ABSTRACT: Inclusion of marginalized communities is considered a major
developmental objective for all societies in this millennia. Inclusion of people with disabilities, born or acquired later, constitutes a very different challenge as it cannot be handled just by policies and political will. It requires major technology intervention. In this talk we present the work of ASSISTECH, IIT Delhi in developing solutions aimed at independent mobility and education of visually impaired in India and other low income countries. ASSISTECH has had some success in disseminating the technology solutions that have been developed in the laboratory. First, we would focus on uniqueness of our context and how these solutions innovatively address our needs including affordability. Further, we also talk about the challenges in translational research and dissemination that is critical for taking any proof-of-concept beyond
the walls of a laboratory.

ABOUT SPEAKER: M. Balakrishnan is a Professor on leave from the Department of Computer Science & Engineering, IIT Delhi and currently Vice Chancellorof a Greenfield Institution of Eminence named Satya Bharti Institute of Technology being founded by the Bharti group. He obtained his B.E.(Hons.) in Electronics & Electrical Engg. from BITS Pilani in 1977 and Ph.D. from EE Dept. IIT Delhi in 1985. He worked as a Scientist in CARE, IIT Delhi from 1977 to 1985 where he was involved in designing and implementing real-time DSP systems. ASSISTECH, a laboratory and research group founded by him along with Prof. P.V.M. Rao (Mech Engg), is involved indeveloping a number of assistive devices targeted towards mobility and education of the visually impaired.  SmartCaneTM is a mobility aid for
visually impaired developed by his group which is currently used by thousands of users in India and other low-income countries. He has been a recipient of three National awards, ACM Eugene L Lawler award and very recently IIT Delhi’s Life Time award for his work in the disability space.