The visually challenged people face innumerable problems. From performing day-to-day activities to functioning in the occupation they do not have easy sailing. Many innovative techniques have helped the visually challenged persons to overcome the hurdles. Louie Braille opened the gates through a self-help reader. From then onwards broad minded people are constantly striving to help the visually challenged people throughout the world.
The Times of India, 5.1.2009, p.1 reports
T.V. Raman was a bookish child who developed a love of maths and puzzles at an earl age. That passion didn’t change after glaucoma took his eyesight at the age of 14. What changed is the role that technology and his own innovations played in helping him pursue his interests.
Born and raised in Pune, Raman, 43, went from relying on volunteers to read him textbooks at IIT Bombay to leading a largely autonomous life in Silicon Valley, where he is a highly respected computer scientist and an engineer at Google.
Along the way, Raman built a series of tools to help him take advantages of objects not designed with blind users in mind. They ranged from a Rubik’s Cube covered in Braille to a software program that can take complex mathematical formulas and read them aloud, which became the subject of his Ph.d dissertation at Cornell Univerity. He also built a version of Google’s search service tailored for blind users.
Raman is now working to modify the latest gadget that he says could make life easier for the blind.; a touchscreen phone. “what Raman does is amazing.” Said Paul Schroeder, vice-president for programs and policy at the American Foundation for the Blind, which conducts research on technology that can help visually impaired people.
Some of his innovations may help make gadgets and web services more user-friendly for everyone. Instead of asking how something should work if a person can’t see, he says he prefers to ask, “How should something work when the user is not looking at the screen?”
T.V. Raman is now working to modify the latest technological gadget that he says cold make life easier for blind people. Such systems could prove useful for drivers or anyone else who could benefit from eyes-free access to a phone. They could also appeal t aging baby boomers with fading vision who want to keep using technology they’ve come to depend on.
With no buttons to guide the fingers on its glassy surface, the touchscreen cellphone may seem a particularly daunting challenge. But Raman said that with the right tweaks, touch-screen phones-many of which already come equipped with GPS technology and a copas-could help blind people navigate the world.
“How much of a leap of faith does it take for you to realize that your phone could say, “walk straight and within 200 feet you’ll get to the intersection of X and Y’” Raman said. “This is entirely doable.”
Adovcates for the blind have long complained that technology companies have done a generally poor job of making their products accessible. The web, while opening many opportunities for blind people, is still riddled with obstacles. And sophisticated screen-reader software, which turns documents and web pages into synthesized speech can cost more than $1,000 in US Even with a screen reader, many sites are hard to navigate
Some pages are just poorly designed, like e-commerce sites where the checkout button is an image that isn’t labeled so screen readers can find it.
We need more Ramans to put a smile on the under privileged people of the world. There is less doubt that technology can play a proactive role in this mission. But the human touch is very crucial. Whatever technology can aid the physically challenged people will become irrelevant if the attitude of the normal people are antagnostic towards them.
The Times of India, 5.1.2009, p.1 reports
T.V. Raman was a bookish child who developed a love of maths and puzzles at an earl age. That passion didn’t change after glaucoma took his eyesight at the age of 14. What changed is the role that technology and his own innovations played in helping him pursue his interests.
Born and raised in Pune, Raman, 43, went from relying on volunteers to read him textbooks at IIT Bombay to leading a largely autonomous life in Silicon Valley, where he is a highly respected computer scientist and an engineer at Google.
Along the way, Raman built a series of tools to help him take advantages of objects not designed with blind users in mind. They ranged from a Rubik’s Cube covered in Braille to a software program that can take complex mathematical formulas and read them aloud, which became the subject of his Ph.d dissertation at Cornell Univerity. He also built a version of Google’s search service tailored for blind users.
Raman is now working to modify the latest gadget that he says could make life easier for the blind.; a touchscreen phone. “what Raman does is amazing.” Said Paul Schroeder, vice-president for programs and policy at the American Foundation for the Blind, which conducts research on technology that can help visually impaired people.
Some of his innovations may help make gadgets and web services more user-friendly for everyone. Instead of asking how something should work if a person can’t see, he says he prefers to ask, “How should something work when the user is not looking at the screen?”
T.V. Raman is now working to modify the latest technological gadget that he says cold make life easier for blind people. Such systems could prove useful for drivers or anyone else who could benefit from eyes-free access to a phone. They could also appeal t aging baby boomers with fading vision who want to keep using technology they’ve come to depend on.
With no buttons to guide the fingers on its glassy surface, the touchscreen cellphone may seem a particularly daunting challenge. But Raman said that with the right tweaks, touch-screen phones-many of which already come equipped with GPS technology and a copas-could help blind people navigate the world.
“How much of a leap of faith does it take for you to realize that your phone could say, “walk straight and within 200 feet you’ll get to the intersection of X and Y’” Raman said. “This is entirely doable.”
Adovcates for the blind have long complained that technology companies have done a generally poor job of making their products accessible. The web, while opening many opportunities for blind people, is still riddled with obstacles. And sophisticated screen-reader software, which turns documents and web pages into synthesized speech can cost more than $1,000 in US Even with a screen reader, many sites are hard to navigate
Some pages are just poorly designed, like e-commerce sites where the checkout button is an image that isn’t labeled so screen readers can find it.
We need more Ramans to put a smile on the under privileged people of the world. There is less doubt that technology can play a proactive role in this mission. But the human touch is very crucial. Whatever technology can aid the physically challenged people will become irrelevant if the attitude of the normal people are antagnostic towards them.
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