This page contains the full transcript of the USH India Webinar held on 1st December 2024.
Title: "Torchit Products and Services for the DeafBlind | USH India Webinar"
Youtube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rT7TMT-h_A
[Geri speaking]
All right. Hello, everyone. Welcome to our webinar. And our guest speakers are folks from Torchit. Now this is a webinar by the Usher Syndrome Coalition India Chapter. Shortcut for Usher Syndrome Coalition is USC. And Usher Syndrome India is USH India. All right. Now, USC is an international organization devoted to Usher syndrome.
Usher syndrome is a rare genetic disorder which is the most common genetic cause of combined deafness and blindness. And it usually starts with hearing loss. And it progresses with vision loss. And that vision loss is due to a condition called Retinitis Pigmentosa or RP. Over time, over time, folks usually may need to use a cane or other assistive devices. to be able to live more independently as well as safely. And this is the reason why I invited a speaker from Torchit.
Torchit is an indian company based in Gujarat. It is an Indian company based in Gujarat.
[Nancy speaking] Can you spell that?
[Geri speaking] Yes, it's G-U. Sorry, yeah, G-U-J-A-R-A-T. And they develop and manufacture products, assistive technology products for different disabilities. And they have a lot of products. for the deafblind community, visually impaired community, as well as the deaf community. And this is the reason why I invited them. So to begin with, I would like to welcome Dinesh. Can you please say something about yourself? And what is your role in Torchit?
We cannot hear you. Can you please unmute yourself?
[Dinesh speaking] Yeah. Thank you. My name is Dinesh Bahl and I'm taking care of partnership and CSR activities in Torchit Ahmedabad and Gujarat office. So my role is to make partners all over the world And basically see corporates funding for the products which Torchit is developing all over India.
So Torchit journey started in 2016, when Hunny Bhagchandani, the founder, during his studies internship he got a chance to visit an NGO with people with disabilities.
There were all kinds of people with disabilities in that NGO, even DeafBlind. If someone has heard the name of Sense International, they work for deafblind people. And he saw people with disabilities especially visually impaired people struggling with the mobility and accessibility. And during his engineering studies, he decided to make a torch.That's why the company name is given Torchit. Torchit under Indian government under Gujarat is a social startup company. It's a social enterprise company.And we are happy to share that we have impacted more than three lakhs lives of people with disabilities in India and abroad in 40 different countries.
So the first product, as you said, when a child with usher slowly, he loses his vision, needs a cane. Okay, so Hunny during internship in an NGO saw visually impaired people struggling with the accessibility and mobility. And he saw some incidents, some accidents where visually impaired people really needed some good device, some product which can help them in their mobility and accessibility. So he made this torch which the name was the first product. The name was given Saarthi. Saarthi in India, it's called a support a friend like. So it is a smart cane, electronic cane which vibrates. It has an option that if somebody, some visually impaired people or deafblind people is within the house it has an option that it will vibrate till two feet If somebody goes out, visually impaired person goes out of the office or house it has an option of six to eight feet 4 feet, like that. It has a sonar based technology. And for developing in India and making it affordable, Hunny got a national award from President of India.
So this was the beginning of Hunny Bhagchandani, the founder of Torchit. From there he started and now we have a manufacturing unit in Gujarat, Ahmedabad. Ahmedabad is the capital of Gujarat. And we have around 40 staff members. And mainly we have employed visually impaired people for the quality checking of these devices, for the marketing of these devices. I'm happy to say
Yes, if you have any questions.
[Geri speaking] This is Geri. So I am curious in terms of this Saarthi or a smart cane. I read somewhere that this device can actually be attached to a different cane.
[Dinesh speaking] Yeah.
[Geri speaking] Okay, so do you have a way to demonstrate it to us or at least show us how the product looks like.
[Dinesh speaking] Sorry, actually, I was not aware about this and Hunny is in hospital. That's why he told me to join this meeting. So Hunny has the products and he'll be showing you very soon, as soon as he joins.
[Geri speaking] All right. This is Geri. I hope he's okay when you say hospital So I hope he's okay.
[Dinesh speaking] Yes.
[Geri speaking] But okay, we can have the demonstration later.
[Dinesh speaking] Yeah, so this smart cane can be attached to any white cane in the world. Okay, earlier when he had developed the smart cane, it was only the smart cane. But when he saw that visually impaired people have the habit of using white cane. So he gave the option that any white cane of the world can be attached to this Saarthi device.
[Geri speaking] This is Geri. I have another question. I read comments about other cane products And they mentioned that they mentioned people have to walk slow. for the device to actually detect obstacles. So either it's obstacles below like if there's a hole in the ground or a small bump on the ground. Or obstacles above the head, for example. So is there how fast can a person walk with this cane? That's one question. The other question is you said that if somebody is outdoor it can detect say six feet away. Is this six feet, does it also cover obstacles that are hanging close to the head?
[Dinesh speaking] Yeah, I'll tell you something it happened during his internship that he saw a boy met with an accident. A visually impaired person. He was walking and, you know, a mini truck was standing. You know, when a visually impaired walks with a white cane and something is at the height you know, the white cane will go down. Okay, he will not come to know about the height. So this smart cane Saarthi which has a sonar base technology which sharks in the sea that you know what it's called technically...
[ISL interpreter speaking] I'm sorry, Dinesh just like going back. Yash was just asking about this, like what you were talking about obstacles upstairs and sonar. Can you explain that again?
