A new Artificial Intelligence powered solution called Drishti has been developed by Accenture in order to improve the lives and work of the visually impaired. Drishti – Sanskrit for vision – will enhance the way visually impaired people experience the work all while improving workplace productivity.

Drishti is part of Accenture’s Tech4Good program which aims to use technology to improve the way people live and work in the world by solving complex social challenges. Drishti is a smartphone based solution that uses AI technologies such as image recognition, natural language processing and natural language generation capabilities to describe the surrounding environment to its visually impaired user.
 

Drishti provides narration to its user in order to describe the number of people in the room along with their gender, age and emotion based on their facial expressions. Initially developed with 10 blind professionals in India in a collaborative effort between Accenture and the National Association for the Blind in India Drishti can also read text from books and documents as well as identify obstacles such as doors.

Accenture plans to introduce Drishti to 100 blind workers in India. The solution is currently being pilot tested in South Africa and a Spanish language version is in the works in Argentina. Speaking on Drishti Paul Daugherty, Accenture’s chief technology and innovation officer said: “Accenture believes diversity is a source of innovation, creativity and competitive advantage. AI technology can empower humans by augmenting their capabilities so they can achieve more for themselves and the world around them. This work reflects our longstanding commitment to inclusion and diversity, and our effort to create a ‘truly human’ environment where people can be who they are, and be their best, both professionally and personally.”

Among other things Accenture has also created the Bleewatch a wearable device which could change the way the hearing impaired experience music. Its Dance feature provides tactile feedback to the user by creating vibrations in sync with whatever music is being played. Hearing impaired users can can put it on, feel the music transformed into vibrations and dance to the beat.

Accenture is a leading global professional services company, providing a broad range of services and solutions in strategy, consulting, digital, technology and operations. For more information vist their website.
Source: https://irishtechnews.ie/accenture-develop-ai-solution-to-aid-the-visually-impaired-in-life-and-work/