Netravaad: Researchers at Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham develop Netravaad, a device that claims to turn eye signs into speech – Times of India

Researchers at Humanitarian Technology (HuT) Labs of Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham university have claimed to have developed India’s first device that enables people with speech impairment to communicate with the world by using simple eye signs.
The device is called Netravaad and consists of a camera, display, speaker, controller and a rechargeable battery that lasts for six hours on a single charge. The camera detects the eye sign of the user, which is converted into alphabet, word or a sentence by a customized AI algorithm called Sharani.
The detected words and sentences are displayed on the screen. In addition, the voice through speakers helps the external world understand the patient’s feelings, and the patient also gets a feel of speaking to others. Netravaad will advance in its development and become available in regional languages such as Malayalam and Hindi. Additionally, the user interface will be highly interactive, ensuring a comfortable experience for users.
A portable and lightweight device, Netravaad can be adjusted to any position for the patient’s comfort. It can be used while sitting in a chair, lying on the bed or even while travelling. The Netravaad Unit houses a display monitor, camera, speaker, a smash box and a rechargeable 24V battery. The complete unit is housed in a box and positioned on a swivel platform that can be adjusted to face in any direction as needed. The camera detects the user’s eye movements and converts them into words or sentences, which are displayed on the screen and verbalised through the speaker.
The patients are trained before they can use Netravaad. The duration of the training varies depending on the patient’s health condition. In addition to training, all the instructions for using Netravaad are displayed on the screen and voice instructions are given using the speaker. After completion of the training, the patient can easily follow the instructions given by the device and communicate with the external world through the voice of Netravaad.
Eye sign language is a process to estimate and track the line of sight of a person, or simply, where a person is looking. It has mainly five categories of eye signs including left, right, top, close and center.
“For communication, we created a new language using eye signs, called Netravaani. It allows users to utilize all 26 English alphabets to create any word and sentence. It also supports the numbers 0 to 9, with which the users can create any number. Thought the device is currently set in English, Netravaad is also undergoing regional language trials in Malayalam and Hindi. More languages are planned to be added in the future.We intend to make a highly interactive user interface to increase the comfort level of patient as its future phase,” said Prof. Rajesh Kannan Megalingam, director, Humanitarian Technology (HuT) Labs, associate professor, ECE Department Head, Amrita Center for Advanced Robotics.