[Dinesh speaking] Yeah. So Like if a truck is standing Okay. And if a visually impaired person is using a white cane, the white cane will go down below the truck. But at the height he will not come to know what is standing. So Hunny saw people struggling with the height Okay, like if If on the street a visually impaired person is walking and the vendor has put something a pot you know a hoarding, so visually impaired people won't know with the whites cane. But through this sonar based technology Saarthi device, it will immediately vibrate. because it has all the options of two feet, four feet, six feet until eight feet. It's the world most accurate Saarthi smart cane which even we have got the approval from Ministry of Science and Technology. We have all the patents.
[ISL interpreter speaking] Just one, just one moment. We're just switching interpreters just one moment. Saurabh. Geri, would you spotlight? Okay. Yeah, you can probably go back one sentence. Sorry, I missed that.
[Dinesh speaking] Yeah, sorry. So, uh. it has this sonar based technology and we have got all the patents from government of india And NGOs. Now government is happy to see this like using this visually impaired and mainly deaf blind people using this sonar based technology.
[Geri speaking] This is Geri. Another question is... When… when Torchit sells the product, do you pair the person with a training institute that will teach them how to properly use a cane as well as the Saarthi device? Or does the buyer usually come from another organization that helps disabled people, and then they buy from you and then that other organization will be the one training them?
[Dinesh speaking] We have trainers almost all over India. And you will be happy to know that we have employed visually impaired people only for this training of Saarthi smart cane and other products. Like if we are selling it to some If we are exporting, then we have online training sessions also. We don't live up to the vendors. Okay, the training is provided by Torchit itself. Like if I'm approaching the uh corporate here in india Our heading is distribution and training of Saarthi smart cane. When we request funding from some corporates or say some funding agencies, our main area is distribution and training. So whenever we distribute, we do training of these products.
[Geri speaking] This is Geri again. But you mentioned that the training is handled by visually impaired people. Do you also have experience with deafblind people such that you will have your own interpreters or your interpreters I guess you can always hire an interpreter. Anyway, I think I answered my own question.
[Dinesh speaking] That's great.
[Geri speaking] Now, you mentioned that you also have customers from other countries. Are there specific countries that you have sold this product to?
[Dinesh speaking] Yes, we have Bangladesh, Nepal, US, Pakistan, Indonesia, South Africa, mainly we are covering. So all these countries we do have.
[Geri speaking] This is Geri. How is the distribution there? How does it happen? So do you actually have agencies over there that sell on your behalf or they contact you and you do online training for them? Or how does it happen?
[Dinesh speaking] Yes, actually we send a mail to them or if somebody approaches, we make them vendor. We do partnership with them. We sign an MOU. And everything is mentioned in the MOU about the training and the cost of the product. Actually, the one smart cane which is made in US is costing $300, $400. Okay, but our Saarthi smart cane, we are just… giving under $100. So that's the big difference between the pricing. So we approach people, people approach us in the way And then training is given online of the products.
Recently, we were invited to South Africa to launch the product But because of some reason we couldn't go there but definitely in future we are going to launch on a big way.
[Geri speaking] This is Geri again. The reason why I ask about other countries is that the Usher Syndrome Coalition has a lot of members in other countries like in Africa, as well as other Asian countries. And they may be interested in products such as Saarthi. I guess since you can create partnerships with vendors, local vendors over there. We can connect you with our local ambassadors in those countries if they are interested. You mentioning that the cost is low is very beneficial for a lot of other countries.
[Dinesh speaking] Definitely. I'll tell you one or more to smart canes have been made in India, but here also in India, they're selling a very high cost. But as… Hunny feels this is not only a profit-making company. Our aim is to serve people with disabilities. Okay, so it's not the one product now Torchit is having. As you would have seen in the meeting id and the details of other products also. The Jyoti AI Glass which recently after four years of hard work Hunny has developed.
[Geri speaking] Excuse me, Dinesh. This is Geri.
[Dinesh speaking] Yeah. Yes, Geri.
[Geri speaking] Before we proceed to the next product, I want to ask the audience, if they have any questions about the Saarthi Smart Cane. Divya? Hold on, I'll…
[Interpreter speaking for Divya] This is Divya talking right now. And I just wanted to comment about the many different kinds of terrain that the cane and the smart cane need to connect with. So as we are using the cane out in the world. So in America, we have I'm sorry, Nancy, if you want to jump in at any point.
[Nancy speaking] Okay, hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on. Can you tell Divya to back up a little bit?
[Caleb speaking] Okay, so actually I've got it.
[Interpreter speaking for Divya] this cane, there seems to be a speaking function with the cane, yes. But for me, I am deaf blind and i i am not going to be able to receive any information through audio. Also, my concern is twofold with connectivity as well around the world. So really I'm just wondering in situations where I would need to I would need to connect via Bluetooth and if there's something blocking my way And it's trying to tell me something I'm wondering how I would get that information if I am also deaf blind.
[Dinesh speaking] Yes. See, this Saarthi smart cane, as I told you, it's an electronic device. it vibrates. Okay. It doesn't have any audio system or it can be connected to Bluetooth or any other device
[Interpreter speaking for Divya] Oh, okay. Good. That's good to know. Okay. Thank you so much.
[Dinesh speaking] Yeah. So…
[Interpreter speaking for Divya] It sounds like we really need that. It sounds like the deafblind community is going to be really engaged with that as we continue developing access for ourselves.
[Dinesh speaking] Thank you.
[Geri speaking] This is Geri. I am curious if it vibrates, does it have certain kinds of variation in how it vibrates to indicate where the obstacle is. is the obstacle to my left To my right, around my head. Or there's a hole in front of me.
