Annie- World's First Braille Literacy Device

Organization

Thinkerbell Labs

Budget

Device Cost- INR 60,000/- + taxes. For a strength of 20 students, an Annie smart class will typically cost INR 9,00,000/-

Impact

The Social Impact created will revolve around helping millions of visually impaired children become literate, thereby kickstarting their education and paving the way to employment and independence. Our long term vision is to deploy connected hardware products which can deliver interactive educational content to visually impaired students anywhere in the world. Impact created: Increase in Braille literacy Increased Employability as research has proven a link between - -- Braille literacy and employability. Increased employment opportunities will lead to higher incomes and reduce overall dependence on family members or the Government. Reinvigorated interest for learning would increase word of mouth and lead to awareness and hence schools will see more enrollment of visually impaired students. Indicators of impact: Number of Annie Deployments (Business)- 27; Number of visually impaired children in our age bracket reached (Target population)- 350+; Time spent to learn on Annie (Effect of solution)- 1200+ hours.

Deployments

26

Innovation

Thinkerbell Labs is solving the above-mentioned problem via Annie - The World’s First Braille Literacy device that helps the visually impaired learn to read, write, and type in Braille, on their own through interactive audio-guided content. It is a patent pending device which has all the hardware modules tailored to teach Braille along with interactive content designed by curriculum experts and teachers. Annie allows for easy monitoring and evaluation of student progress via Helios (analytics) and downloading of new content by seamlessly integrating with the ecosystem. It also allows for scheduling of tests and lessons and also enables teachers to give homework. Annie gives instantaneous feedback for mistakes and continuously evaluates the user, making the learning experience engaging and retentive. It introduces the world’s first digital braille games in single player, multiplayer modes, challenges, lessons and exercises to bring in a collaborative and smart classroom learning experience.

Timeline

Pilots

In July 2018, Thinkerbell Labs partnered with District Administration of Ranchi to launch India's first Braille smart class at the Govt school for the Blind, Ranchi, Jharkhand.

Location(s)

Bengaluru, India

Website

https://www.thinkerbelllabs.com/