NoteRead

In response to the critical need for inclusive technologies, our project centres around developing a currency bill reader for the visually impaired. The primary goal is to empower this community with a cost-effective, compact, and user-friendly solution that enhances their financial independence. We believe this project effectively demonstrates how STEM can be used to work towards sustainable development by making inclusive technology that binds our community closer and tighter, making its people and itself stronger.

Why does our project matter? We recently found out that the Indian currency notes are not properly designed for blind people and have raged major backlash as demonstrated by various articles, for example- 

“At this time, there is little hope that all currency will be identifiable for all people in the near future. Unless the newly issued notes will be redesigned, tactile recognition will be out of the question.” -Blind Coin Collector 

“AN NGO has started a petition on change.org to highlight difficulties visually impaired people face using new currency notes” -The Indian Express.  

This all concerned us enough to create a device which will solve this issue easily and effectively, BeyondSight. We want to make it so that it is as simple as taking our pocket-sized device out slipping in a note and having it read out the note denomination for you. We also plan to incorporate a vibrating feature so that the product is accessible to blind and deaf people as well.

Problem: According to PubMed, India is home to one-third of the world's total blind population.Visually impaired people haven't been able to distinguish new currency notes in India.They have trouble in transactions and payments, getting exploited by virtually anyone they hold transactions with.Various countries like Bangladesh and Pakistan do not include braille in their currency making their currency inaccessible to the visually impaired.

Target Consumers:

The Total addressable market 

Our product can be customized for various countries' currencies and there are currently 253 million people in the world with severe visual impairments. 

Serviceable Addressable Market

There are currently 70M visually impaired in India who have trouble distinguishing the new Indian currency. We plan to focus on the Indian market first.

Serviceable Obtainable Market.

There are around 40 million people with severe visual disabilities in India. 

To provide a pocket-sized monetary reader at 1,000 INR ($12) for the visually impaired people of India that can effectively distinguish between different denominations of Indian currency, so they can be safe and secure about the money that they pay and the money that they get. We aim to improve the financial independence and confidence of visually impaired people.

In response to the critical need for inclusive technologies, our product centers around developing a currency bill reader and marker tailored for individuals with visual impairments.

The primary goal is to empower this community with a cost-effective, compact, and user-friendly solution that enhances their financial independence.

We have already created a prototype that can distinguish between different currency denominations.

The final product will be slightly smaller than a phone.

This is our proof of concept:

https://drive.google.com/file/...

This is just a proof of concept and looks bulky in the video, however, we will very soon be done with the development of the final product with a custom PCB which will fit in one's pocket.

The prototype works by detecting the RGB values of the currency note and then comparing it with the already defined RGB values of each currency note (Each Indian currency note has a different, distinguishable colour). Once it detects a match, it then plays the relevant audio file stored in the flash memory of the microcontroller. The audio file is triggered by the user pressing a button on the device

Our target consumers are the visually impaired of all ages. Still, we aim to focus on the severely impaired, older population with them ranging from low-income to high-income class.

They currently lack an effective way of identifying the currency denominations of India, having caused distress amongst the community for more than 7+ years now, this can be seen by simply browsing news articles available freely.

RBI (Reserve Bank of India) has shown to have an incredibly bad record of addressing this need.

several articles show this:
 https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/finance/aware-of-concerns-of-visually-impaired-but-issuing-new-banknotes-huge-task-rbi-to-hc/articleshow/101955096.cms?from=mdr

https://www.trtworld.com/magazine/why-india-s-blind-people-struggle-to-recognise-new-banknotes-13231

https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/mumbai/new-notes-of-rs-200-and-rs-50-visually-impaired-face-trouble-using-new-currency-4924270/

Now, one might think that the visually impaired can simply use digital forms of payments, they are prevalent in this day and age, right?

However, RBI has also tried to develop an app "Mani" which would help in currency denomination recognition of the visually impaired. 
https://www.cnbctv18.com/finance/eenie-meenie-miny-moerbi-money-mani-more-9999301.htm

Additionally, we tested out various apps, including Mani, and found that the app is incredibly ineffective, requiring full access to your phone, invading privacy, and being reliant on the chance that the visually impaired person can align the note correctly against their phone's camera.

The reviews for the app state that the application gets confused between various currency note denominations, defeating the purpose of the app.

Moreover, as far as Credit/Debit cards go, they are inaccessible to minors in India and additionally, the Indian population heavily relies on local vendors for their everyday needs like groceries. Most of the vendors in even Tier 1 or Tier 2 cities rely majorly on cash payment or other app-based transaction methods such as Paytm, PhonePe, etc.(Indian equivalent of PayPal) 

These articles show that India heavily relies on cash payments:

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-67674453

https://www.businesstoday.in/magazine/economy/story/cash-is-still-king-with-currency-in-circulation-touching-a-new-high-in-october-354200-2022-11-25

We aim to empower these visually impaired people, and give them financial freedom, and confidence to carry out their transactions freely and without being at risk of getting exploited.