[Dinesh speaking] See, Geri, I told you within house it's two feet. So whatever obstacle is there or say in the office okay, whichever is the side. Because you know, visually impaired people have the habit of using like this. The white cane also they used like this and this Okay. I'm just showing my hand they take on the left side, they take on the right side okay. But this device, even if you're keeping it straight Okay, if anything is there, on the vertical side at the height, it will definitely vibrate.
[Geri speaking] This is Geri. You can see from my question, I am not a cane user, but now I understand what you're saying. that if it vibrates, that is a signal to the person like you have to sort of feel around you. Yeah. feel around you and i believe part of the training i i read that there are many techniques for using the cane. And if the user is a first time cane user, they have to go through this training of the different ways of using the cane. Now I understand.
[Dinesh speaking] Yeah.
[Geri speaking] All right. So is there any other ... oh one other thing i read about the Saarthi is that it can be paired with a smartphone app. And there are certain things like additional features like live location tracking or detailed route planning. I wonder if these features that I've read are already available or still under development.
[Dinesh speaking] They are still under development.
[Geri speaking] All right, this is Geri. That is good to know. And for our audience, if you have any questions about or rather suggestions on how to add functionality, then you can say so. Divya has a question.
[Interpreter speaking for Divya] This is Divya speaking. And really, I'm just curious I'm talking about the GLIDE, the Glide. There's a full name to that. And that is a leading device a company makes. And it's a cane and it's just recently developed. It's very new. But it's becoming very popular. And it includes some robotic elements as well. It's very cool. And it has a specific connectivity function with your phone where you can pair it and then it will track your movement and If I can find an example. Oh, so if I have like this pad in front of me And the cane can detect the different textures. And then on the app, it will show the different, not only direction, but also the spatial tracking. So it will track the space that I'm going. And it will show kind of like a leading person it will show if there were any blockages along the way. And it can make recommendations on my travel. And I think it's a very cool app. And I'm just wondering I think the launch for that is next year for the Glide. And it will become very popular, I'm sure, but it's not yet It's not yet international. But they're still in development with a couple of those smartphone connectivity technology things.
So I know me and my community are in need of something like that. And I think it would help us a lot. especially in our fight to become more independent in a world that's constantly taking that away from us. not just staying with the same cane over and over, but really advancing that technology. to overcome new problems and new barriers that are coming up. And one of the challenges with that And I'm wondering
[Nancy speaking] Yeah. Is that it only has a six hour lifespan for electricity, if you will, or battery storage. So just wondering about that as well. If you have anything.
[Interpreter speaking for Divya] Yeah, so… we're asking if we're asking if ... We're asking if we're asking your company is developing the same technology with the smartphone app. And if that's your plan to develop and also battery life is a big concern for deafblind people.
[Dinesh speaking] Our smart cane, Saarthi smart cane, if you charge one time one can use it for 100 hours. And it has a battery ...
[Interpreter speaking for Divya] Wow. Okay. That's impressive.
[Dinesh speaking] Yeah, it has an BMS system, battery management system, where if the battery is going down, If like… it is 40%. it will start sound. beep, beep like this. So 40%, 4 times. 20%, it will go eight times. So visually impaired person comes to know that battery is going down. So all the smart canes in the world don't have this battery mechanism system.
[Geri speaking] Hello, this is Jerry. You mentioned that it beeps So for a deaf person, is there any other way to know that the battery is going down?
[Dinesh speaking] Yes, again, the vibrating system. So that's why in India now its the most efficient I can say the smart cane. Okay, even government is using this and they are promoting mainly the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.
'[Nancy speaking] This is Nancy. I think we're going to do an interpreter switch.
[Hunny speaking] Hello, everyone.
[Dinesh speaking] Hi, Hunny.
[Hunny speaking] Yeah, sorry, sir.
[Dinesh speaking] Hunny, I have given a brief and detail about Torchit and mainly this Saarthi device. But now they want to see the product of Saarthi.
[Hunny speaking] Oh, okay. They want to see the product of Saarthi?
[Dinesh speaking] Yeah, they want.
[Geri speaking] Hello, hello Hunny. This is Geri. I hope you're okay. I hope you're okay.
[Hunny speaking] Actually. Running on medicines. Yeah, medicine is keeping me healthy now.
[Geri speaking] Take care of yourself, man. We need your expertise to produce products like these.
[Hunny speaking] No, no, no. Like… Yeah, actually I was traveling a lot And…I was stuck. That's why uh some
[Geri speaking] You don't need to give us details because this is recorded and will be posted on the internet. So… Okay. Okay. We can push the demonstration till later. Go ahead, Hunny . Should I switch you as the speaker or you want to continue with Dinesh for a while? Let me know.
[Hunny speaking] Anything is fine. Anything is fine with me.
[Dinesh speaking] No, Hunny, you can switch on you can switch Hunny as a speaker now.
[Hunny speaking] Dinesh Sir, you continue and let me join again because my internet is unstable here. Let me join again.
[Geri speaking] Alright, this is Geri. So we still have Dinesh as the speaker spotlighted. When it's Hunny's turn, I'm going to spotlight you, Hunny. They have to see also how the founder looks like. So let's move on to the next product, unless there's any other questions about Saarthi. I'd like to move on to the next product called the Jyoti AI.
[Interpreter speaking] Geri, sorry, Prashant is raising hand.
[Geri speaking] Oh, sorry. Prashant?
[Interpreter speaking] Maybe you can spotlight him. And Yash also says that I have a question but i think.
