Indian Journal of Science and Technology

Abstract

Objectives: To make a survey on Smart readers for Blind and visually impaired people and propose a suitable approach. Methods analysis: Visually impaired people need special systems like Braille for reading and writing for the blind. They also find it difficult to use the latest gadgets like smartphones or computers unless some specific modification is done to these devices which will assist them. The development of smart devices will significantly enhance their livelihood. Various smart devices have been developed where Optical Character Recognition and Text to Speech is used to capture the written or printed text and convert it into audio signals. There are many drawbacks to all these devices. Here we propose a new Smart Reader which will overcome some of these drawbacks. Findings/application: This system aims to develop costeffective assistive technologies for blind people and provide a greater degree of independence in their daily activities. The main advantage of this research is to detect the text and give the voice output for visually impaired. It will help the blind to read and acquire knowledge from all the printed material without converting the same into Braille format. 
Keywords: Blind and Visually Impaired (BVI), Optical Character Recognition, Text to Speech, Raspberry Pi