Indian-origin teen Shubham Banerjee is Silicon Valley's youngest entrepreneur

Taken from Times of India.
The California eighth-grader has launched a company to develop low-cost machines to print Braille, the tactile writing system for the visually impaired. Tech giant Intel Corp recently invested in his startup, Braigo Labs.

Microsoft's bone-conducting headset uses audio to help guide the blind around town

Taken from PC World.
Microsoft is developing an interesting new system the company believes could radically change the way visually impaired people navigate an urban environment. The new prototype technology doesn't have an official name yet, but Microsoft refers to it as 3D soundscape technology.

Researchers Announce Advance in Image-Recognition Software

Taken from New York Times.
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — Two groups of scientists, working independently, have created artificial intelligence software capable of recognizing and describing the content of photographs and videos with far greater accuracy than ever before, sometimes even mimicking human levels of understanding.

Sonar navigation for the visually impaired

Taken from Mumbai Mirror.
Research students have created a small watch-sized device that costs Rs 3,700 and can use sonar to help the blind navigate their environment along with other aids like a cane or a dog.

13-year-old Indian-origin boy gets Intel funding for low-cost Braille printer

Taken from Times of India:
At the age of 12, Shubham Banerjee, closed an early-stage funding round with Intel Capital for his prototype for a low-cost Braille printer. HUNTINGTON BEACH, CALIFORNIA: If Shubham Banerjee cannot lay claim to being the world's youngest venture capital-backed entrepreneur, he comes very close.

Coding Champion, Blind Father Parse Braille; Make Typing Easy

Taken from New Indian Express.

KASARGOD: Nalin Sathyan has successfully hidden his other identity — Nalin.x.Linux — for long. He is as obscure as his home, a two-bedroom blind teacher’s quarters hidden by outgrown grass on Seethangoli Road at Vidyanagar in Kasargod.

Robotic walking stick for visually impaired

Taken from Business Standard:
In a first, engineers have designed a robotic walking stick for the visually impaired that can detect the user's immediate path and store localised geographical information.

‘Smartcanes’ made by IIT-Delhi team to help 60 blind students in city

Taken from Indian Express:
For nearly 60 visually-impaired college students in Mumbai, detecting obstacles in front of them will no longer require physical contact. ‘Smartcanes’ developed by a team from Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IIT-D) team will enable the students to detect open windows, electric poles, hanging branches
and protruding AC units, open car door at a distance of three metres using ultrasonic ranging sensors attached to their regular canes.

MIT finger device reads to the blind in real time

Taken from other source:

Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are developing an audio reading device to be worn on the index finger of people whose vision is impaired, giving them affordable and immediate access to printed words.

'57 traffic lights blind-friendly' in New Delhi

Taken from Times of India:
NEW DELHI: The city police informed the Delhi high court that they have installed 57 auditory devices at traffic signals in the capital for safety of visually impaired people.

World's 'first' Braille phone goes on sale

Taken from Times of India:
LONDON: A London-based company claims to have put the world's first Braille phone, which costs just 60 pounds, for sale in UK.

The phone has been designed to provide an instant connection between blind users and their friends and family, its manufacturers said.

Bye Bye Braille! This FingerReader Ring Can Read Books to the Blind

Taken from Digital Trends:
Researchers from MIT Media Labs are developing a wearable device that can read out printed text using a synthesized voice, helping the sight-impaired read books without the use of braille. Called the FingerReader, the ring-like device has a mounted camera for scanning text.

A Smart Cane for the Visually Impaired

Taken from The Hindu Business Line:

After smartphones and smartcards, here comes the SmartCane – a home-grown, affordable electronic device for the visually impaired. The ultrasonic device, launched by IIT Delhi on Monday, can be fixed on the top fold of the white cane to detect obstacles above knee-level at a distance ranging from one metre to three metres. Its carrier is alerted by different vibratory patterns.

Indian Wearable Device Fin Helps The Visually Impaired

Taken from Times of India:
BANGALORE: A wearable device developed by a 23-year-old Indian based Kerala has just concluded an overwhelmingly successful campaign on crowdfunding platform Indiegogo. Fin, a tiny hardware product that you can wear on your thumb as a ring and which converts your whole palm into a gesture interface, has raised about $200,000 from some 1,600 people around the world who have pre-ordered the product.

Artificial Retina May Help Restore ‘Vision’

Taken from Times of India:

WASHINGTON: Doctors in US have successfully implanted an artificial retina in two near-blind patients to allow them to see objects, light and people standing before them.

3D-Printed Hubble Telescope Photos Help Blind Touch the Universe

Taken from Space.com.

WASHINGTON — The Hubble Space Telescope's gorgeous photos of the universe have acquired another dimension to help the blind experience the cosmos.

Big Breakthrough In Cure for Blindness

Taken from Times of India.

LONDON: In a major breakthrough, an inkjet printer in Britain can print eye cells which can be used to cure human blindness.

For the first time ever, researchers from UK have used inkjet printing technology to successfully print two types of cells from the retina of adult rats - ganglion cells and glial cells.

Cabinet Okays National Policy On Universal Electronic Accessibility

Taken from other source.
The Union Cabinet today approved the National Policy on Universal Electronic Accessibility that recognizes the need to eliminate discrimination on the
basis of disabilities as well as to facilitate equal access to electronics and Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs).

Nissan Plans to Offer Affordable Self-Driving Cars by 2020

Nissan announced that it expects to begin selling multiple models of self-driving cars by 2020.
Self-driving cars, also known as autonomous drive vehicles, use cameras and sensors to detect roadway lanes and objects around them in order to guide themselves without human intervention.

Leaked Droid 5 Images May Yet Give Hope to Long-Suffering QWERTY Fans

Samsung Galaxy Chat (b5330) was the last Android smartphone which equipped with QWERTY keyboard, I think. Many people who loves keyboard at least for typing, especially visually impaired people are searching for a QWERTY Android smartphone for a long period. Read below news about an upcoming Android smartphone with QWERTY keyboard from Motorola.