IIT-Delhi Separate cell for “social good”

<p>In a noble move to help blind people, IIT-D's chapter of the National Service Scheme sub-group, Social Innovation Cell has developed technology for social welfare. The colour sensor for the blind, a low-cost bed for blood donation and a host of accessible computer and mobile games preceded the "Hackathon for Social Good" the SIC is just concluded at IIT.

About 200 - mostly, first year IIT students - attended the workshop on developing mobile applications recently according to a report of Times of India.

The inspiration for the sensor - its final shape will be of a marker-sized pen with built-in speaker - was Kartik Sawhney. Sawhney had battled with the CBSE to be allowed to study science in high school and had finally scored 95%. "The colour sensor was developed keeping in mind science students who need to check colours of compounds. You can touch the compound - powder or non-corrosive liquid - with the sensor and it'll tell you the colour," explains Srivastava. It can currently detect 16 colours - it doesn't know light pink from dark pink yet -- but the team hopes to make its readings more accurate. "Those born blind have no conception of colour so they'll have to match the names to what it says in the books," explains Sawhney.

According to TOI, The collapsible contraption of hollow carbon fibre rods, plywood and synthetic leather that's the blood-donation bed took all of last year. They got some informal support from doctors at AIIMS but the actual international standards still elude the team. "Currently the beds are imported and cost Rs. 70,000 to Rs.80,000 each. They're also heavy and can't be transported," says NSS executive and second-year computer science student, Karan Dwivedi. </p>