On 4th January 2022 on the occasion of World Braille Day, Vidhya Y, the co-founder of Vision Empower moderated a...
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On the occasion of International Braille Day 2022, Vision Empower launches its Braille Reading Initiative at schools.
On International Braille Day 2022, Vision Empower expresses its gratitude to the co-creators of Hexis, Rajagopal N and Paul D’ Souza. Hexis is an electronic Braille reader which automatically converts text to Braille on a refreshable Braille display.
We have all heard or read about the inventor of the Braille script, Louis Braille. Louis was born on January 4 in 1809 in France and became blind after a childhood accident at the age of 3. But, he quickly mastered his new way of living. When Louis was only 15 years old, he created the Braille reading and writing system based on Charles Barbier’s night writing system (a note-taking system he invented of embossed dots to represent sounds).
(International Day for Persons with Disabilities, 3rd Dec 2021) A rainbow, out of the many storms that the Covid-19 pandemic brought, has been the increased usage of platforms like zoom. While we’ve all talked about the zoom fatigue and the boredom people faced all day working from home, there is a brighter side too. Assistive technology platforms like this have played an important role in empowering people with various disabilities to become contributors in conferences and events where earlier they would be mere participants.
(A talk by Vidhya Y in WSIS Forum 2022 Brainstorming Session) “Technology is a great enabler, it’s a necessity for women with visual impairment rather than a luxury”, says our co-founder Vidhya Y in a brainstorming discussion conducted by World Summit on the Information Society(WSIS).
(A Pragya Teacher Training Session with the graduates of NIEPVD) Over 20 Bachelors in Education (B. Ed) students from the National Institute For The Empowerment Of Persons With Visual Disabilities (NIEPVD), Tamil Nadu, attended the training which focussed on introducing the fresh graduates to Computational Thinking concepts through games.
Project VICT sponsored by Microsoft Corporation India Pvt. Ltd. and implemented by IIITB and Vision Empower, won the jury commendation certificate in the 19th FICCI Corporate Social Responsibility Award under the category of ‘Inclusive Development of PwDs’.
From counting rice grains as a child to becoming the gold medalist of her batch in IIIT-B, read the story of Vision Empower’s co-founder who was told to take ‘easier’ subjects as a person with visual impairment. Get to know how she defied all the labels put on her for choosing to study Mathematics and is now making STEM education accessible for children with visual impairment through Vision Empower.
Read Vidhya’s story featured by HerStory as a part of its Women Entrepreneurship Day coverage. The blog features remarkable women sho are running incredible ventures raising awareness on various issues people with disabilities face daily.
Vidhya Y, the co-founder of Vision Empower participated in Splendor 2021, an International Virtual Conference conducted by Cilre. The 3-day conference, from 18th to 20th November 2021, comprised of various panel discussions, fireside chats, workshops, etc all revolving around the theme “Future of Education”.
After a long dark struggle with the pandemic and with a misty view of the future, schools are reopening and students have been requested to attend school. What does this mean for the community of students and teachers with visual impairment and outreach wings of organizations such as Vision Empower?
Vision Empower (VE) participated in the 'EMPOWER Assistive Technology Conference' conducted by the International Institute of Information Technology Bangalore (IIIT-B) from 28th to 30th October 2021.
Vision Empower made a joint presentation on “Access to education amidst Covid restrictions: Enabling classroom interactions using a play-based learning approach” at Samvaad 2021
Vision Empower celebrated its fourth Foundation Day on the 4th of October 2021.
Are you passionate about Computational Thinking? Would you like to challenge yourself and make your CSPathshala Computational Thinking problems accessible for the children with visual impairment?
Vision Empower conducted a workshop on VICT – Computational Thinking for Children with Visual Impairment at the ACM India Computational...
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Abstract: This paper argues that, while universities have a crucial role to play in social innovation by democratizing knowledge, fulfilling that role in the Global South requires them to partner with civil society actors such as NGOs. With their history of working with the socially disadvantaged, NGOs have a unique role in clarifying the nature of demand since social innovation must often address ill-formulated “wicked problems”.
