“Compassion is a language that even the deaf can hear and the blind can see.” – Mark Twain
Even the most powerful person has some weakness, although only a small person has the liver to accept it. In contrast, Divyangs need less attention because they are self-sufficient and their powers are more intensely focused on any of their other senses. They are said to have special needs because they are unique in their own way.
When Gaurav Mittal of Rishikesh participated in the National Association for the Blind (NAB) under CSR Activity in 2012, he realized that blind people need help and since that time he understood the need of some technology for blind people. . He was inspired by attending NAB and then the concept of a device called Eye -D was born.
Gaurav, a 2010 batch IIT BHU graduate, was always aware of the situation around him. He did a five-year integrated course in Mathematics and Computing. Participating in a day’s NAB had a profound effect on his mind and he decided to move in the same direction. At the same time, he decided that he would design a device for the blind which would make their daily life even easier.
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Gaurav explains, “I started making different devices to identify obstacles and face recognition in the path of the blind.” He also received grants from Citrix and Microsoft to design these apps. Taking the information from blind people about their needs and designing the app according to their needs was not easy.
It was very satisfying for him in this work; On the one hand he lived his childhood dream of playing with technology, on the other hand he had the satisfaction of making the life of the blind easy. The motivation to do this noble cause sat in his innermost and so he showed this app to the blind in 2013. He received great response for this which inspired him to design further apps. This effort of Gaurav was like a spark for them and after that they started designing the app with full enthusiasm.
In 2015, he realized that this is what he had to do. They wanted companions like them and they quit their jobs and started making apps for the completely blind. He also faced criticism for this work. But he accepted all the criticism with a sportsman spirit and gave himself a chance to develop.
Eye-D was conceptualized in 2012 and remained in research until 2014, when Gingermind Technologies Private Limited was then formally established. It is an artificial intelligence app. The blind feed their entire information in their language through a custom made keypad. It translates the data into English and the response is read out loud to the user.
Currently, the Eye-D, Eye-D free and Eye-D Pro apps are available in Google Play around the world. Apart from this, their teams are working on some hardware devices which will come to market by next year. Four members of his team are working outside Bangalore. Help is now taken from outside to improve your product. Eye-D is also working with some NGOs in India. Gaurav explains “Our team has four members. (Gaurav, Vaibhav, Eternal and Rimi) We work with volunteers around the world, most of whom are blind. Our team is a fully balanced team and we are engaged in creating and expanding sustainable revenue. We build our business model by talking to our users. ”
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This app helps its user with information, reflection and artificial intelligence algorithms. It is currently available in 160 countries and in 12 languages and has more than 70000 active monthly subscribers. Eye-D has proved itself to be a boon for the blind and their life has become very easy. Gaurav says, “The idea you want to work on, start by talking to customers and learn about their needs.”
