Hand held device for the visually challenged and elderly
Description
Some of the novel features of this low cost mobile device: 1) Voice interactivity – A lot of elderly people are unable to press keys due to their size. Moreover since multiple keys are required to be pressed in a proper sequence particularly when an SMS is being typed. This becomes cumbersome. Instead a voice based system would help them to speak to the mobile phone and type a number or alphabet. 2) Community support – This is an accessible self-support online community targeted at the elderly and differently-abled. 3) Call centre support – A 24X7 call centre support facility is envisaged, which will assist the users with regard to regular queries as well as act as critical intervention mechanisms in times of life support situations by coordinating between hospitals, paramedics, insurance companies, doctors etc. 4) Communication enhancing features – Including Multi-lingual speech recognition, Text to speech support for local languages, Gesture based user friendly interfaces, Display screen friendly for low vision users, Talking Accessible keypad with large alphabets and numerals 5) Ease of use: Facilitated by the fact that we will have 6 basic keys for Dial/Answer, Disconnect, GPS, Proximity sensor, Text to speech, Speech recognition 6) Information, Transactions, Lifestyle & Productivity enhancing features: Applications such as Banking, Retail, Health Management, Emergency guidance, Weather, Community connect, Contextual alerts and reminders, Office suite, OCR for object detection etc. The applications will be open source or community created applications. 7) Location, Orientation & Movement enhancing features: This includes features and functionalities such as Global Positioning System based navigational help for directions, Proximity sensor to detect nearby objects and Digital compass (magnetometer), to detect direction, Gyroscope to measure acceleration, shake, vibration shock, or fall. 8) Audio feedback – Just as input is facilitated by voice, the output would also be voice enabled which will help both the elderly as well as the visually challenged to get feedback from the phone. It would be similar to the audio playback one receives in an IVR. This will be enabled for each interaction between the human user and the mobile device – like on selection of keys from the key pad, selection of menus, selection of items from menus, change in status in a particular menu (for example changing time and date) and so on. 9) Contextual alerts & Reminders – such as for taking medicine, monitoring of blood pressure, routine visits to doctors, birthdates of grandchildren, favourite programs on television, bill payment reminders etc. These reminders can be a separate application with ease of access and usability (least number of key presses, voice interactivity, preset options etc.) 10) Voice Recording Facility – particularly for calls from grandchildren to be able to play back at leisure. 11) Gesture based messaging: This is a gesture based SMS functionality where the users can assign pre-designed message template to specific body gestures and the device can send out the appropriate SMS.
What we deliver
1) Voice interactivity – A lot of elderly people are unable to press keys due to their size. Moreover since multiple keys are required to be pressed in a proper sequence particularly when an SMS is being typed. This becomes cumbersome. Instead a voice based system would help them to speak to the mobile phone and type a number or alphabet. 2) Community support – This is an accessible self-support online community targeted at the elderly and differently-abled. 3) Call centre support – A 24X7 call centre support facility is envisaged, which will assist the users with regard to regular queries as well as act as critical intervention mechanisms in times of life support situations by coordinating between hospitals, paramedics, insurance companies, doctors etc. 4) Communication enhancing features – Including Multi-lingual speech recognition, Text to speech support for local languages, Gesture based user friendly interfaces, Display screen friendly for low vision users, Talking Accessible keypad with large alphabets and numerals 5) Ease of use: Facilitated by the fact that we will have 6 basic keys for Dial/Answer, Disconnect, GPS, Proximity sensor, Text to speech, Speech recognition 6) Information, Transactions, Lifestyle & Productivity enhancing features: Applications such as Banking, Retail, Health Management, Emergency guidance, Weather, Community connect, Contextual alerts and reminders, Office suite, OCR for object detection etc. The applications will be open source or community created applications. 7) Location, Orientation & Movement enhancing features: This includes features and functionalities such as Global Positioning System based navigational help for directions, Proximity sensor to detect nearby objects and Digital compass (magnetometer), to detect direction, Gyroscope to measure acceleration, shake, vibration shock, or fall. 8) Audio feedback – Just as input is facilitated by voice, the output would also be voice enabled which will help both the elderly as well as the visually challenged to get feedback from the phone. It would be similar to the audio playback one receives in an IVR. This will be enabled for each interaction between the human user and the mobile device – like on selection of keys from the key pad, selection of menus, selection of items from menus, change in status in a particular menu (for example changing time and date) and so on. 9) Contextual alerts & Reminders – such as for taking medicine, monitoring of blood pressure, routine visits to doctors, birthdates of grandchildren, favourite programs on television, bill payment reminders etc. These reminders can be a separate application with ease of access and usability (least number of key presses, voice interactivity, preset options etc.) 10) Voice Recording Facility – particularly for calls from grandchildren to be able to play back at leisure. 11) Gesture based messaging: This is a gesture based SMS functionality where the users can assign pre-designed message template to specific body gestures and the device can send out the appropriate SMS.
Whom we deliver
Mobile phones which have the mobile speak software are being used by the visually challenged, but nowhere near the price band planned for this device
Why is the project unique?
The results of the study conducted amongst the 60 visually challenged, established the need for the mobile phone assistive technology device, the required features, the potential price points and the ecosystem needed for the same. The tasks which the respondents need most help included Communication, Information (Transactions, Lifestyle and Productivity), Mobility (Location & Orientation) and Support. Table 6 gives details of user activity mapped to device features. In this table we attempt to map the key activities listed by users against assistive technology device features which can be incorporated in a mobile phone assistive device. Out of the features listed below, OCR (Optical Character Recognition) for object detection is a feature which was not part of our original list, but was incorporated based on the survey we conducted. Features: Processor LCD Display Screen Phone Housing Keypad Camera FM radio GPS Proximity sensor Gyroscope Digital Compass Basic Applications Gesture recognition Text to speech OCR Community connect Call center support All the above features offered in a low cost specialized device for the affordable price range of Rs 3000.
Roadmap
Some of the challenges we think that would be involved and when overcome will allow for such mobile services/ applications to reach the widest audience The challenges faced in the implementation of this project fall into the following three broad categories: technological, business and governmental. TECHNOLOGICAL CHALLENGES The following are some of the known technology challenges: 1. Systems integration across multiple interrelated hardware and software used in the device such as Global Positioning System, Proximity sensors, Gyroscope and Digital compass. 2. Ease of use of the device given the large number of product features envisaged. 3. Optimum battery power given the large number of real-time product features. 4. Need for end user training for users with limited exposure to assistive technology devices. 5. Need for multi-lingual speech recognition in multiple Indian languages. 6. Text to speech support for local languages. 7. Need for speech recognition programs be trained for individual users. BUSINESS CHALLENGES The following are some of the known business challenges: 1. Need to enter into multiple low-cost licensing arrangements with software providers for features such as Global Positioning System, Speech recognition and various basic software applications. 2. Build the ecosystem of accessible application developers. 3. Provide monetary incentives for the software and service providers. 4. Coordinating across multiple participants and stakeholders including hardware vendors, software vendors, support service providers, telecom companies, government agencies, NGOs, educational institutions etc. REGULATORY AND GOVERNMENT RELATED CHALLENGES An ambitious project of this degree of complexity needs the necessary governmental support across various dimensions. The following are some of the known challenges in this category: 1. Need to get governmental support for tax subsidies (if required). 2. Need to get governmental support for removal of import duties for select components of the device.
Contact
Sunil J Mathew
Society for Rehabilitation of the Visually Challenged (SRVC)
5th Floor, South Square Bldg, Panampilly Nagar
Kochi, Kerala, India
682036
URL/Website – www.visuallychallenged.com
