THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: ‘Nervazhi’ translates to the right path in English. That, essentially, was Shaila Begum’s concern.
An office assistant at the Vanchiyoor court, Shaila is visually impaired and finds it difficult to identify places while travelling, especially by bus. Unlike the metro system, where announcements are made before each station, there are no such mechanisms in buses. For visually impaired individuals, commuting thus becomes a worrisome affair.
In January, Shaila spoke about the ordeal many like her face during an interview with All India Radio (AIR), which has been broadcasting a dedicated programme focusing on people with visual disability.
“The programme is part of AIR’s initiatives for people with disabilities. We have been organising several events, the recent one being ‘Ulcherathu’ last week, where we discussed the prospects of AI in aiding the visually impaired,” says AIR programme executive Sevil Jahan.
“Nervazhi has been on air since 2013. In that programme, we invite people who cannot see but have braved all such odds to make a mark in life. Shaila was invited to speak about the grit that keeps her going. And there, she spoke about the difficulty faced by people like her.”
As the programme was being aired, Shaila’s story caught the attention of a group of young innovators who decided to address the issue. They were students at Chinmaya Vidyalaya, Naruvamoodu.
A robotics team of the school thought of an app to aid people like Shaila. They pitched the idea to mentors at Techosa — a company supporting the students with technical sessions.
Sam Sivan, CEO of Techosa, says: “We developed the app on the model of the announcements in metros. It tracks the GPS of the buses and announces the upcoming destinations to the user. The phones used by the visually impaired are tuned to allow them to listen to the apps they want to access.
“So they just need to speak into the phone about the bus they are travelling in, and the destinations, as and when they are being covered, will be conveyed to them. We took a week to make this app from the time the students pitched the idea. It is now in working mode and has been tested.”
The team is now waiting for the government to provide them with route details of the buses, says Lalithambika R S, principal of the school.
“The officials were also excited about the project when we took it to them. Transport Minister Ganesh Kumar asked us to keep updating the app,” she adds. “Our project now enters phase two, where we are trying to update it and align it with the GPS details of buses.”
Six students worked on the app. When development began, they were in Plus One; now, they are in Plus Two. “Such initiatives by students will be passed down the batches. It’s continuous work,” says Lalithambika.
The app bears the name of the programme that inspired the idea — Nervazhi. It means the correct path, and in this case, the right to correct information, for everyone.