Amrita University researchers develop Netravaad, a device to convert eye gestures into words and sentences

The device is useful for those suffering from Aphasia and other related ailments. It is developed by Amrita’s AI and Robotics Research Center and Humanitarian Technology (HuT) Labs at Amritapuri campus at Kollam in Kerala.

Thiruvananthapuram: A team of researchers at Amrita University have developed Netravaad, considered as India’s first technology that converts eye gestures into words and sentences.

The device is useful for those suffering from Aphasia and other related ailments. It is developed by Amrita’s AI and Robotics Research Centre and Humanitarian Technology (HuT) Labs at the Amritapuri campus at Kollam in Kerala.

HuT director Dr Rajesh Kannan Megalingam, who is leading the project, said that compared to similar devices available in foreign countries, Netravaad enables a normal level of communication and is also very cost-effective. Efforts to get a patent for the device are ongoing, he said.

Netravaad uses AI algorithms that turn the eye movements into words and sentences. "While the existing similar devices available in foreign countries only enable a minimum set of basic communication, Netravaad enables normal level communication. For instance, a teacher who lost the ability to speak could take classes as usual using Netravaad," said Megalingam, who also heads the startup firm T2H Innovations.

Netravaad's price is Rs. 1.65 lakhs, which is much lower than the price of similar devices that are available in foreign countries. At present Netravaad is developed to communicate in English, Hindi and Malayalam only.