Vision Empower in collaboration with Canara Bank Welfare Association (Matruchhaya) conducted an online workshop on the 1st of September 2021 for The Regional Braille Press, Rama Krishna Mission Ashram, Narendrapur (West Bengal), and National Institute for the Empowerment of Persons with Visual Disabilities (NIEPVD), Chennai. Trainers: Ms. Kalyani and Ms. Pushpaja from Matruchhaya
Vision Empower is pleased to announce the commencement of the first Pragya training for teachers of children with visual impairment in Gujarat. The three-day training is being conducted online on 25th, 26th, and 27th of August 2021.
Vidhya participated in a panel discussion organized by the celebrated Information and Knowledge Societies for Sustainable Development Goals on the...
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National Institute For The Empowerment Of Persons With Visual Disabilities (divyangjan) – Regional CentreDepartment of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities(Ministry...
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Rishi Vadhana, VE Educational Co-Ordinator was awarded the second prize for presenting her paper titled "Teaching of logical reasoning diagnosis for print-disabled students" at the Science through Inquiry and Research (STIR) competition hosted by Bishop Heber College, Trichy for participants who have enlivened their Project/Research based Learning.
Vision Empower in collaboration with Saksham conducted the first Delhi Online Computational Thinking for Visually Impaired curriculum (VICT) Teacher Training intervention for teachers of two special schools for the blind in New Delhi on 25th June and 26th June, 2021.
Vision Empower conducted the first Pragya Teacher Training intervention for teachers of three special schools for the blind in Tamilnadu...
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Vision Empower celebrated Global Accessibility Day with two events. Awareness on usage of Screen Reader by persons with visual impairment and A Group Discussion based on Vidhya's TED talk. Great way to recognize the importance of Accessibility in our lives.
Design of Programs for Students and Teachers with Visual Impairment in the Global South: A collaborative response to the COVID19 pandemic in Karnataka, India. This entry from Vision Empower was accepted for the CHI 2021 conference workshop on Disability design in low resource settings.
Nutrition in Plants Nutrition in Animals Fibre to Fabric Heat Acid bases and salts Physical and Chemical changes Weather, climate...
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Food: Where does it come from Components of food Fibre to Fabric Sorting materials into groups Separation of substances Changes...
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The Living World Family Community Natural resources Air water Agriculture Food-essence of life Residences Nature of Matter Amazing Energy The...
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The Animal Kingdom Honey, Sweet Honey Go around the Forest Roots-Support of the Plant Flowers – Colors Each Drop Water...
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A day in the garden Green Wealth Judgement of an owl The family of water Variety of food Our Kitchen...
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Introduction of animals Animal Rearing Plants of Backyard We are for you Precious Water Varieties of food We need a...
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Integers Data Handling Simple equations Lines and Anlges The triangle and its properties The congruence of triangle Comparing Quantities Rational...
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Knowing our numbers Whole numbers Playing with numbers Geometrical IDeas Understanding Elementary shapes Integers Fractions Decimals Data Handling Mensuration Algebra...
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5 Digit numbers Addition Subtraction Fractions Angles Circle Length Perimeter and Area Data Handling Multiplication Division Mental Arithmetic Deccimal Fractions...
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Perimeter and Area of simple Geometrical figures Numbers Addition Subtraction Multiplication Division Circles Mental Arithmetic Fractions and Decimals Addition and...
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Shapes Numbers Addition Subtraction Multiplication Division Mental Arithmetic Fractional Numbers Money
Shapes and Spatial understanding (1) Numbers(0-99) Addition Subtraction Multiplication Division Mental Arithmetic Money Length Weight TIME Data Handling Patterns
Animals around us Plants around us Water Delicious food Do we need food My house Clean habits Safety and discipline...
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Spatial Understanding Solids Around Us Digits(1-9) Zero Addition(sum not more than 9) Subtraction Number 10.pdf Units and Tens Number-11 to...
