With youth unemployment above 60 percent, South Africa is betting on digital skills to drive inclusive growth. Here is how MICT SETA is positioning the next generation for the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
Indian inventor launches $34 Braille Android smartphone in February
This is the ultimate expression of Google’s “Do harm policy”. In a bold move, inventor Sumit Dugar will soon launch an Android phone with a braille interface, reports the Deccan Herald. According to Dugar, the braille phone (he hasn’t named it yet) will let a visually impaired user do everything on a smartphone that a sighted user can do.
Dugar unveiled his project earlier this year, saying that his braille phone will launch in February. It’s a little odd though, as Dugar says that the project is in the “testing phases”. So our best guess is that we’ll be the test dummies. Thankfully, it’s an ultra-cheap device and will only cost Rs 2000 or US$34. An Android phone for US$34, and it’s got a braille interface? Sign us up for a dozen.
Very little information has been released about the braille phone. So we’ve reached out to Dugar in the hope of getting further information about a device that could potentially be a game-changer. What we know is this: the phone will let users “feel” shapes, figures and maps. This combines with voice-feedback software (most likely Android’s built-in voice assistant app) to create a phone that can be controlled sans sight. That’s it for now, but we expect great things from this phone. Great things indeed.
Image via Flickr
