Four socially-conscious youth- M. Mayur and S. Karthik, final year information technology students of SSN College of Engineering, Chennai; V.S. Arjun, (also an alumnus of SSN College of Engineering who has recently joined Caritor Inc.) and Ashwin Kumar, a graduate of the Panimalar College of Engineering who has signed up with the blue-chip Infosys Technologies- have pooled their technology know-how to empower the visually impaired. They have developed an innovative package of four solutions termed Visions, which received rapturous commendation at the international design competition of the US-based IEEE Computer Society held on June 27-28 in Washington DC.

This foursome accompanied by their mentor, Dr. V. Seshadri who is currently professor emeritus of the department of information technology and computer sciences at SSN College, competed with nine other groups from around the world in the finals. “The contest was conducted very professionally. We won encomiums for our project and received the “Honourable Mention Award”, which comprises a cash prize of US$ 2,500. Though we didn’t win, we interacted with the best brains from the software industry and were exposed to many ideas,” recalls Mayur.

The first module- the Sonar Obstacle Detection System (SODS)- is mounted on a blind person’s cane. “The device detects obstacles up to five meters ahead in the path of the user and provides voice alerts,” says Arjun. A second invention christened I-Say requires a visually impaired person to wear a Blue Tooth headset through which he can issue commands to a computer. Electronic and other objects in a room which receive the commands are remotely controlled by using radio frequency waves. And the third innovation is an attachable Braille Key Skin which eliminates the need for a separate computer keyboard for the visually impaired.

The fourth and perhaps most important invention devised by the team is an e-learning system which can recognise programmed commands and is a vital tool for educating the visually impaired who can learn through voice feedback. “This fully tested module has a level of intelligence and is dynamic enough to be customised to the needs of the user,” says Mayur whose team spent over six months planning and experimenting the project.

Hemalatha Raghupathi (Chennai)

Shailendra Verma

Twelve-year-old Shailendra Verma, the son of a daily wage labourer and illiterate mother, is poised to become the world’s youngest computer science graduate. Shailendra was admitted into the bachelor of computer application (BCA) degree programme of Lucknow University (LU) for the academic year 2004-05. Currently he is thrilled by the news of his imminent graduation from LU which he describes as a dream “almost fulfilled”. The wisp of doubt is attributable to his family’s economic circumstances with his father earning a mere Rs.70 per day. And that’s when he is employed.

Entirely home schooled and self-taught, Shailendra has experienced intermittent schooling, but never really enjoyed it. Tej Bahadur Verma, himself a class VIII dropout, recalls the day his son disclosed his intention of writing the class X exam of the state board. “He was seven and no school or board would admit him. It was only on the intervention of former chief minister Rajnath Singh that Shailendra was allowed to write this exam as a student of the National Open School. He averaged 55 percent with 80 percent in English,” says the proud parent.

With the class X exam behind him, this young prodigy set his sights on the class XII board exam. With the help of borrowed books and guides he not only cleared it averaging 44 percent, but also notched up good enough scores in TOEFL and SAT to receive an admission invitation into the BCA degree programme of Eastern New Mexico University, USA. But for a household which is hard put to afford a train ride, America was too distant a prospect.

Although Lucknow University’s BCA course is a self-financed three year study programme which does not permit freeships, Shailendra’s talents prompted a zealous public appeal by Prof. R.K. Singh, head of the BCA faculty at LU and help came pouring in from the citizenry. And since then Shailendra who has figured among the top performers in the past two semester exams, has not let any of his benefactors down.

An aspiring scientist who lists India’s scientist-president Dr. A.P.J. Kalam as his inspiration, young Shailendra believes that there are “millions” of child prodigies across the country awaiting the opportunity to exhibit their talent. “Children from poor families don’t need charity. They need equality of opportunity to be able to transform themselves into contributing tax-paying citizens,” he says.

Right on, brother!

Vidya Pandit (Lucknow)

Also read: P. Gopalan