The document discusses how academics can help the disabled through information and communication technologies (ICT). It provides two case studies of ICT systems developed for the disabled: a finger-cross technique communication device and a brain-computer interface that detects imagined movements from EEG signals. It then highlights several examples of ICT projects in India that support the disabled, such as communication aids, wheelchair control systems using brain signals, and screen reading software in local languages. The document advocates that academics can contribute significantly to developing low-cost and context-appropriate ICT solutions to help the disabled in developing countries achieve greater independence.

1. ICT for Disabled - What
we Academicians have
to offer?
Aniruddha Chandra
ECE Department, NIT Durgapur
aniruddha.chandra@ieee.org

2. IEI Durgapur
May 17, 2008
 Do we believe that this
person can communicate?
 Even if he can, do we really
need to bother about it?
A. Chandra, NIT Durgapur – ICT for Disabled 2

3. IEI Durgapur
May 17, 2008
 The answer is an emphatic
“YES”
Stephen Hawking during the press conference at the National
Library of in Paris, France to inaugurate the Laboratory of
Astronomy and Particles.
http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Stephen_Hawking_050506.jpg.
A. Chandra, NIT Durgapur – ICT for Disabled 3

4. IEI Durgapur
May 17, 2008
Professor Hawking suffers from Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) which is a kind of Motor
Neurone Disease (MND). He can’t speak, get off from bed, have difficulties in swallowing and
even breathing.
Yet he has written two bestsellers, dozens of scientific papers, gave numerous lectures.
HOW?
With the help of some software developed by Walt Woltosz of
Simulations Plus Inc., he can select words from a series of
menus on the screen, by pressing a switch. The program
could also be controlled by a switch, operated by head or eye
movement.
David Mason, of Possum Inc., fitted a small portable computer
and a speech synthesizer to his wheel chair. Thus he can Speech Synthesizer from
either speak what he has written, print it out, or save it to disk. AbleData Corporation.
A. Chandra, NIT Durgapur – ICT for Disabled 4

5. IEI Durgapur
May 17, 2008
 We have seen how practicing engineers helped an
academician.
NOW
 Let us see how we academicians can reciprocate.
A. Chandra, NIT Durgapur – ICT for Disabled 5

6. IEI Durgapur
May 17, 2008
Case Study I
Z. F. Joubert of National Electrical Engineering Research Institute, South Africa developed a 16
segment system to display all lower and upper case alphabets as well as Arabic numerals in
1979.
Fingercross technique uses a natural writing
motion, whereas normal keyboards require fine
finger control to operate the individual keys.
Feedback technique is used to confirm the
correctness of the character generated, thus
reducing the frequency of typing errors.
Z. F. Joubert, “Fingercom—an electronic communicator for the disabled,”
Journal of Medical and Biological Engineering and Computing, Springer,
vol. 17, no. 4, pp. 489-491, July 1979.
A. Chandra, NIT Durgapur – ICT for Disabled 6

7. IEI Durgapur
May 17, 2008
Case Study II
Researchers from Brain Computer Interface (BCI), Graz University of Technology, Austria, are
analyzing electroencephalogram (EEG) that monitors brain activity. When a person with
disability imagines some movement (e.g., left versus right hand; hand versus foot), the same is
reflected in EEG signal patterns. They are able to extract the operation by looking at the EEG.
R. Scherer, F. Lee, A. Schlgl, R. Leeb, H. Bischof, and G. Pfurtscheller,
“Toward Self-Paced Brain–Computer Communication: Navigation Through
Virtual Worlds,” IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering, vol. 55, no.
2, Part 1, pp. 675-682, Feb. 2008.
A. Chandra, NIT Durgapur – ICT for Disabled 7

8. IEI Durgapur
May 17, 2008
 Sounds Big, Costly, Complex, and Sophisticated.
 Possible in first-world developed countries.
SO
 Let us see what is going on in our own country.
A. Chandra, NIT Durgapur – ICT for Disabled 8

9. IEI Durgapur
May 17, 2008
The J.S.S. Polytechnic for Physically Handicapped, Mysore : This polytechnic institution was
established by the J.S.S. Mahavidyapeetha, a nongovernmental education society that supports
220 educational institutions in India. With financial aid from the government of Karnataka, the
polytechnic institution is linked to a network of institutions. Through this organization, students
with physical disabilities will be assisted to start small businesses.
Dr. Ambedkar Institute for Physically Handicapped, Kanpur : This institute, established by the
government of Uttar Pradesh, is located in Kanpur, in Northern India. It has links with major
organizations in the region, including the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur.
The Simputer Project : In an effort to bring the Internet to the masses in India and other
developing countries in line with Design-for-all, several academics and engineers have used
their spare time to design an inexpensive handheld Internet appliance. The Simputer, for SIMple
ComPUTER, makes the Internet accessible to illiterate populations. The device was designed by
professors and students at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) at Bangalore.
Rajib Mitra, “ICT Support for Disabled Persons,” DRTC-ICT Conference on
Digital Learning Environment, 11th-13th Jan. 2006, DRTC, Bangalore.
A. Chandra, NIT Durgapur – ICT for Disabled 9

10. IEI Durgapur
May 17, 2008
Sanyog Project at IIT Kharagpur (2004-05)
An alternative communication aid for people with speech impairment and neuro-motor disorders
Visual, iconic language based, speech enabled
Can be personalized to the cognitive ability of the user
Alternative access mechanisms with scanning/ access switches
Supports 3 languages – Bengali, Hindi, and English
The system has been deployed at four centers in India, (i) Indian Institute of Cerebral Palsy,
Kolkata, (ii) Action for Ability Development and Inclusion, New Delhi, (iii) Monovikas Kendra,
Kolkata, (iv) Blind Peoples Association, Ahmedabad
Winner of Da Vinci Award – Engineering Society of Detroit & Multiple Sclerosis Society
A. Chandra, NIT Durgapur – ICT for Disabled 10

11. IEI Durgapur
May 17, 2008
IIT Kanpur & University of Ulster (U.K.) Collaboration
(Nov. 2007)
SCIENTISTS from the University of Ulster and the Indian Institute of Technology in Kanpur have
teamed up to investigate how to develop intelligent low-cost assistive robotic devices that could
help people suffering from neuro-muscular disabilities such as motor neurone disease (MND)
and spinal cord injury (SCI), achieve greater independence by providing means of
communicating with the external world .
The three-year £145,000 project funded by the UK-India Education and Research Initiative
(UKIERI) has the following three main objectives:
 A brain-computer interface (BCI) that allows a disabled person to control a smart wheelchair
and robotic manipulator combination by thinking.
 A visual tracking system for operating the wheelchair as an automated guided vehicle (AGV)
to provide mobility.
 The development of a robotic arm for the natural execution of actions desired by the disabled
user.
A. Chandra, NIT Durgapur – ICT for Disabled 11

12. IEI Durgapur
May 17, 2008
.... and the Saga continues
IIIT, Hyderabad: International Institute of Information Technology, Hyderabad in association with
National Association for the Blind (NAB) has released a screen reading software for Hindi and is
developing an OCR for Indian scripts and languages.
Vidya Vrikshah: A Chennai based organization which promotes the multi-lingual IITM software
developed by Professor R. Kalyanakrishnan and his students at Indian Institute of Technology,
Chennai.
A. Chandra, NIT Durgapur – ICT for Disabled 12

13. IEI Durgapur
May 17, 2008
Thank You!for patient hearing in a weekend evening
A. Chandra, NIT Durgapur – ICT for Disabled 13