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By Devi Lockwood
Erick Ponce works in a government communications department in northern Ecuador. The 26-year-old happens to be deaf — a disability he has had since childhood. Read the full article here
Vision Empower conducted the second Pragya Teacher Training intervention for teachers of two special schools for the blind in Tripura...
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Vision Empower is conducting its 8th Pragya Teacher Training for teachers from 21 schools in Karnataka in English and Kannada from 21st to 23rd April 2021
Being students of social sciences, there is no better practice than service learning which facilitates learning through meaningful community service....
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On the 11th of April, Vision Empower organized a workshop for 25 student volunteers on creating accessible documents using MathType. Educational Coordinators from VE trained the students and worked with them from 10 am to 1 pm.
By Joel P Joseph
The Wire Science
Entrepreneur Christina Wallace wrote in 2015, “for most people – myself included – the default [picture of a scientist] is probably a white man in a lab coat, hunched over a microscope.”
Thanks to many individuals, collectives and movements showing the mirror on racial, gender-based and caste-based discrimination in STEM, this stereotype is slowly changing. However, few still have promoted the inclusion of people with a disability in STEM.
Vidhya Y wins the Special Women Achiever Award 2021 from Xiaomi India for her contributions to empowerment of the community through Vision Empower.
Vision Empower and XRCVC in collaboration with Samagra Shiksha Tripura announces the first I for Inclusion Training for 40 educators from the state
All for Play, Play for All is the motto of the the team passionate about Ludic Design for Accessibility. Visit the Ludic Design website to know more.
Vidhya Y is featured in TheLifeofScience.com calendar 2021.. This year’s calendar honors various ways in which women, transgender, and non-binary persons are contributing to science in India. It features around 40 contemporary individuals who are helping the growth of the Indian scientific and academic ecosystem.
Vidhya addressed a group of 100 students of 12th grade from the Ramakrishna Mission, Chennai and shared her journey and encouraged them to choose courses of their choice for higher studies.
Supriya from Vision Empower took part in the "Accessible Computer Science Fall Workshop" Nov 17, 2020 - Nov 19 2020 on "Using research to make Computer Science education accessible to all learners" organized by Microsoft, University of Washington, and University of Colorado, Boulder. The whitepaper, Reimagining Accessibility and Inclusion in K12 Computer Science Education Through Curriculum and Professional Development was an outcome of this workshop.
To people with disabilities in India, STEM fields remain largely inaccessible. A glimmer of hope has come in the form of the National Education Policy 2020, but unless some serious gaps are addressed, progress is unlikely.
Article by Supriya for Samuhik Pahal, a Wipro Foundation newsletter : Addressing the new abnormal - COVID response for visually impaired teachers in schools for the blind
Vision Empower is happy to participate in the first Winter School of the Center for Accessibility in the Global South January 7th 2021 to January 9th 2021.
Supriya was part of a panel discussion at the online Wipro Partner Forum 2020 on the theme ‘Surviving to Flourish: Adaptations in the times of COVID-19.’
English</h5 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19...
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A three day online teacher training workshop Pragya’2020 was organized by Vision Empower on 9th, 10th and 11th of November....
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General Information: Numeracy concept: Counting and AdditionMaterials: 3 varieties of dry edible items (cashew, raisins, dates, peanuts, almonds, boiled chickpeas...
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Numeracy concept: Counting, Comparing (smaller, bigger) Material: one stainless steel or metal bowl, one flat tray, Marbles/Seeds/Beads, dice-2 (Android app...
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Play plan: Pebble Game – Counting Numeracy concept: Counting, Comparing (smaller, bigger) Material: one stainless steel or metal bowl, one...
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General Information: Numeracy concept: Patterns and SortingMaterials: 2-3 different varieties of pebbles or block or any items with different texture...
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General information Prerequisites: Counting and sortingPlay arena: A familiar place with less obstruction 3 chairs/stools 3 plastic boxes/jars with lid...
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General Information Prerequisites: –Play arena: 3 broad items/boxes of different materials such as wood, steel and plastic.3 steel glasses of...
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General Information Prerequisites: CountingPlay arena:Number of players: 2 or more Game Overview and Basic Rules for Play Body percussion is...
