Finding their voice with AVAZ

Rohit Jain, a student at Vidya Sagar, tries his hand at the new machine which helps to convey his thoughts. Photo: S.R. Raghunathan

Rohit Jain found himself a voice. In front of his friends, it took him a couple of minutes to say, “I spoke to my parents using AVAZ. They are very happy.” And he and his friends showed their happiness.

At Vidya Sagar, Rohit and his friends with cerebral palsy used AVAZ, an indigenous Alternative and Augmentative Communication (AAC) device, to give voice to their thoughts on Thursday.

Priceless opportunity

The device, made by Invention Labs, a company started by four alumni of IIT-Madras, in collaboration with the institute, allows the children to form words on a digital display and uses a speech synthesiser to convert it into voice.

Rajul Padmanabhan, director, Vidya Sagar, said AVAZ gave the children the priceless opportunity to communicate with others. Comparable devices available from abroad cost Rs.3 lakh or more, she said, while AVAZ was available at less than 10 per cent that amount.

Grant

G. Gangi Reddy, managing director, Technology Business Incubator, University of Madras, provided the liaison between the company and Department of Science and Technology, which gave a grant of Rs.10 lakh for developing the product.

The first batch of ten AVAZ devices were gifted by 3i Infotech to the children as part of a Corporate Social Responsibility initiative.