[Interpreter speaking for Prashant] My name is Prashant. I'm deafblind. My vision is going. So is my hearing. I have retinitis pigmentosal and like I'm sorry, just go back a little bit. Oh, sorry. Yeah. So I… I am able to read and write. No, sorry, I'm not able to read. and not able to write because I am unable to see. I can see pictures, the visuals. I'm able to see visuals But my vision is my vision is is losing. So I depend more on the tactile sets. I have retinitis pigmentosa. And yeah. RPV. Does that make sense? sorry It's RP only, right? Yeah. So retinitis pigmentosa. And yeah, that's why my vision is going. And it's progressive. My age is 29 right now. Yeah, 29. And so my question is if it's progressive. Yeah, I want to know with my growing age, with this RP, would this get worse? That's my question. Because I am unable to understand why my vision is is getting worse with my age.
[Geri speaking] This is Geri. As far as I know, in terms of RP it is a progressive vision loss. So your peripheral vision is going to start reducing until perhaps it's like tunnel vision.
[Interpreter speaking for Prashant] Till what age? Till what age? When would it stop? Was there an age range? like till what age would this remain progressive.
[Geri speaking] This is Geri. There are many different kinds of RP. And the progression the speed of progression as well as until how small is the tunnel, it varies from one person to the next person. And from what I know, a lot of people, you see in Usher syndrome, there is RP that is the vision loss component of Usher syndrome. And a lot of the people with Usher ...
[Interpreter speaking for Prashant] So it's a genetic problem. So I'm just asking, is it a genetic problem? Or has it happened because of the environment?
[Geri speaking] This is Geri. If it is Usher syndrome, if you have both deafness as well as RP. And if it is Usher syndrome, it is genetic. It is inherited.
[Interpreter speaking for Prashant] Oh.
[Geri speaking] So that's why a lot of people with Usher, as their vision progressively reduces, they start to use the cane and other assistive devices.
[Interpreter speaking] Geri, just informing Yash is also raising hand. Just informing. I think Prashant says thank you. And Yash is One second. Yash wants to be spotlighted. And Pashant says thank you.
[Geri speaking] I am spotlighting Yash.
[Interpreter speaking for Yash] Yes, thank you. The presentation and the in-depth information about the product was very good. My name is Yash. My sign is y and this on the face So related to So I'm sorry interpreter is just asking. So with Usher syndrome, you mentioned that it's genetic, it is hereditary. So that is there. But in India, we have you know something called Deaf Usher community, where we all are part of it. We've been members. We've been researching, discussing and trying to understand from people for the last two years. What we have found is that you know RP, i also have RP and my parents did not have any RP. So I got it. It happened to me. And then how is it genetic then? And then I have also similar experiences in my community that people have it, but their parents don't. And it just happens.
And we have also seen some young people who you know like who probably get vision loss after 50 or 60 and maybe is it really Usher syndrome. So sometimes like, you know, the range of vision starts like they probably have difficulty walking, difficulty seeing the signs on the periphery vision. And, you know, they keep on suffering for a long time. Sometimes they have color difficulty in identifying colors. And also related to light and darkness. So if something is too bright or if there is darkness, they're unable to see. So there's some similar experiences that we have shared within our community. related to vision loss and hearing loss.
So, I mean, with the hearing loss, I think people are using hearing aid, but with the vision loss, which becomes progressive, I think yeah, there's still a lot to be understood. Just one second. Saurabh, if you want to support, if I missed anything. Okay, I think we can carry on.
[Geri speaking] This is Geri. I believe…
[Interpreter speaking for Yash] So Yash is saying, I also have a question. Yeah, so the same question, like, you know, you mentioned that it's genetic. But what about the experiences when it's not in the parents? What about these experiences? Yeah.
[Geri speaking] This is Geri. I would love to answer these questions. Can I offer that we have a session in January to talk specifically about Usher syndrome, the inheritance pattern of it. Because… we really have to talk about that. However, for this talk, since we have folks from Torchit. I would like to take this opportunity for them to tell us more about their products. So I will get in touch with you, Yash. Let's set a date for January. And we'll make sure we have interpreters there. Is that acceptable? Because we really have to talk about you know this inheritance pattern. I don't have Usher. My husband has no Usher. But my son has usher. And it's genetic. All right?
[Interpreter speaking for Yash] Yash said, it's okay, it's clear and he's okay with it.
[Geri speaking] Thank you so much. I would like to proceed with the next product.
[Interpreter speaking for Yash] Just one moment.
[Geri speaking] Go ahead. Go ahead.
[Interpreter speaking for Yash] One small thing. The Torchit company, related to that, I have a question. In the deaf community, especially like with my RP and usher community, would it really also help in maybe like with the, you know, vision loss, I think we have products, but hearing loss, progressive hearing loss, do we also have products for that? And if you're planning anything, something you need to do in your sign language accessibility, can you probably also involve deaf people in the products that you're making so that we can also give you feedback. And, you know, what kind of technology and accessibility requirement the deafblind folks might need, maybe we can give you, especially like when we go out at night, unable to see like if could there be glasses or some products which can increase the brightness. You know like we use the phone torch. But what other technology, like you have glasses But that's what I'm thinking. What technology can really help deafblind people in India? And what all we can maybe brainstorm together.
[Hunny speaking] Yeah. So should I start? Geri?
[Geri speaking] Yes, I will spotlight you, Hunny.
[Hunny speaking] Okay, lovely. Yeah. So sorry, guys, again. for the delay.
[Geri speaking] Okay, just a minute, Hunny. Let me spotlight you and I am going to remove the spotlight. from Dinesh. Just so we have fewer people on screen. Just a minute, okay? I'm removing the spotlight from Yash. All right.
[Hunny speaking] Okay, guys. So… Torchit is a social enterprise working towards empowerment and the inclusion for persons with disabilities. We innovate products for developing countries. So we are keeping in mind to the affordability or the readily available solutions so we can reach out to the mass population. Because in India kind of countries like developing countries product are not aware like people doesn't aware about the solutions which are available in the market. Or if they are aware, the products are not available. If they are available and they're aware, the products are not accessible like the products are available in Delhi or Mumbai or Ahmedabad or Nairobi like a big cities, tier one cities.
So, and if all three things are there, awareness, availability accessibility and the last part is affordability.
So affordability again the products available from the West are not useful in the developing countries like India, Africa, like Southeast Asia, even in many other European countries. So this is what Torchit is solving. We started with this Saarthi product. My colleague Dinesh has talked about. So Saarthi is a small handheld device. I will give you a demo after 10, 15 minutes. So Saarthi will help a VI (visually impaired) person. One second. Saarthi will help a visually impaired person or even a deaf blind person to walk independently In any scenario because it has a tactile fit output. So it has a vibration output. If there is anything, it will give a vibration. So a visually impaired person and the deaf blind person will be able to walk independently without bumping into the objects. So this can be attached to any white cane and a person can use with just 15 minutes of training. So currently more than 300,000 people are using this. And this is the world's most innovative and the affordable device. The price is just $35 to 40 dollars. If you consider in india it is around 3500 Indian rupees.
Second product which we have we have designed for especially for visually impaired which is Jyoti AI Glass. This Jyoti AI ... Yeah, so this Jyoti AI will help a visually impaired person to see through the sound. He can visualize through the sound. What is happening in front of me. How many people are in front of me. What they are wearing. How they are looking. What is their expression. Everything I get to know in my ears. Let me come to you. This is also can be used for hearing impaired plus visual impaired together, deaf blind. How? We can provide, along with this, a bone conduction headphone. So whatever output you're getting, you can hear from one connection. So you have to take a little training and bone connection is a different kind of device which is not mentioned in the agenda.
Sorry, Geri. But this is a very good device for hearing impaired person to listen to the environment sound. Whatever i'm speaking you can listen through your bones. A hearing impaired person listen through the bones. Because Usher syndrome is like you have uh you were listening before and slowly gradually you got hearing aid and then visual impaired, right? So this bone conduction will allow the usher patient basically to able to hear the environment. And you can connect to your smartphone and you can able to listen your favorite music, calls, a lot of other things you can do.
Second thing. This AI glass is connected with your smartphone. And a smartphone is connected with your bone conduction. So this is AI glass is not only for visual impaired. This can be also used by hearing and visually impaired person. If you know the Sense International. We are conducting a like a pilot with them and we got good results. So last month only, we got the results like around 15 patients we have tried. So this is yeah ...
[Geri speaking] This is Geri. I'm curious has any profoundly deaf person use this one? So somebody who has… who is hard of hearing has used this one. But somebody who is profoundly deaf who relies on, what do you call it, I guess sign language. Or somebody who is profoundly deaf blind will rely on braille.
[Hunny speaking] I'm coming to that. I'm coming to that. So if there is 100% HI and VI
[Interpreter speaking] Oh, this is Saurabh. Yeah, Geri, it's time to switch the interpreters.
[Hunny speaking] Okay. Good.
[Interpreter speaking] Wait, hold on. Where did we go? Hold on. And Hunny, Hunny, Hunny. Looking for Hunny. There we are.
[Geri speaking] Go ahead, Hunny.
[Hunny speaking] Yeah. So… basically Torchit has started with visually impaired But as we are growing and we are reaching out to the more organizations, more users. We are getting more and more requirement. And this is why we are making the solutions available and we are getting into this. Again, we are a very young organization. We are having a seven years of experience and in seven years of experience we have uh impacted more than half a million lives. Almost half a million.
So coming to the point of HI and VI together, deaf blind ... So Braille is the ultimate solution for them. Like many of our users are using this and our you you might know BrailleMe. BrailleMe is an RBD device, refreshable braille device, which we have acquired. And we are again launching that.
The point is, why Torchit has acquired because if there are fewer competitors, the price will increase. And we have seen the available company has increased the price by 40% in last two years, for the RBD device refreshable braille device. So Torchit has acquired the BrailleMe last year and we are again reviving and coming back with it in 2025.
So okay. So this is what Torchit is doing for the affordability kind of all the assistive devices. We are just not making our device. As I told you, we have awareness, availability, affordability and accessibility so we are creating an experience centers in every city.
So right now we have around 15 experience centers including from Ahmedabad to Mundi to Chennai to Delhi . We have many. 15 experience centers which is allows persons with disability to go there and experience the product. Like if you want to buy a Nike shoe, right, or if you want to buy any kind of thing, or if you want to buy any clothes, you go to shop. You experience and then you buy, right? So this kind of devices are like why not we consider them as the users like this is what Torchit is making them.
So we considered persons with disability is our users, not as a beneficiary. When you say beneficiary, it is like you are giving them something. And when you say them a user, then they are giving you a money and you are providing the service. So they have the upper hand. So this is the basic difference which we have considered and that's why we are more focused on the customer service. And if you are thinking about beneficiary, you're not providing a proper service, not proper training, not proper support. So this is what makes us apart and this is what makes us unique and by God's grac,e we are we will be doing this for a long time.
Okay coming to the point of AI glass. This AI glass allows a user, let me tell you the two to do three scenarios. This AI glass, you can attach to an AI reader. Okay like let me show you. You will then understand better.
So… This is Jyoti AI Pro. And you can connect to glasses. This become your AI glass. And this AI glass can attach (connect) to a smartphone or the computer. And if a person is hearing impaired or moderate hearing impaired, he can use regular hearing aids, Bluetooth connected to the smartphone Bluetooth connect to the smartphone and they can able to hear this. If they are little severe then they can connect to a bone conduction.
If they are 100% hearing impaired with vision impaired, they can connect that smartphone with the braille. Whatever output the smartphone is giving, it will come to the braille. And a person can able to see what is happening in front of them through this AI glass. Okay i give you the four solutions - a visually impaired, a little hard of hearing, a severe hard of hearing, and 100% hard of like hearing impaired. Four scenarios.
Second thing. If a person wants to read a book, they can wear the glass and they can adjust like here and here anything. But it will not give a proper solution. Why? Because a visually impaired person cannot able to see how to put a book so that my camera captures it properly.
[Interpreter speaking] I'm so sorry, could you back up for the interpreter? The point that you're making right now is how to use the device, how to put it on?
[Hunny speaking] No, no, no. I'm putting the another use case for reading the document. Reading the document. Any any printed document. Any printed book.
[Interpreter speaking] Okay, continue.
[Hunny speaking] Yeah. So a visually impaired person cannot able to identify how to put a book wearing the glasses. So what we have done we have made an AI reader. this kind of stand
[Interpreter speaking] We're freezing. I'm having some connectivity issues. I can't see or hear anything. Hunny is freezing.
[Geri speaking] Hello, Hunny. Hunny, you were freezing. So can you please repeat that one?
[Hunny speaking] Okay. Sure, sure, sure.
[Geri speaking] when you were showing the reader?
[Hunny speaking] Yeah, definitely. So this is Jyoti AI reader. And if you put any documents underneath, it will start reading. And the output can be converted into any language. And if you are getting the output of printed material, you can use again the hearing aid, or the bone conduction device, or the RBD device if we show Braille device, and you can access that information.
In the same way, if you want to identify the colors, you can wear as a ring. Yeah, bone conduction. Along with this, we are giving this ring. If person doesn't want to wear glasses, he can able to wear as a ring. So this becomes my AI ring. So if I want to see this? What is this color? What is color of this, I can just place my camera there and it will give me a proper output.
So… the glasses i cannot able to find what color is in front of me.
I hope I'm getting understood.
[Geri speaking] So this is Geri. So that device, that small device that you had put on the ring, it's the same device that can be attached to eyeglasses, and the same device that can be put on the reader. So it is very versatile.
[Hunny speaking] Exactly.
[Geri speaking] And the output can be audio, text, braille ..
[Hunny speakng] video. Exactly!
[Geri speaking] Video, okay? Yeah, and there's also it can also identify currencies, colors. And I thought I read that it could identify people also if you train it. Is it something like that?
[Hunny speaking] Exactly. So it can also give you the expressions.
[Geri speaking] The expressions of people. Okay.
[Hunny speaking] Yeah. And what they are wearing, how they're looking, Or something.
[Dinesh speaking] It can identify more than 300 objects.
[Hunny speaking] Offline. So this is offline and online as well. Both.
[Saurabh speaking] Hi, Hunny. This is Saurabh. Hi, Hunny. This is Saurabh. So one question.
What is the maximum distance it can, you know, what is the limit of distance where till what it can identify the object in offline mode?
[Hunny speaking] Okay, so this is a camera field of view. So if there is no wall, nothing, no… obstacles, it can go up to 100 meters, 50 meters. Like if there's a plain road and there's a vehicle after 50 meters, it can detect the vehicle which is far away kind of thing. If there is a small ... [Hunny's video froze]
[Saurabh speaking] Hunny, I think you are freezing. Your voice is breaking.We can't hear any.
[Geri speaking] Hunny, you are freezing again. Something with the connectivity. But my understanding is that this device has a far distance that it can identify objects. Yes, guys. All right. So… Okay, he's back.
[Hunny speaking] Yeah, Saurabh, I think I gave your answer. Like if it's a camera only, AI camera, It has a sense of field. So if there's no obstacle, it can go up to 50, 100 meters like your smartphone camera. It's 8 megapixel AI camera.
[Saurabh speaking] Thank you.
[Hunny speaking] And this is autofocus so if you're using an outdoor and then you're on the next second you're using for the indoor it will the focus in microseconds or milliseconds. Half a second.
[Saurabh speaking] Okay, let me take another use case. If a person is working in a kitchen opening the fridge, can it identify all the food item within the fridge and during cooking also?
[Hunny speaking] Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I don't have…
[Interpreter speaking] I'm so sorry. Could you back up and just repeat the example or the question and then go ahead and answer it?
[Saurabh speaking] Yeah, so my question was that I was asking about another use case -- if it can identify food item within the fridge and all other cooking item while working in kitchen?
[Hunny speaking] Yeah. So… Right now we are doing a video, marketing video kind of thing. And this is a good example which we are focusing in our marketing video that it can identify the whatever use cases like whatever the items are available in fridge, And person is asking with these items what should I make?
[Saurabh speaking] Correct.
[Hunny speaking] So it will give couple of list items and then For example, with this, you can make uh some uh some like indian item like paneer butter masala. Okay? So what is the recipe of paneer butter masala? You can also ask like this. So this is like your ChatGPT with Alexa.
[Saurabh speaking] Yeah, yeah. Understood. Because I have heard of Chatgpt had some capability to take the photo from fridge and then recognize the object.
[Hunny speaking] Same thing.
[Saurabh speaking] I have heard about this AI glasses, but I have not explored this so far. Do you have Experience Centre in Bangalore? I stay in Bangalore.
[Hunny speaking] Yeah, very soon, very soon. NAB Karnataka last week only we have signed MOU with Srikant Sir, head of NAB Karnataka, General Secretary or Secretary. So, yeah.
