IIT Delhi fair showcases equipment for differently-abled

New Delhi (PTI): Braille laptops, flexi clutches, interaction device for people using white canes and mobile application to help those who stammer, are some of the products on display at the four-day 'Empower' exhibition being organised by IIT Delhi on assistive technologies. The event is being hosted in association with Microsoft at IIT Delhi's Technopark in Sonepat.

"We believe that integration of differently abled people should be an important goal for any society and for that, providing them equal opportunities in mobility and education is critical. Using assistive technologies, we can help empower them to be a part of the societal progress," said IIT Delhi Professor M Balakrishnan. "Through this conference, we aim to address the challenges faced by people with disabilities and bring together all researchers, industries, users and user organizations involved in the creation, production and dissemination of assistive technology solutions," he added.

The exhibition is aimed at reaching communities with different abilities to focus on researchers and technologists presenting solutions and ideas to empower and will feature various sessions including workshops and seminars to discuss the depth and breadth of disability and assistive technologies. "At Microsoft, we have developed artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) technologies that can be deployed in low-resource environments.

These include Embedded ML libraries which can enable the community of designers to leverage the power of AI and ML to enhance life of people with disabilities in India. "We believe the conference will provide a fertile ground for innovation by connecting such tools with designers of assistive technologies in confluence with people with disabilities who need such solutions," said Manohar Swaminathan, Principal Researcher, Microsoft Research (MSR).