IIT-D Gets Separate Cell For "Social Good"

By siliconindia | Monday, 21 September 2015, 13:23 Hrs

BENGALURU: Now some IIT Delhi students have been trying to bring color into the lives of the blind with the Social Innovation Cell, that has been over the past two-three years developing technology for "social good, according to indiatimes.com.

Many innovations have been suggested by these students including the color sensor for the blind, a low-cost bed for blood-donation and a host of accessible computer and mobile games. There were only about 200 students; mostly first year IIT students who attended the workshop on developing mobile applications for the blind. The main focus of the initiative is to make people understand that even very small interventions can make a huge difference.

The Color sensor has been developed with the initiative to find the color of the compound which will be very helpful for science students. The color sensor will be of a marker-sized pen with built-in speaker and one can touch the compound powder or non-corrosive liquid with the sensor and it'll tell you the color and can currently detect 16 colors. However, the low cost bed for blood donation comes with a collapsible contraption of hollow carbon-fibre rods, plywood and synthetic leather.

Currently the beds are imported and cost 70,000 to 80,000 each. Once the bed is ready, it will weigh around 2.5-3 kilograms and will cost under 5,000. The main reason for the building of such bed is that sometimes blood spurts out because of the improper position and posture of the body during blood donation. Dwivedi, a computer science student has developed mobile and computer games for the blind.