This device of ours is not just to help the visually impaired financially but to give them the confidence to function more freely as a part of our society.

Firstly, our team has worked with NGOs for various kinds of disabled for over 2 years now, founding organisations that span the biggest state of India, Rajasthan. We have worked in teaching NGOs various skills, and being able to mentor and guide 300+ people has instilled in us, the skills required to work with people with disabilities wholeheartedly. Additionally, to gain more insight we went to various visually impaired people, from low-income range to high-income range, from unemployed to senior professors at universities. They all had their complaints about the Indian currency and how hard it is to hold everyday transactions, especially with the higher chance of being exploited by various street vendors.

We have to understand that these visually impaired people also want to be independent and self-reliant, giving them a tool to move towards this is surely going to improve their quality of life, not just financially but emotionally and mentally.

We also assessed their views on what mediums they get to hear about products like ours. 

After analysing visually impaired people's testimonials we have decided to market through:

NGO/Government Organisations

Newsletters / Mailing Lists

Word of mouth

We also aim to make a visually-impaired friendly website for additional marketing.

Moreover, as Indians, living in Jaipur, our team has great access to various agencies and NGOs near our residence. This allows to always be close enough to the visually impaired people to gain valuable insight. 

We have already created two incremental prototypes for our idea, both of which can distinguish between all of the (new) currency denominations of India. We have taken our prototypes and business ideas to national STEM and startup competitions, refining our tech and our business plan. Most recently we were selected amongst the top 20 out of 1222 startups at the national startup summit, additionally, we also won two and amassed 35 thousand rupees in seed funding. We have attracted investor interest and are currently in talks with some. We are also currently in the process of designing the final PCB for the final product. 

We require MIT solve to help us in the final design of our product which includes the final PCB along with the final case, along with technical help in implementing the UV counterfeit detection and eventually serial number identification for 100% counterfiet detection. On top of this, legal help in setting up our startup as a registered company would also be appreciated. We also require monetary support, chiefly funds to cover our initial costs for the first 2000 products so we can enter and establish our selves in the market. Connections with NGOs/Government agencies that specialize in addressing the needs of visually impaired people would also greatly help our product reach an international market.

Our solution is a tactile, accessible and easy-to-use device that is tailor-made for visually impaired people, it is unlike any other product on the market (such as credit/debit cards, digital wallets, and currency recognition apps)because it is a PHYSICAL product, which emphasizes usability for visually impaired people above all else. We want to create a product that any visually impaired person will be able to use, no matter their background or their condition.

Our product not only helps consumers financially but emotionally and mentally, giving them a sense of self-reliance and a way to do day-to-day activities with confidence.

Additionally, due to the lack of any widely recognized commercial products for the disabled, this product can also help disabled individuals gain more recognition from established companies and upcoming startups to make their product/service more inclusive for the disabled; as a domino effect, it might also sprout up bubbles of specialised innovation for the disabled.

Following suit, our efforts are likely to translate into governments around the world taking note and avoiding such exclusion for the disabled in other such fields, making our community stronger, as a whole.

We anticipate a transformative impact on the lives of visually impaired individuals, fostering financial independence and societal inclusion. Through iterative development, testing, and user feedback, NoteRead aspires to be a scalable and sustainable solution, setting a precedent for accessible technologies that contribute to a more inclusive future.

We will firstly aim most of our efforts towards serving the severely visually impaired individuals who are defined as: 

"To be certified as severely sight impaired (blind), your sight must fall into one of the following categories, while wearing any glasses or contact lenses that you may need: Visual acuity of less than 3 / 60 with a full visual field."

Ultimately, we want to make it so that no visually impaired individual has to guess, or be unsure about their currency note's value, and especially with countries like India, a great proportion of one's livelihood is spent as cash. We want the visually impaired to have full knowledge and control over how much clash they spend and how much cash they get.

Our executive and development team is currently focusing on tailoring the final product according to the testimonials we have gotten so far, this product will help the visually impaired distinguish between currency denominations effectively.

This is how our product can help the visually impaired:

Cheap & affordable product➞ Vast majority of the visually impaired buy it➞ Ability to tell currency denominations apart➞ More financial & emotional confidence➞ Better functioning in society with others

This is how our product can help a particular country using our product:

Cheap & affordable product➞ Vast majority of the visually impaired buy it➞ Ability to tell currency denominations apart➞ More financial & emotional confidence➞ Readiness to spend increases➞ Quality of life & Morale of the overall population increases➞ Productivity of the human resources of the country in

The reason we expect to have a great impact in countries like India is due to two major reasons :

-Price
-Reliability

In our culture, cheap and affordable things are appreciated and our technology is tailored towards improving the lives of millions in just 1000 INR (~$12) each. This puts us in good shoes to reach our goal fast, additionally, our product is highly reliable as we have even drop-tested our 2nd prototype from 50 metres, and it still turned out to be functional. This makes the product more than strong enough to be carried around in one's pocket and go through a full day of wear & tear.

