PATIALA: The Symposium on Bhashini Technologies for the Visually Impaired, organized by the Research Centre for Technical Development of Punjabi Language, Literature and Culture at Punjabi University, Patiala, was held today at the Senate Hall and witnessed the launch of three pioneering software solutions aimed at empowering visually challenged users across India. The event showcased state-of-the-art accessibility tools developed under the Government of India’s Bhashini initiative, which is focused on building advanced AI-based technologies for major Indian languages.
Dr. Jaswinder Singh Brar, Dean of Academics, formally launched the three key solutions. The first, Drishti-Library developed by IIIT Hyderabad, is an AI-driven platform that uses Bhashini’s OCR and TTS systems to convert printed books into natural-sounding audiobooks across twelve Indian languages, including Punjabi. A collaboration with Navchetna is already underway to convert undergraduate textbooks into audio format. The second launch, Drishti-Dot, marks India’s first system capable of directly converting printed books into Grade-1 Braille across twelve Indian languages—an unprecedented step forward in Braille accessibility. The third software, the Bilingual Gurmukhi OCR Mobile App developed by Punjabi University, enables real-time recognition and reading of Punjabi text from images using mobile devices.
A prototype of Drishti-Sabha, India’s first voice-enabled, multilingual question-answering system for Punjab Vidhan Sabha debates, was also demonstrated during the event. The symposium further featured technical presentations by researchers from IIT Madras, IIIT Hyderabad, CDAC Mumbai, and Zandola, highlighting the rapidly growing ecosystem of AI-driven accessibility tools in India.
The programme commenced with a welcome address by Dr. Dharmvir Sharma, Director of the Research Centre, who shared ongoing Bhashini-related research activities at the Centre. In his keynote address, Prof. C. V. Jawahar of IIIT Hyderabad discussed recent advances in AI and emerging technologies for the visually challenged, especially recognition systems for Indian language text. The event also included an expert talk on assistive technologies by Rajender Negi of NIEPVD Dehradun and a presidential address by Dr. Jaswinder Singh Brar, Dean of Academics.