Audio Book Reader launched by SAKSHAM

The Samadrishti Kshamata Vikas Avam Anusandhan Mandal (SAKSHAM) launched the first ever audio book reader (ABR) on Saturday. The pocket-sized device will enable visually impaired students to read audio books with much more ease.

Speaking about the ABR, Shirish Darwekar, one of the developers of the ABR said, “Reading audio books can be an arduous task for visually impaired students especially since there are no good audio readers available in the market, so they have to rely on MP3 players and I-pods to read audio books. As a result we undertook some research as to whether ABRs were available in the market and when we couldn’t find any, my colleagues, Sandeep Darwekar and Mukund Deshmukh and I began to work on making an ABR that would help students study with ease.”

The ABR, which is a pocket-sized device, weighs 175 grams with the battery. It can be synchronised to connect up to ten headphones so that ten students can study audio books at one time. Speaking more about its features he added, “The device can store up to 60 hours of audio files on a 2 GB Multi Media Card which is used in the normal mobile phones and digital cameras. It features two power sources wherein it can run for an unlimited period on an AC power using an AC adapter or for 8-9 hours on a 9 volt DC battery. Also, all the menus on the system are voice assisted so that the students can navigate through the device easily. The large data storage capacity enables students to store entire syllabi on the devices.”