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GENERAL INFORMATION: Numeracy concept: Deductive reasoning skills, problem solving skillsMaterials: 3 sets with 4 items in each set. Any 3...
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General Information Numeracy concept: TimeMaterials: NonePrerequisites: Familiarity with numbers, days and monthsNumber of players: 2 or more Game Overview and...
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General Information Card deck: Children’s cards or standard cards (as per the child’s play level) Prerequisites: Counting, number recognition, identifying...
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General Information Material: Beads of two different textures, Thread Prerequisites: Counting, Number recognition Number of players: Any number Game Overview...
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General Information Numeracy concept: Place value Card deck: Children’s cards or standard cards (as per the child’s play level) Prerequisites:...
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General Information Prerequisites: Counting Number of players: 2 Materials: Noughts and Crosses board Game Overview and Basic Rules for Play...
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General Information Numeracy concept: Odd or Even Material: A bowl full of Marbles/Seeds/Beads/Buttons Prerequisites: Counting, addition Number of players: 2...
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Material: Braille Place value cardsPrerequisites: Counting, number recognition, 2, 3, 4 digit number place value, addition, subtractionNumber of players: Any...
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Card deck: Children’s cards or standard cards (as per the child’s play level)Prerequisites: Counting, Number recognition, identifying suitsPlay arena: StandardNumber...
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General Information Material: Tangrams Prerequisites: Counting, identifying shapes Number of players: Any number Game Overview and Basic Rules for Play...
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General Information Card deck: Junior cards or standard cards (as per the child’s play level) Prerequisites: Counting, number recognition, card...
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General Information Card deck: Children’s cards or standard cards (as per the child’s play level) Prerequisites: card game 0, card...
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General Information General InformationPrerequisites: CountingNumber of players: 6-8 Game Overview and Basic Rules for Play The objective of the game...
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General Information Prerequisites: Counting Play arena: pebbles, dry beans (chickpeas) or marbles, 2 bowls, 1 tray Number of players: 2...
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General Information Prerequisites: letter recognition.Play arena: StandardNumber of players: 4 Game Overview and Basic Rules for Play The objective of...
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General Information Prerequisites: Reading comprehension, basic operations of mathematics. Play arena: A familiar place with less obstructions. Number of players:...
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General Information Prerequisites: CountingPlay arena: Tactile Connect Four Board consisting of coins of 2 types with 2 different textures.Alternatively, a...
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General Information Prerequisites: balance on one foot, remain balanced while bending over and coming back up and to determine their...
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General Information Card deck: Children’s cards or standard cards (as per the child’s play level) Prerequisites: Counting, number recognition, card...
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General Information Prerequisites: Counting Play arena: Number of players: 2, 4 Game Overview and Basic Rules for Play Ludo is...
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General Information Prerequisites: Number IdentificationNumber of players: 2 groups of up to 6 children in each Game overview and basic...
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General Information Board: the standard pallanguli boardPrerequisites: CountingNumber of players: 2 Game overview and basic rules for play Pallankuli is...
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General Information Prerequisites: Counting Play arena: Number of players: 2 or more Game overview and basic rules for play Body...
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General Information Card deck: Children’s cards or standard cards (as per the child’s play level) Prerequisites: Counting, number recognition, card...
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General Information Card deck: Children’s cards or standard cards (as per the child’s play level)Prerequisites: Counting, number recognition, card game...
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General Information Prerequisites: Counting, number recognition, simple addition, familiarity with braille numbersPlay arena:Number of players: 2, 3, 4 Game Overview...
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General Information Card deck: Children’s cards or standard cards (as per the child’s play level)Prerequisites: Counting, number recognition, identifying suitsPlay...
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We celebrated the Foundation Day of Vision Empower on 4th of October, 2020. Three years since being incorporated, Vision Empower has been very fortunate to have incredible team members, mentors, partners, student interns and volunteers without whose support we could not have implemented our pilot projects. Read the details and view the videos here.
General Information Card deck: Junior CardPrerequisites: –Play arena: StandardNumber of players: 4 Game overview and basic rules for play The...
