Indian-origin boy, Microsoft working on Braille printer
Saturday, 16/05/2015
http://paper.hindustantimes.com/epaper/viewer.aspx
WASHINGTON: At 12, Indianorigin Shubham Banerjee used his Lego toys to build a low-cost Braille printer. Now 13-year-old, Banerjee, is working with IT giant Microsoft to integrate his invention with Windows.
Many life-changing events took place in between. He started his own company Braigo (conflated Braille and Lego) Labs, and became the youngest entrepreneur to pick up venture capital funding.
Banerjee is still in middle school, and lives in California with his family — mother Malini is the president of his company, and father Neil is his mentor.
It all started with just pure curiosity: how do blind people read.
“I discovered that typical Braille printers cost about $2,000 (about `126,000) or even more, and I felt that was unnecessarily expensive for someone already at a disadvantage,” Banerjee told a Windows blogger earlier this week. “So, I put my brain to work, and the first thing that came to mind was to create an alternative using my favorite toy.”
After seven attempts, he finally had a working printer, and it had cost him only $350 to build.
“I achieved an 82% reduction in cost and have been overwhelmed by the encouraging feedback from both the sighted and the blind,” he was quoted in the blog.
However, he didn’t keep the device to himself. He put together a do-it-yourself manual and posted it online for whoever wanted to make it or use it.
He then upgraded his invention to Braigo 2.0, which has been hailed as a “first low-cost, internet-ofthings enabled, silent and lightweight” Braille printer.
