Products for the Deafblind in India

This page contains a directory of assistive tools, software apps, and other products which are useful for people who are deaf blind, hard of hearing, or low vision. Although this page focuses on products that are made in or are available in India, it also includes products available in other countries.

The products are categorized as follows:

• Communication -- helps a person communicate with others
• Education -- helps a person learn concepts with ease
• Entertainment -- provides amusement
• Mobility -- helps a person move around safely and with ease
• Orientation -- helps a person know where they are positioned with respect to their surroundings

INDEX

• Products Available in India
• Additional Information
• Products Available in Other Countries

PRODUCTS AVAILABLE IN INDIA

4to24 Mobile App

• Description: mobile app created to help youth who are blind or have low vision and their parents focus on the necessary steps to prepare for employment and independent living. A version for parents of youth with deaf-blindness and additional disabilities is also available. 
• Target User: visually impaired
• Source: msstate.edu, as of 2022.06 
• Category: Orientation, Mobility
• How to get it: downloadable app

AudiVision App

• Description: an assistive smartphone app made in India. Features:
• Smart Text -- find product names in a store shelf, identify gents or ladies washroom, find a store name in a street or mall, find a word in a document
• Expiry Date -- find the expiration date on a product
• Street safety -- detect the number of people in a location, detect lighting condition
• Text to Speech -- read documents out loud
• Magnifier -- magnify text in documents, use high contrast background
• Explore -- identify objects in the surrounding 
• can be linked with a refreshable Braille display
• Target User: visually impaired, deafblind
• Source: https://audivision.in/ as of 07/2023
• Category: orientation, mobility
• How to get it: downloadable app

Barkha: A Reading Series for ‘All’

• Description: supplementary early reading series. In print, braille, and digital versions
• Source: https://samagra.education.gov.in/inclusive.html 
• Category: education

Bed Shaker Alarm Clock: Sonic Alert Sonic Bomb Alarm

• Description: an alarm clock with a vibrating bed shaker
• Target User: deaf
• Source: amazon.in as of 11/2023
• Category: 
• How to get it: imported. Available in amazon.in

Braille Label Maker

Braille Translator: WeCapable

• Description: a website that has many Indian language-to-Braille translators. Includes English, Hindi, etc.
• Target User: deafblind, visually impaired
• Source: Wecapable.com Menu as of 09/2023
• Category: Communication
• How to get it: wecapable.com

Braille Translator: Duxbury Braille Translator

• Description: software for translating a language to Braille. Supports 180+ languages from across the world, including many Indian languages. Used by Braille publishers.
• Target User: deafblind, visually impaired
• Source: Duxbury Systems (as of 09/2023)
• Category: Communication
• How to get it: download from the website. Free downloads are available for certain products.

Braille Watch

Envision AI app

• Description: "free app uses your smartphone's camera to speak out written information, describe surroundings and objects, and even tell you who's nearby. Can read text in over 60 languages. Be it handwritten notes, text on food packages or the pages of an entire book."
• Target User: visually impaired
• Source:  https://www.letsenvision.com/  as of April 2023
• Category: Mobility, Education
• How to get it: downloadable app

Envision Glasses

• Description: "smartglasses with features ranging from real-time text recognition, to voice controls and even hands-free video calling"
• Target User: visually impaired
• Source:  https://www.letsenvision.com/  as of April 2023
• Category: Mobility, Education
• How to get it: 

iCONNECT

• Description: Connect persons with disability with a volunteer base to enable them to do daily activities and also allow rating the public infrastructures
• Target User: visually impaired, hearing impaired, deafblind
• Source: https://enability.in/#/educom, as of 2022.05.21
• Category: Communication, Education
• How to get it: contact Enability

iGEST

• Description: "a wearable device that identifies a gesture, associate it with a predetermined sentence, and speaks the sentence out loud". 
• Source: https://enability.in/#/educom, as of May 2022. https://www.chetana.org.in/assets/pdf/igest.pdf
• Category: Communication

Microsoft Seeing AI App

• Description: acts like a talking camera for the blind and low-vision. It narrates the world around you. Input: through the camera of a smartphone. Output can be audio, text or braille.  Features:
• describes photos, surroundings, people, objects
• describes people including facial characteristics, approximate age, emotion, etc
• identifies products in a store, converts product descriptions on the packaging into text
• scans barcodes
• identifies currency
• identifies colors
• converts short text to audio
• describes images on another app
• Target User: blind, low vision, deaf low-vision, deafblind
• Source: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/garage/wall-of-fame/seeing-ai/ as of Jan 2024. Demo videos in YouTube.
• Category: mobility, orientation
• How to get it:  Free. Available in iOS and Android devices. Download from App Store and Google Play.