We aim to target the following SDGs:

• SDG 8 Decent work and Economic Growth
• SDG 10 Reduced Inequalities

The target & Indicators we are likely to have the most impact on are:

1. Target 8.1- Sustain per capita economic growth in accordance with national circumstances and, in particular, at least 7 per cent gross domestic product growth per annum in the least developed countries.

• Indicator 8.1.1- Annual growth rate of real GDP per capita
  
  Our product aims to stimulate the economic inclusion of the visually impaired people in the country which adopts our product. 
  Due to this increase in the flow of currency towards products and services, the demand will grow. Increasing manufacturers' revenue and output will overall increase the country’s output per person. This results in an increase in GDP per capita.

2. Target 10.1-  By 2030, progressively achieve and sustain income growth of the bottom 40 per cent of the population at a rate higher than the national average

• Indicator 10.1.1- Growth rates of household expenditure or income per capita among the bottom 40 per cent of the population and the total population.
  
  As our serviceable obtainable market has 40 million severely visually impaired which make up India's ~3% population, the stimulation of the household expenditure for a visually impaired individual achieves this target. The increase in household expenditure is brought about due to higher consumer confidence and financial independence.

3. Target 10.3- 

Ensure equal opportunity and reduce inequalities of outcome, including by eliminating discriminatory laws, policies and practices and promoting appropriate legislation, policies and action in this regard.

• Indicator 10.3.1- Proportion of population reporting having personally felt discriminated against or harassed within the previous 12 months on the basis of a ground of discrimination prohibited under international human rights law
  
  In responses to previous questions, the articles provided show that the visually impaired have raised concerns about the government discriminating against them by not including sufficient markings on their currency notes for the visually impaired, our product helps soothe this situation by giving the visually impaired an effective solution to this problem.

The core technology we employ is that of a simple colour sensor, this technology is simple, feasible and most importantly, cheap. As Indian currency denominations each have a unique colour. The prototype works by detecting the RGB values of the currency note and then comparing it with the already defined RGB values of each currency note (Each Indian currency note has a different, distinguishable colour). Once it detects a match, it then plays the relevant audio file stored in the flash memory of the microcontroller. The audio file is triggered by the user pressing a button on the device

Our solution team consists of 2 full-time employees.

We have been working on our solution for a year now, and are likely to get our product available for the masses by next month.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion are paramount to us at BeyondSight and to ensure we meet the standards set by MITsolve, we are making sure that when we include any new team members in our team (We are about to embark on a recruiting drive as our business gets well established and needs more volunteers) we take those from a marginalized community first, For example, We are looking at our connections with an NGO that specifically helps minority groups and Rajasthan and we hope to recruit people from there. Along with this, we are making sure that our distributors/anyone we hire are treated equitably and that they are paid a livable amount. On top of this, we want to ensure that our product reaches the hands of as many people as possible regardless of our background, and so we plan to donate a portion of each batch of our products for free to visually impaired people.

Our team comes from a diverse background, with our founders both being multiethnic and having experience in diverse localities such as Punjab, Haryana and even Uttar Pradesh allowing us to have a home field advantage in various regions, understanding of the society and culture greatly helps our efforts to expand and help as many visually impaired people as possible.

Our business model revolves around a B2B + B2C model, Where we mainly want to sell our product to large government organizatoins and NGO's, because they can order our product in bulk and thus help us greatly increase our revenue, and can then distribute these products to visually impaired people for free or at a great discount. That way we can ensure that the maximum number of our products reach the hands of visually impaired people. On top of this, we are marketing to visually impaired people through mailing lists, newsletters, etc which greatly supports our B2C model, where we cna sell online directly to consumers / visually impaired people. Our product is exceptionally valuable to visually impaired people as it allows them to finally have financial confidence, safe and secure cash transactions. We have already talked to multiple visually impaired people, like a blind professor at SK somaya college and it is clear that our product is something that is in demand and needed. We are selling our product at a profit so we can create a self-sustaining business with a huge capacity to expand.

Our revenue revolves around selling our product with a profit margin of 20% (Before Taxes), Which makes it so that once we do get an initial foothold in the market, we can keep expanding and create a self-sustaining business model. The main expenses we face are the initial costs, which we have to consider in the costs for injection moulding the frame along with the PCB costs for the first 2000 products. We plan to raise the money for these initial products mainly through grants, investor funding and other money we win from competitions. As of right now, we have already generated 35k INR for our product by winning two national competitions and are currently in talks with investors like Kumar Sourabh from Angel Ventures. We also want to target selling our product to the government, because it would give us a very steady revenue source while allowing our product to reach the maximum amount of visually impaired people possible. We want to sell our product in bulk to government agencies and NGOs. Device selling price - 1000 INR - per device Device cost of production - 800 INR - per device Initial costs including injection moulding, marketing, registration as a startup, etc. - 2,600,000 INR