Visionary Invention Of IITG Engineers Empower The Vision-Deprived

The environment in which one grows up shapes the ethos of that individual. It establishes a strong foundation not only for the individual but also for the wider community. Top tech companies all over the world compete for pooling the best engineers from India because Indian engineers have the enviable skill of fusing knowledge with ethos. IIT Guwahati’s Kaviraj Prithvi and Lalika Laya are the most recent examples of the wonders Indian engineers are capable of achieving. They used their knowledge to design a cost-effective braille printer, TactAll, which received funding from the Atal Incubation Centre at Goa Institute of Management (AIC-GIM).

Where knowledge meets ethos
The B-Tech students from IIT Guwahati were touched by the plight of the marginalized community of the visually impaired in the country. Most of them come from underprivileged sections. While talking about his innovation, Prithvi said that the braille devices available in the country are “bulky and expensive," costing somewhere between INR 1.5-2.5 lakhs. It makes them less accessible to those who need them. It is from this point that Prithvi and Laya understood how they would shape their project.

Prithvi and Laya’s vision lies in how they organically assimilated knowledge to create an economically sustainable design. Science and innovation are all about filling the gap in existing knowledge. It is pity that even in the age of cutting-edge technology, most people do not benefit from it. Prithvi emphasized that “[he] felt an urge to fill this gap and help the students in any possible way”. Hence, he, along with his classmate Laya, set to create a braille printer that costs almost 20 times less than the conventional printers in the market.  Through this innovation, these young engineers proved how knowledge is beneficial only when it is used for the greater good.

Being tactful
Prithvi and Laya made their vision accessible by simplifying technology. Their braille printer, TactAll, is a small-sized portable printer. Through the use of solenoids, it converts data from computer devices into braille. The most interesting aspect of TactAll is that it can print on pages of any size, not just A4 size.  Simplifying technology to make it accessible has always been Prithvi’s mantra. Earlier, he worked on soft robotic theories and BP monitoring devices. These works earned him national recognition as the young engineer-entrepreneur “focused on the social angle of innovation,” as he admitted in an interview.

Engineers like Prithvi and Laya will continue to introduce positive change in society because their innovations are situated in ethos. Their designs resonate with the needs of society. They are a beacon of light for the future engineers of India. To achieve great heights just like Prithvi and Laya, aspiring engineers should participate in workshops and conferences to familiarise themselves with the ground-level problems of the country and seek innovative, cost-effective ways to solve them.