Project Title: Device for the Uniquely Abled (DUA)
Principle Investigator: Dr. Harmeet Kaur
Co-investigators: Dr. Baljeet Kaur and Dibyajyoti Das
Student Members: Abhishek Gupta, Avinash Prasad, Ginnisha Karira, Gaurav Siddhad, Mansi Agarwal, Shaurya Sahai, Shobhit Agarwal, Shubham Kumar, Pratik Moon and Vishal Pandey.
The results for this edition of the Innovation Project Scheme were recently declared by the varsity. Over 300 projects submitted by students and faculty of colleges around the university made it to the final list. A project submitted by the faculty members and students of Hans Raj College, under the name of “Device for the Uniquely Abled (DUA)” has made the cut.
The project aims at creating a device which would help the visually impaired students to commute from one place to another while taking care of the obstacles that come in their way. In addition to the feature of obstacle avoidance, the device would also help the students to navigate from one place to another by giving them directions in the audio form.“There are other such devices which solve the purpose, but none of them completely eliminate the problem. We’re trying to build a robust device which will handle the problem in a more effective manner”, said Ginnisha Karira, a student-member of the group. According to their research, there are around 300 million blind people in the world who face such issues. Hence, the team wants to build something which enables them to be self-sufficient and feel confident.
According to the team their device will make their college campus friendly for the visually impaired people. If it works fine without any glitches, then it’ll be launched in a wider campus. The feature of “obstacle avoidance” will work well, both in and outside the campus. On asking about their future plans, Vishal Pandey, another member of the team said, “We have been doing extensive research for the past few months. We visited the Blind Relief Association, Delhi, to talk to the people who actually deal with such problems. The visit has given us a very clear insight on what and how the uniquely abled people manage their problems.”
“The vision that propelled us towards this initiative is the need to help visually challenged members of our college regain self-confidence while walking in and around the campus. We wish to alleviate their fear of walking on the road”, said Dr. Baljeet Kaur. She further added, “The available gadgets are way too expensive for the needy, and even if made available through donations, they do not help identify obstacles above waistline. We hope to help them with the vision of the Blind Relief Association: “Helping the blind help themselves“.
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Related reading: What are Innovation Projects?
Graphic by Vidhipssa Mohan
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