16 year old brings in a boon for the differently abled: Exhale and express
Arsh Shah Dilbagi, CEO, Roboticist, Innovator, Ideator, Creative Technologist, Full-stack Developer – Im Robo speaks to Krishna Bahirwani, sharing the story behind TALK.
Q. Tell us about TALK ? How does it work ?TALK employs an innovative technology, requiring a person to be able to give two distinguishable exhales (by varying intensity/time) to be converted into electrical signals using special Microphone. The electrical signals are processed by a microprocessor converted to letters ~ words ~ sentences and sent to another microprocessor for synthesizing. TALK features two modes - one to communicate in English supporting 9 different voices (male/female) suiting to different age groups and other to give specific commands/phrases. In communication mode, with embedded feature of encoding facility, user can communicate frequently used phrases by just dictating a few words.TALK has made two major breakthroughs by increasing speaking rate and becoming the world's most affordable AAC device. I got predicted results by testing the device with a person suffering from SEM and Parkinson's disease. TALK will mark the beginning of 'Whole New Life for Speech Impaired People'. In future I would like to add auto-predictions to my Computing-Engine and integrate TALK with modern technology like Google Glass to 'Make the World a Better Place to Live for People with Developmental-Disabilities and Speech Impairments'.TALK IS MEANT FOR:People with Developmental Disabilities - LIS, ALS, Parkinson's disease, TetraplegiaPeople with Brain Stem Stroke Syndrome.People who have gone through Tracheotomy Surgery.People with Vocal Cord Paralysis.People with Speech Impairments - Dysarthria etc.People who cannot speak - Mutes etc.Q. What inspired you to create a device that helps differently abled people communicate effectively ?I am writing answer by third person perspective.We've all spent an hour, even two, waiting for a consultation with a doctor. You may flip through a magazine, or agonise about what he/she will say, or even observe your fellow sufferers with a critical eye. But when Arsh Shah Dilbagi, a 16-year-old resident of Panipat, Haryana, found himself waiting in the reception room of his doctor's clinic, he used his time far more constructively."I noticed a patient crying profusely. He had suffered from a stroke, after which he had lost the ability to speak," says Arsh, who studies in Class 12 of the DAV Public School. The experience moved him, made him think about just how lack of communication renders a person helpless. He was shocked when he came across statistics reporting that being speech impaired lowered life expectancy by 20 years on an average. "I think as long as a person is breathing, he/she should be able to enjoy life," he says, of what he felt at the time.