Institute of Management, Nirma University - Logo

Text reader for blind and elder people using raspberry pi

Year : 2020

Mentors : Piyush Bhatasana

Students involved : Praveen Kukreja (17BEC073), Rakkshab Iyer (17BEC079), Priyam Patel (17BEC075)

Project : Link

Abstract: This Text Reader allows someone with impaired vision to “read” text from envelopes, letters and other items. It snapshots an image of the item, converts to plain text using OCR (Optical Character Recognition) and then speaks the text using text-to-speech.
The Reader is designed to be as absolutely simple to use as possible. No Internet needed, no graphical interface, only one button. Just place the item to be read onto the stand and press a button.
After a few moments, the text will be read back to them. We designed this for an elderly parent with eyesight issues such as macular degeneration, but can be used more broadly for anyone wanting printed text translated into audio speech.
There are many readers available, most though, cost thousands of dollars or are for someone who is tech savvy requiring Internet connectivity and the use of a smartphone. This reader is designed to be completely standalone with no internet and no interface other than a large push button.