Home
Apps
Apps News
IIT Kharagpur Software to Transliterate Indian Languages Into Braille

IIT-Kharagpur Software to Transliterate Indian Languages Into Braille

By Indo-Asian News Service | Updated: 3 September 2015 14:58 IST

Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology-Kharagpur (IIT-Kgp) have developed a unique technology via a software that enables conversion of Indian languages into Braille for the visually challenged.

The institute is also planning to go for large-scale deployment in West Bengal and other states.

The Sparsha Transliteration System developed by IIT-Kgp's Communication Empowerment Lab, led by Anupam Basu, can accept Indian language texts (such as Hindi, Bengali, Marathi, Gujarati, Telugu, Oriya, Kannada) as input and convert it into Braille.

"The software takes any Indian language text as input in Unicode and can convert it to Braille and facilitates the production of Braille textbooks," Basu, a professor at IIT-Kgp's department of computer science and engineering, told IANS on Wednesday.

"This helps the visually challenged to access information from a variety of sources," Basu said.

The converted files can be printed out through any Braille embosser (printer for Braille).

IIT-Kgp recently inked a deal with Odisha's Siksha 'O' Anusandhan University to produce necessary Braille books in Odiya through Sparsha.

"It is being used in many places in India and we are planning to go for large-scale deployment. We have talked to blind schools in Bengal and also the Bengal government. We are planning to approach other state governments as well," Basu said.

Among the variety of pioneering and award-winning assistive technologies developed, there is also the 'speech-enabled Baishakhi keyboard' for the visually challenged .

"Using this software, the blind people will be able to type (Bangla and English) and hear what they are typing,' Basu said.

The purpose is that blind students who sit for exams... they need writers... that will no longer be needed. They can use Internet, email themselves through the technology," he added.

Comments

For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.