Bangalore: If children learn 26 alphabets in the English language, the visually impaired have to learn 52. In addition to the common version of alphabets, they need to learn to write mirror images of alphabets.

"It is difficult to engage visually impaired children in learning because of this drawback in Braille," says Nidhi Kalra, a Ph.D. student from Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon. She says that feedback is delayed until the paper is flipped over and read so that it takes longer to identify mistakes and correct them.

Ms. Nidhi, along with fellow team-mate Tom Lauwers, has come up with an automated tutor that teaches children how to read and write Braille. The machine has been used at Mathru School for the Blind for a year. The machine has an electronic slate and stylus that transmits the writing to a computer. A text-speech synthesiser then analyses the writing and voices out to the child what she/he has written. "This provides the children with an auditory stimulus and makes them excited about learning," she says.

Ms. Nidhi says that an improved version is being worked on so that an on-board processor would eliminate the need for a computer. Batteries, instead of electrical sockets, will power the Braille tutor. The text-speech synthesiser would also be modified to identify other languages.

These changes, Ms. Nidhi says, is to help visually impaired students in rural areas learn reading and writing. The cost of the automated tutor would be brought down to Rs. 800, she says.

The automated tutor is part of "Tech Bridge World" initiative of Carnegie Mellon University. In this programme, students are encouraged to use their engineering skills for non-traditional skills.

For more information on the automated tutor, you can log on to www.cs.cmu.edu/ www.brailletutor.blogspot.com or contact the Mathru School for the Blind, No 14, 5th `A' Cross, New Town, Yelahnaka, Bangalore 560 064.

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