Refreshable Braille Display

• Description: a class of assistive techology devices that converts text that appears on a computer screen, smartphone or tablet into braille. Example Refreshable Braille Displays include Orbit Reader 20, Braille Me, Focus 40 Blue, 
• Target User: deafblind, blind, visually impaired
• Source: "Refreshable Braille Display: Function, Benefits and Purchasing Decision." Wecapable.com. July 2022.
• Category: Communication, Education
• How to get it: many different models are available in India

Refreshable Braille Display: Orbit Reader 20

• Description: 
• refreshable braille display
• book reader
• note taker
• can read and write Braille in several Indian languages
• Target User: deafblind, visually impaired
• Source: http://www.orbitresearch.com/product/orbit-reader-20/ and https://aicb.org.in/Orbit-Reader-20.html (as of 09/2023)
• Category: Communication, Education
• How to get it: available in India through organizations like EnableIndia

SAARTHI by TorchIt

• Description: assistive device designed to sense obstacles in the surroundings, and give feedback through vibration and buzzing sound. It can be attached to a cane, or used independently.   
• Target User: deafblind, visually impaired
• Source: https://mytorchit.com/saarthi/ as of 07/2023
• Category: mobility
• How to get it: contact TorchIt

Screen Readers

• Description: this is a category of software which makes it easier for the visually impaired to access what is shown on a computer screen and browse the internet. Input comes from what is displayed on a computer screen. Output is either audio or braille (via a connected braille device)
•  Examples of free screen readers: NVDA (Non Visual DIsplay Access), SAFA (Screen Access For All), System Access To Go, Orca, Windows Narrator, Thunder.  
• Examples of paid screen readers: JAWS (Job Access with Speech), Apple Voiceover, Dolphin Screen Reader, Hal, Supernova, Window-Eyes.
• Target User: visually impaired, blind, deafblind
• Source: https://wecapable.com/best-screen-readers-free-paid/ as of January 2024.
• Category: communication, education, entertainment
• How to get it: many different screen readers are available

Tactograph 

• Description: "a type of printer that enables schools to print tactile books and worksheets at an affordable price"
• Target User: visually impaired
• Source: https://enability.in/#/educom, as of May 2022;  https://www.chetana.org.in/assets/pdf/tactograph.pdf
• Category: Education, Communication
• How to get it: contact Enability

Take Note

• Description: "a compact portable note-taking device for people with vision impairment to record notes in Braille."
• Target User: visually impaired
• Source: https://enability.in/#/educom, as of 2022.05.21
• Category: Education, Communication
• How to get it: contact Enability

VOIS by TorchIt

• Description: "smart glove" with a screen, a translation engine, a feature to convert speech to text and vice versa, etc. Made in India.
• Target User: hearing impaired
• Source: https://mytorchit.com/vois/ as of 07/2023
• Category: communication
• How to get it: contact TorchIt

White Print Braille Magazine

• Description: English language lifestyle magazine in Braille. Made in India.
• Target User: deafblind, visually impaired
• Source: https://whiteprint.in/ as of 09/2023. 
• Category: entertainment
• How to get it: check the website

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Here is a list of authorized distributors of assistive technologies in India:

• Karishma Enterprises  -- authorized distributor of many assistive technology products for the visually challenged, including JAWS, DAISY Talking book Recorders and Players, etc

Here is a list of websites containing lists of international apps which may or may not be available in India.  For product developers in India, these websites can give them ideas of what product features might be useful for the deaf/blind communities in India.

• Accessibility features in Apple products for the visually impaired
• https://www.inclusivecitymaker.com/smartphone-apps-deaf-people/

PRODUCTS AVAILABLE IN OTHER COUNTRIES

These products are available in other countries and it is not known if they are already available in India.

Tatum T1 Fingerspelling Robotic Hand (by Tatum Robotics)

• Description: a robotic hand that fingerspells into ASL any English text taken from
• live text or voice input
• pulled data from communication mediums (emails, websites, eBooks, etc.)
• remote, real-time signing (??)
• Target User: tactile ASL signer
• Source: https://tatumrobotics.com/ as of 03/2024
• Category:  communication
• How to get it: contact the manufacturer

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• Description:
• Target User:
• Source: _____ as of mm/yyyy
• Category: 
• How to get it: