A UK University has come out with a speech recognition technology for languages used in India and Sri Lanka.
The Language Technologies Unit at the Bangor University, Wales, has adapted some of its speech recognition technology for popular languages of the two nations.
The technology adapted to various Indian languages would help blind people communicate better with the outside world as it converts spoken words into machine-readable input.
Visually impaired cricketers from the six Caribbean countries will get a chance to display their skills at a tournament organised exclusively for them and the best among them will find a place in a West Indies team.
Lakhs of visually challenged students, deprived of text books and magazines in Braille for years, will be a happy lot. The reason — a software called ‘Poornachandra Tejaswi Braille Kannada Thanthra msha’, developed by three IT professionals in Mysore. The software can translate 14 vernacular languages into the 172-year-old Braille script within no time. It converts convert data typed in Kannada fonts into Braille. However, the Government has not shown any interest in purchasing the software, which costs Rs 17 lakh.
A robot and special computer are helping New Zealand blind children learn to write for the first time.
The system works by combining a touch-screen computer and a robotic arm. As a teacher draws on the screen, a pen on the arm writes the shapes.
The children hold the pen in one hand, learning the motion involved in drawing the shapes, while their other hand rests on a tactile pad, bringing up the letter shapes for them to feel.
As they write, a computerised voice speaks the letters.
Thanks to a donation and collaboration between Gelman Library and Disability Support Services, blind and visually impaired students can now access resources in the library with more ease.
Last month the library held a ribbon cutting ceremony in celebration of its two new assistive technology suites - study rooms that are equipped with speech, scan and read, magnification and voice recognition software that help blind and visually impaired students see text and use other library materials more easily. About 35 students, library staff and faculty attended the ceremony.
EAR TO THE GROUND
In recognition of its groundbreaking work to prevent debilitating blindness and provide affordable, world-class eye care to the poor, the Aravind Eye Care System, based in Tamil Nadu, India, has won the 2008 Gates Award for Global Health. The 1 million Gates Award—the world's largest prize for international health—honors extraordinary efforts to improve health in developing countries. Founded by Dr. G. Venkataswamy in 1976, Aravind has saved millions of people in India from debilitating blindness.
The visually-challenged commuters travelling on Western Railway (WR)will soon find it easy to locate compartment meant for handicaps, asthe administration has decided to fix special chequered blocks on allthe platforms. Earlier,platforms had no indications for the visually challenged to reach thehandicaps’ compartment. Many visually challenged people would countpoles at railway platforms to find their way.
Drupa 2008, the largest printing equipment exhibition in the world, had new products for the pharmaceutical industry on show from FAG, Xerox, Amcor Flexibles and AVT.
Switzerland-based FAG Graphic Systems unveiled its solution to the problem of ensuring braille in pharmaceutical leaflets is free from mistakes.
German scientists have invented a wireless bionic eyeball that canrestore vision to patients who have become blind due to retina damageor disease.
The new prosthetic device caps 12 years of research to help thesepatients. This work has resulted in a unique system - a fullyimplantable visual prosthesis.
The scientists from the Fraunhofer Institute for MicroelectronicCircuits and Systems in Duisburg, Germany, say that the bionic eye canbypass the damaged retina.
The system comprises an implant and an external transmitter integrated in an eyeglasses-frame.
The Bush administration is about to propose far-reaching new rules thatwould give people with disabilities greater access to tens of thousandsof courtrooms, swimming pools, golf courses, stadiums, theaters, hotelsand retail stores.
Working ona query received on Eyeway helpdesk, Mr Pranay Gadodia approached the UnionPublic Service Commission (UPSC) on behalf of Eyeway looking for specificinformation pertaining to visually impaired people in the Civil Services. Onrefusal from the commission to answer anything over the phone, the sameinformation was sought using the RTI Act.
A team of ophthalmologists from Chandigarh has evolveda way to concurrently treat two eye diseases - cataract and glaucoma -without post operative complications. And that's great news for acountry like India, where 80 percent of those above the age of 50 arelikely to have cataract and six percent are likely to have glaucoma.
Preliminary research shows encouraging results with transplantation of retinal cells in patients with blindness caused by retinitis pigmentosa (RP) and age-related macular degeneration (AMD), according to a report in the August issue of American Journal of Ophthalmology (http://www.AJO.com).
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