On 4/16/12, Vikas Kapoor <[email protected]> wrote: > Now the blind and deaf can ‘read' and send SMS > > PocketSMS facilitates this through a series of vibrations > > Now the visually and audio impaired can ‘read' and send SMS through a simple > application called PocketSMS. It can be downloaded for free from Bapsi.org. > > “Most of the assistive technologies address only one sort of disability. We > have voice recognition software for the blind and Braille keyboards, but > nothing for those who might be both deaf and blind,” points out Arun Mehta, > founder of Bapsi.org. > > Bidirectional Access Promotion Society or bapsi.org combines policy-related > work with technology development to help individuals with communication > access related issues. > > Developed by Anmol Anand, a final year student of Masters of Computer > Applications at Lal Bahadur Shastri Institute of Management, Delhi, > PocketSMS was written using the Google App Inventor for the Android > smartphone platform. > > It works on the cheapest and least sophisticated of android phones. Inputs > can be made using any type of keyboards on mobile phones and the outputs are > read through Morse code vibrations. > > It works on the premise that both the visually-challenged and the > hearing-impaired can feel the vibrations that indicate an SMS has been > received and reply through short and long vibration pulses. The idea is to > make them independent communicators. > > “We have provided clear instructions for caregivers to help install the > software,” says Mr. Mehta. “It works best when the screen guard is turned > off.” > > Morse code > > To help users learn the Morse code, Bapsi has a free Morse Trainer > application. PocketSMS can pick up a short speech and convey it through > Morse vibrations to users. This is especially useful for the hearing > impaired who might often find speech difficult. > > “Braille devices can be expensive. The idea of PocketSMS takes advantage of > the old Morse technology using vibrations that is really easy to program on > smart phones.” > > Since vibrations can convey only a small amount of text at a time, work is > now on to make Twitter accessible. “Since Twitter supports a small number of > characters, we can use it to process more information,” notes Mehta. > > Volunteers needed > > Bapsi.org needs volunteers to participate and test their products. “We are > trying to develop a way to bring the Wikipedia through this application onto > phones for the differently-abled. We are trying to do this by excluding the > pictures and transferring only the text. We want to develop even simpler > products but can't do that without willing volunteers testing our products,” > says Mr. Mehta. > > http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-international/article3318701.ece > > Vikas Kapoor, > MSN Id: [email protected], Yahoo&Skype Id: dl_vikas, > Mobile: (+91) 9891098137. > > Search for old postings at: > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ > > To unsubscribe send a message to > [email protected] > with the subject unsubscribe. > > To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please > visit the list home page at > http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in > >
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