Click to play videoChennai: Technology can be glamorous. But can it have a human touch? This is the story of a young IIT engineer who bent technology to give sick children the gift of speech. Ajit Narayanan, founder of Invention Labs, has invented a computer that helps patients suffering from cerebral palsy communicate.
The Invention Labs founder said that patients of cerebral palsy are as intelligent, as capable as everyone else.
"Patients of cerebral palsy are as intelligent, as capable as everyone else. But a few cells in their brain are damaged. So they can't control their muscles very well. They can't use a pen, they can't type, they can't talk. Basically, they can't communicate," said Narayanan.
Patients of cerebral palsy now have a friend in Avaz - a computer that talks. On its screen are pictures, representing sentences they might want to use. Touch a picture and the computer speaks. They can also punch in words and have the software suggest others to follow it.
Narayan said, "Only celebrities like Stephen Hawking could afford such gadgets. Imported models cost thirty to forty thousand dollars. I wanted to make something that was affordable in India."
Avaz costs just Rs 30,000 rupees - It is cheap because it doesn't need any fancy parts. It's built from material usually used in cell phones and tablet computers, stitched together with an innovative software. It was dreamt up by Narayanan, an IIT Madras graduate who chucked a cushy job in the US to come back and work in India.
Narayanan said, "people in the US aren't really making technology that is applicable to India, to Indian problems. I wanted to be among the first to do that."
Today Avaaz is being used by students at VidyaSagar, a school for the specially-abled in Chennai. The Spastic society in Karnataka has also ordered a few computers.
"Recently the Spastic society in Chennai organised an annual day function. All the kids used Avaz to participate in skits, to speak out their dialogues. When I looked back in the audience, I saw their parents weep because their children were talking so easily," said Narayanan.
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