Product Identification for People With Visual Impairment

Project Title

Product Identification for People With Visual Impairment

Project Area of Specialization Software EngineeringProject Summary

Pakistan alone, 23 million people are either blind or have impaired vision. According to Heathline, blindness has different forms.; people with low vision blindness have limited sight and can navigate through their life without any major hurdles. Total blindness on the other hand causes people to have no light perception. The proposed project will address both categories as persons with visual impairment (PVIs) irrespective of their level of blindness. The proposed system will use code reading technology and extract relevant data with the help of a back-end database, and narrate the product data to the user. Not only will this system utilise the global product database but also maintain a local database respective to the store the user is in. Keeping a population of 285 million in mind - we propose a smart product recognition scanner that uses a smartphone camera to scan the packaging of a product and narrate the data as speech output. Not only the package title, through barcode reading - our system will be able to tell the price, variant and other relevant details of the product. Our proposed product is going to be integrated in a smartphone - which is a device majority of the people carry with themselves anyway. Our proposed system will help people with visual impairment use their phone to get to know the different options they have during buying a product in a store, and stay up to date with their total bill in real time.

Project Objectives

Develop an algorithm for accurate reading of barcodes of different kinds.

• Create a camera-based application that applies the said algorithms.

• Develop on an audio based system that translates the textual message into an audio message for the user.

• Design a separate interface for people with visual impairment keeping their requirements in mind.

 • Integrate our local database with the global product database.

• Integrate all mentioned modules into one application for iOS and Android based application

Project Implementation Method

The main goal of this project is the development and commercialisation of a code-based application for people with smartphones which can be used to scan products for information. The proposed project will include:

• Android/iOS application

• Relevant documentation

• Local database

This wil lbe implemented using java, google technologies and sql.

Benefits of the Project

The ability of people who are visually impaired or blind to independently shop at grocery stores,
supermarts, apparel stores and bookstores will encourage social stability and foster economic growth.
This product focuses on developing a fast method to inform the user of the product in front of them. Since
barcode readers are additional hardware and carrying them can be a nuisance - and text readers fail to
isolate relevant texts - the proposed system will act as an in-built shopping assistant. This system will
easily detect product codes and provide The detected information as speech output to PVIs.

The targeted audience is persons with visual impairment and individuals who are blind - to make
their shopping experience better. Secondary stakeholders for this project are going to be people just
looking for more information on the products they purchase- irrespective of their disability status.

Technical Details of Final Deliverable

THe final application will use EAN Universal databae, locally operated databse, ML and CameraX technologies for android Smartphones.

Final Deliverable of the Project Software SystemCore Industry HealthOther IndustriesCore Technology OthersOther TechnologiesSustainable Development Goals Reduced InequalityRequired Resources

Item Name	Type	No. of Units	Per Unit Cost (in Rs)	Total (in Rs)
			Total in (Rs)	78000
Data API	Equipment	3	16000	48000
Android Device	Equipment	1	20000	20000
Research	Miscellaneous	1	10000	10000