[Interpreter speaking for Divya] And I'm so sorry, could you just back up one second and say that again? Can we, Hunny, if you wouldn't mind to clarify the question and then just start your response after that.
[Hunny speaking] Yeah. So he asked like do you have the Experience Center in Bangalore. Our Experience Center in Bangalore where all the assistive devices are at one place. Yeah, so I said yes. Very soon. Like it is not ready but last week only we have got confirmation like space and everything.
We don't invest in space like we invest in the devices - what we are providing in the center. And we hire a person with disability to run this setup and that person with disability become a micro entrepreneur. Three to four months we will give a salary and after three to four months he runs his shop by his own, like we hand over to them. And it's life, what do you say like he can also earn as an entrepreneur and live a life with dignity. So this is our business model for EnableMart Experience Center.
[Saurabh speaking] Yeah yeah good good Hunny. Great to know that. And we will look forward for that. If you have any plan to come to Bangalore in the coming month, just let us know. Maybe we can plan some meeting yeah.
[Hunny speaking] Bangalore is very often for us like yesterday only, one of my team member was there.
[Saurabh speaking] Okay, good. Like I can explore the possibility if, you know, we can invite you to have a stall in our company, Goldman Sachs. I work in Goldman Sachs. So maybe you can showcase some of your devices.
[Hunny speaking] Probably on fourth or fifth of December, Deutsche Bank, German-based bank is inviting. So one of my team member probably go there. I don't aware but let me check tomorrow and let's connect. I will take your number from Geri.
[Saurabh speaking] Okay, now coming back to the discussion main point, one more question. So are you the manufacturer of all these products? Or just develop online platform to sell out these products?
[Hunny speaking] Sure, sir. So actually let me again explain everything in brief.
So we have started with this product as an engineering project, when I was in third year of my engineering I got selected into the MIT Media Lab in U.S. And when I have developed this product and prototype i can say prototype And then after two years of R&D and all this manufacturing and design everything, we launched this product in 2018 January.
After this we got very good user case studies like they want many other things as well in education, in daily life, and everything.
We have developed the Jhoti AI Glass. We have developed braille devices. We have developed audio devices. a lot of audio games we have developed. Like 15, 12 items, 12 to 15 items we have developed so far in Torchit, through our interns, through our something and we also acquire a lot of products as well. So a lot of products we so what what is missing in this field of assistive technology especially in developing countries we are relying on more towards CSR, government, NGOs. We don't consider this as a business model. And when I say business model, which means the sustainability.
I hope I'm making sense to everyone.
[Saurabh speaking] Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, yeah. You can continue with demonstrating other products. I think that we can discuss about other thing in the future.
[Hunny speaking] Okay, sure, sure. And this is part of Torchit only like what makes us unique and what makes us different. Okay, so… the crux of the point is like we consider our customers as users, not beneficiary. And so that's why we are providing full support, service and everything to them. Okay coming to the solution which is readily available in the smartphone. Smartphone is one of the best assisted device which is currently being used by more than a million population who are visually impaired in India, more than a million. Like again there are around 2 million population who are completely visually impaired, but more than a million visually impaired people are using smartphone.
And accessing the knowledge, accessing the information from across the world, like the same smartphone with affordable RBD refreshable braille device. The RBD is available in the West is somewhere around $1000, $1200. And available in India is around $700, $800. What we are trying to make is like we are again going to make this RBD at just $400 to $500 which is one third or one half price of available products.
So RBD, with the help of smartphone and RBD voiceover or the computer with RBD, a person with hearing and visually impaired can access to information like any other person and express their thoughts if they want to write. There are so many braille note takers which we have also developed. And they can write and they can write Yeah, they can write and they can explore the worlds if they have their any idea thoughts they can just able to write and it will store it.
[Nancy speaking] Hunny, this is Nancy speaking. We're going to switch interpreters.
[Hunny speaking] Sure.
[Geri speaking] A note for Hunny, it is almost the we have about 10 minutes left. So I would also like to ask other people if they have other questions before the end of the talk.
So we have 10 minutes left everyone. Do you have questions for Hunny?
[Interpreter speaking] There is a question from Yash.
[Geri speaking] I am going to spotlight him.
[Interpreter speaking] It's okay. I've done that.
[Interpreter speaking for Yash] Yeah. So thank you for telling about Torchit Company and all the products. And how you're focusing on the deaf blind community. Like the suggestion earlier that i had said involving more deafblind people in developing these. Do you agree? Is that possible?
[Hunny speaking] Say it again, ma'am.
[Interpreter speaking for Yash] Yeah. So Yash is repeating. So I know that you are focusing on technology and different projects. One example, people who are having hearing loss, you're having hearing aids.
And for the vision loss, you have these AI glasses. But still like for deafblind with RP, what kind of technology would best suit us? Would it be possible for you to showcase that or involve us in developing that?
[Hunny speaking] Definitely, definitely, sir. Actually, we are doing conduct...
[Interpreter speaking] Sorry, I'm just informing Yash that you were speaking. Yeah, continue.
Hunny, you were freezing. Can you just go back one sentence?
[Hunny speaking] Okay. Yeah, definitely. yeah so definitely we are conducting our trials of our new RBD, BrailleMe.
Of course we will involve many deafblind and actually And I'm giving an advice for all visually impaired and deafblind to the our secretary Rajesh Agrawal. So, of course, he only mentioned around seven or eight deafblind. He sent the profiles. You take their feedbacks before launching this product. So, of course, we are including deaf blind before the launch of our RBD device. And plus, apart from RBD, refreshable braille device, if you have any idea like would definitely love to take this forward. And we can jointly develop or if someone has developed, we can help them to market, we can help them to make it available on the larger audience. So definitely if there are any solutions available in the market, we would love to take this forward and we would love to improve, we would love to expand, we would love to explore the possibilities.
