used by the people at the bottom of the pyramid,? he says.
According to Paul, blindness is not just a medical condition but possesses the larger dimensions of social exclusion, stigma and neglect. ?Blind people are often taken by surprise by over-hanging branches, protruding air-conditioners and parked vehicles while navigating through unfamiliar terrain. SmartCane warns the user of such objects in their path through a unique system of vibratory patterns, designed to detect potential obstacles even at head height.?
Talking about the product, Paul says that SmartCane started from an idea that emerged from a meeting between technologists and persons with blindness. ?Prototypes were refined based on extensive user testing but we were still unable to take the product to market. The academia-NGO-industry partnership was central to making SmartCane a usable solution. We realised that attaining a product is not the complete solution. The end-user must be supported with information, training for adoption, delivery, repair and on-going support.?
The SmartCane device is an electronic travel aid used in conjunction with a normal white cane that assists a visually impaired person in mobility and navigation. It (SmartCane) uses ultrasonic waves to detect presence of obstacles. These are sound waves which are not audible to human beings. The device has an ultrasonic sensor which can transmit as well as receive the ultrasonic waves. In the presence of obstacles these waves get reflected and the waves thus reflected from obstacles are detected by the sensor of the device. If the obstacles from which waves are reflected lie within certain direction and distance range, warning is issued to the user in the form of vibrations similar to a cell phone.
It is necessary for the user to grip the device in a way that the sensor is directed forward in the direction of upcoming obstacles. The SmartCane device is fitted onto top fold of white cane and acts as a natural extension to the white cane. It can be detached from white cane as and when it is necessary and can be re-attached using a simple latching mechanism.
IIT Delhi has played a central role in developing this product. Assistech is working on many interesting affordable technologies?including a refreshable braille cell, tactile graphics, and the braille tutor to name a few. Deependra Manocha, director of Saksham and Delhi-President of National Association of Blind, has provided research and marketing support through a network of organisations that are supporting it. Saksham Trust has enabled partnerships with a large number of welfare organisations for delivering the device, information and training to users across the county.
Phoenix Medical Systems is the industrial partner of SmartCane, providing R&D and executing the manufacturing process. The Wellcome Trust, a global charitable foundation, donated almost ?450,000 to IIT Delhi under the R&D for Affordable Healthcare in India initiative to further develop SmartCane. ?The SmartCane that we see today serves the cane mobility needs of a blind person with minimal adaptation and learning. The design considers not just the technical functionality but also needs around flexible usage, real life utility, upkeep/maintenance, aesthetics, social acceptability and capacity for real time sensory feedback,? says Paul.
Diana Tay, business development manager for technology transfer at the Wellcome Trust said, ?The SmartCane is a mobility aid device that will have a positive impact on the day-to-day activities of the visually impaired in India and possibly further afield. The cross-disciplinary team approach behind the SmartCane has enabled the successful delivery of this technology to the marketplace.?
While the standard white cane is considered a boon for the blind, it can only help a person navigate through obstacles on the ground and within a range of 1 metre. Blind people often bump into hanging branches, protruding ACs and parked vehicles thereby feeling unsafe and under-confident about navigation through unknown terrains. Every time they have to detect an object in their path they need to make a physical contact through their cane?be it a human being or a stray animal?which at times results in misappropriate and embarrassing situations and too often results in the loss of dignity and confidence.
SmartCane allows the visually impaired to detect objects in their immediate environment without physical contact and this has huge implications not only on their well-being but also their dignity by allowing them to be more independently mobile. Across the trials conducted, the device has been successful in helping the visually impaired not bang into protrusions and has in turn helped them navigate most situations securely with ease and confidence.
?The SmartCane device is very beneficial. It protects me from a lot of upper body injuries which I earlier used to encounter on a daily basis while using the regular white cane,? says Satguru Rathi from New Delhi. Another user, Indirani Sankari from Mumbai, says, ?It feels great to be able to move around alone. I no more need to hold anyone?s hand for my mobility. I can just be myself. Family and friends now have the confidence in me that I can travel independently without getting hurt or injured.?
Without any doubt, this is one innovation from our research labs that is well-suited to assist visually impaired find their own way.