Lok Sabha Question No. 4024 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-03-19
Subject: Divya Nayan for Visually Impaired
Ministry: SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Asked by: Manoj Rajoria

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY DEPARTMENT OF SCIENTIFIC AND INDUSTRIAL RESEARCH

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4024 (TO BE ANSWERED ON 19.03.2021) DIVYA NAYAN FOR VISUALLY IMPAIRED

## 4024. DR. MANOJ RAJORIA:

Will  the  Minister  of  SCIENCE  AN  TECHNOLOGY be pleased to state:

विज्ञान  एिं  प्रौद्योगिकी मंत्री

- (a)   the details and the features of 'Divya Nayan' a device developed for the visually impaired by CSIR;
- (b)   whether  the  said  device  has  been  made  available  for  the  common man;
- (c)   whether  CSIR  has  also  developed  such  other  devices  which  benefit the common man; and
- (d)   if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE; MINISTER OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY; AND MINISTER OF EARTH SCIENCES (DR. HARSH VARDHAN)

- (a) Divya  Nayan  is  a  personal  reading  machine  for  visually  impaired developed by CSIR-Central Scientific Instruments Organisation (CSIO) where any printed or digital document can be accessed in the form of speech  output.  Based  on  the  principle  of  contact  scanning,  it  can analyse a multi column document and provide seamless reading. User can place the device over the document to be read and manually scan it.  The  reading  device  uses  language  dependent  optical  character recognition  to  convert  the  image  into  text  and  a  text  to  speech converter, further converts the text into audio. Audio files are stored in  the  machine  and  can  be  listened  back.  The  device  is  handheld, standalone,  portable,  completely  wireless  and  IoT  enabled.  It  is currently available in Hindi, English, Bengali, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, and  Punjabi  but  is  further  compatible  for  other  Indian  and  foreign languages.  It  has  interfaces  such  as  USB,  Bluetooth,  Wifi,  LAN, Headphone etc. The salient features of the technology are as below:

## Feature/s:

- i. Wireless  and  Portable  -  standalone,  completely  wireless  and  IoT enabled;
- ii. Multifunctional - read printed, e-books, e-news, recording and reading speech;
- iii. Multilanguage  -  currently  supports  Hindi,  English,  Bengali,  Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Punjabi;
- iv. Online Processing - document batch processing organisation;
- v. Document Storage - sync document;
- vi. Page orientation detection and correction;
- vii. Capable of reading Multi-Column document;
- viii. Rechargeable lithium ion battery; and
- ix. Internal memory of 32 GB for document storage.
10. (b) Yes.  The  device  is  currently  in  the  process  of  distribution  and availability to the visually impaired individuals and institutions through an online registration and booking portal https://divyanayan.csio.res.in/registration.php on its website. Additionally, 31 numbers of trainings have also been held in various Indian states.
11. (c) Yes.
12. (d) Some of the such other significant devices developed by CSIR for the benefit of the common man are as below:
- i. Myoelectric Hand for the persons having below elbow amputation;
- ii. Electronic Knee for the persons having above knee amputation;
- iii. Electronic Control Module for powered wheelchair; and
- iv. 3D Printed Orthosis for children with congenital hemiparesis.

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