Self-learning braille literacy device launched in Ranchi school

The blind students of Rajyakrit Netrahin Madhya Vidyalaya in Harmu in Ranchi will now be using the first braille self-learning literacy device in the country.

The device called Annie, have been developed by Bangalore based start-up Thinkerbell Labs. The device is the answer to the problem of shortage of braille teachers in India.

On Tuesday, 20 Annie devices were launched officially as a pilot project in the Ranchi school. Dr Louis Marandi, minister of minority and social welfare and women and child development was present at the launch event.

Annie is a device that enables self-learning and classroom teaching of Braille. The device runs on Raspberry Pi and consists of multiple hardware components such as a refreshable braille display, a digital braille slate, and a braille keyboard - all in one device.

The hardware helps the blind students to learn how to read, write, and type and they can practice themselves without much assistance.

Annie is designed to provide instructions in both Hindi and English and also voice commands in Hindi.

Since there is shortage of special teachers for the education of blind students in India, Annie is a game changer. Students can do their studies without the cosnatnt assistance of a teacher.