[Interpreter speaking for Yash] Yeah, yeah, thank you so much. Yash here. For the deaf blind community.
Just once one second, one second, Hunny, Yash is still signing.
What you mentioned about RBD and sorry, like for the deaf blind community and for the RP community that we were talking about earlier, we are facing very you know like unique challenges and we have a community in india that maybe, you know, as per the suggestion earlier the kind of technology you create and the projects you create, maybe the feedback can come from them. And we can also discuss among us and share more ideas with you.
[Hunny speaking] So great. I have two things. First thing is for deaf blind.
You might know Pradip Sinha Sir. Pradip Sinha Sir is our advisor kind of person and he is also using a lot of our devices including the Saarthi. Pradip Sinha.
[Geri speaking] This is Geri. I know Pradip. He is in SEDB.
[Hunny speaking] Yeah, SEDB, yeah. So Pradip Sinha Sir is our advisor. And of course second thing for RP and low vision kind of products, we have variety of products. For variety of products which like video magnifiers, Zoom magnifiers, like zoom glasses, or lazy glasses. We have different kind of magnifiers products available for low vision, which you can go and explore. And if you want any product which is available in the U.S. or Australia or London, please let us know. If there is a huge demand, we would love to manufacture in India at affordable price. And we will serve out the larger community.
So of course we are open for all kind of collaboration making new products, products available from West, we can import at a very low cost or we can make it at low cost.
Or third, what product which we are making, we can definitely have deaf blind to test and use.
And fourth, if you have ideas, we can also make new products.
[Interpreter speaking for Yash] Thank you so much. I completely agree with that. Thank you.
[Geri speaking] This is Geri. Anybody else has a question?
[Dinesh speaking] To all the participants, from Torchit, I have a request. Suggestions and ideas are always welcome. We need your support to develop products. So if anybody from anywhere in the world have ideas and suggestions, please let us know. We are happy to adopt that. Thank you.
[Interpreter speaking for Yash] Yeah, I will. I will definitely connect with you, Yash is saying. I'll definitely connect with you later.
[Geri speaking] This is Geri. I would like to give Nancy O'Donnell, the Director of Outreach from the Usher Syndrome Coalition, a chance to say something on behalf of the international Usher community.
[Nancy speaking] Hey, this is Nancy speaking. We're going to switch over to Caleb so that I can speak without signing. Hold on one second. Okay. And we need to highlight Caleb.
Alrighty, this is Nancy O'Donnell speaking, sign name N over the left side of my chest. And I am so pleased to be a part of this meeting, not only as an interpreter but as someone who works with the International Usher syndrome community.
Hunny and Dinesh, It's been very enlightening to learn about your products and your three priorities, because those are our priorities as well.
We work exclusively with individuals with Usher syndrome around the world. And in expanding our reach, we have an ambassador who is basically our trained volunteer. We have one in Nepal. We will be working with individuals in Kuwait. We have a representative in Jordan. We have a group in Uganda. We have representatives basically sprouting from all over the world. And these devices are critical to individuals sense of independence, self-determination and we'd love to continue this chat. So Geri, thank you for including us.
And this will not be the last time that we that we have our discussion. And Divya is nodding her head. She's one of the ambassadors for the Coalition, along with Saurabh Malav. And Geri, So the three representatives here, but Divya lives in Florida, here in the States. So she will bug me to make sure that we get this going In a kind and loving way.
Thank you, Geri.
[Geri speaking] Hunny, any last words from you?
[Hunny speaking] Again, I'm so sorry because of my health, I couldn't come on the time. But this this i don't like and I'm so sorry again this is so. But I hope Dinesh Dinesh has a very good experience senior than me. And I hope he explained a lot about Torchit. And if you guys again you have any ideas, suggestions, or any recommendations, we are open.
We are open for collaboration. We are open for because it's not my job, it's not Torchit job, it's our job to make this world more inclusive. So if we collaborate, if we work together, definitely we will make this world more inclusive for everyone.
[Geri speaking] This is Geri. Hunny, is there a particular email that people can
[Interpreter speaking] Yash is giving you waving hands. I'm sorry. Yash was just waving hands. Yeah.
Yes, Geri.
[Geri speaking] All right. Hunny, is there a particular email or a way for people to send suggestions instead of sending you direct WhatsApp messages because I don't think you would want that. I know that there's a "Contact Us" portion in the Torchit website. Is that a way to give suggestions?
[Hunny speaking] No, no, no. You guys are most welcome to bug me, ping me anytime. anywhere. Because from last one week i was traveling a lot so that's what my health was not good. But i i respond on the emails, on the whatsapp, and even the linkedin or any social media. Even many times if there's important contact us mail I am also marked in look from my team and of course uh
We are open for all kind of collaboration like there are N number of way to contact Torchit. And I have shared my email id in the chat box. I'm also repeating Hunny H-U-N-N-Y at the rate mytorchit.com. So, I mean, Geri, of course, will share to everyone on WhatsApp or email. So you guys can contact me anytime and I'm also open to give my phone number. It's not like you can ping me anytime like, Geri, whoever asked, please share my contact number.
[Geri speaking] All right, this is Jerry. Thank you so much, everyone. It is 9 p.m. here in India. So it's time to call it a day. Thank you again so much, everybody. Interpreters, speakers, and participants. Good night. Good morning.
[Saurabh speaking] Thank you. Thank you, Hunny and Dinesh. Very, very, you know, knowledgeable session.
[Dinesh speaking] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, everybody. See you.
[Geri speaking] I'm ending the meeting now.
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