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Vision Empower gets DWDSC approval to conduct Teacher trainings for teachers in all schools for the blind in Karnataka. Vision...
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Roulette opens a new world for blind and low vision students in terms of education and career opportunities. Read more
Digital Literacy is as essential for teachers and students with blindness across the globe, as it is for the non-visually...
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(downloadable links) Textbooks Link to XRCVC Bookshare NAB Delhi IndicAI
Subodha is an accessible Learning Management System created by Vision Empower. It was created to make Science and Mathematics interesting...
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VE and Mathruchhaya collaborate on ensuring that Science and Mathematics Braille books are made for all students in Karnataka. In...
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Vision Empower works with teachers at schools to create and provide instructions for creation of specific tactile models requested for...
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VE procures 3D printed models from various vendors such as RLF to meet the needs of teachers at schools for...
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VE is happy to provide schools with high quality hand-made models from Vividha Trust. Pictures with description
VE is happy to provide schools with resources from leading STEM education resource provider for persons with visual impairment, XRCVC,...
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Tactile graphics are non-textual information to people who are blind or visually impaired and include tactile representations of pictures, maps,...
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RLF provides tactile design and production services and is closely working with NCERT, Sarv Shiksha Abhiyaan (Govt. of India), WSSCC...
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Tactograph, a product from Enability Foundation enables the printing of tactile books and worksheets at an affordable price. It is...
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Vision Empower has been accepted as a Primary member of the Daisy Forum of India (DFI). On Saturday, 19th of September, Supriya was invited to present at the AGM of the DFI on the activities of VE and especially Subodha and its utility. The presentation was well received. VE joins this consortium to work alongside the members on various interventions to make accessible content for persons with visual impairment, especially in India.
Dhanalakshmi B speaks of her experience with Vision Empower. We truly appreciate her generous heart that has caused her to volunteer above and beyond her regular responsibilities
Project Sitara Foundation is a student-led non-for-profit organisation working in the space of education. They aim to provide underprivileged children...
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IIITB volunteers were actively involved in the Confluence 2020 organized by I-STEM, VE, Vision Aid and XRCVC to highlight the...
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VE facilitators revised the Science and Math concepts from the student’s previous grade to reinforce their learning so that the...
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Stories play a vital role in the growth and development of children. They are a useful source of information and...
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The COVID19 pandemic has forced us to adapt to a new way of work and life, like many other businesses...
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Volunteers from Sitara – a group of bright young college goers passionate about societal needs – are helping students of...
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Visionary Ideathon is a 3-day event from 27th - 30th August by Project Sitara Foundation in collaboration with Vision Empower Trust. It is an opportunity for you to contribute towards science education for the visually impaired children of class 10 across India
Co-authored by Vidhya Y for a workshop at The ACM CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems 2020 View Publication
Vision Empower is covered as one of the case studies in Chap 3: Bridging digital divides: A framework for digital cooperation.
Project Torino is a physical programming environment designed for teaching computational thinking to children in schools in the UK, regardless of the level of vision. We introduced project Torino to children in three schools for the blind in Bangalore, India as a toy for playing with songs, rhymes, and stories. We present the results of 103 semi-structured play sessions spread over three months with 12 children (2 girls, 10 boys) with diverse backgrounds.
The paper "Conceptual Learning through Accessible Play: Project Torino and Computational Thinking for Blind Children in India", co-authoured by Gesu India, Microsoft Research India, Geetha Ramakrishna, Vision Empower, Joyojeet Pal, Microsoft Research India and Swami Manohar, Microsoft Research India, was presented at ICTD 2020 (Paper Session 4.1)
Vision Empower was one of the 7 finalists out of 53 teams selected at the 5th edition of the Innopreneurs Startup Contest 2020 held on Feb 1 and 2 2020 at Indore.
Vision Empower presented Hexis – the refreshable Braille book reader and was awarded the Special Recognition Award.
Visually impaired entrepreneurs are helping make science subjects more accessible to students like themselves.
Naini Thaker, Forbes India Staff reports