Time Magazine Lists Made-in-India Braille Self-Learning Device And Battery Swapping Solution For E-Rickshaws Among ‘Best Inventions Of 2022’

Two Indian products – one a made-in-India product for visually challenged children to self-learn the braille language, and the other a rapid battery-swapping solution for electric auto-rickshaws in India – figure in the (US) Time magazine’s annual compilation of the "Best Inventions of 2022".

Braille self-learning device

“Annie”, the world’s first self-learning literacy device for braille, the ‘touch’ language for the visually-challenged, is an innovation flowing the Bengaluru-headquartered Tinkerbell Labs, a start-up which specialises in solutions for the differently abled.

With Annie, visually impaired students can learn to read, write and type in Braille on their own, while having fun. Packed with gamified and interactive content, the tactile hardware module is tailored to teach, coupled with a soft human voice guiding students through lessons.

This eliminates the biggest challenge today in training visually challenged persons, especially children: the shortage of specialist teachers coupled with the need for handholding and constant supervision. The WiFi-enabled Annie evaluates answers given by the students instantly and gives smart corrective feedback.

In the US, Annie is marketed under the name Polly, after Polly Thomson, who spent 46 years as companion and interpreter to blind writer and evangelist for the visually challenged, Helen Keller.

The American Printing House for the Blind (APH) partnered Tinkerbell in the development. Polly is currently being field tested, with plans for an official US launch in 2023. Time’s listing is under this US name.

The Indian variant, Annie is already in wide use: Says Dilip Ramesh, Co-founder and CTO of Thinkerbell Labs: “Our first Annie Smart Class was set up in Ranchi in 2018. Today, we have more than 50 Annie Smart Class centres across16 states in India. Annie is now available in 8 Indian languages.”

Time magazine’s citation reads:

“When visually impaired children learn braille in a classroom, their teachers can let them know how they’re doing. But many of those students don’t have braille readers at home to help them. Now they can use Polly—a wi-fi-enabled device …that provides braille learners with instant audio feedback and allows teachers to assign and assess homework remotely.

"Instead of a standard metal or plastic slate used with paper, learners can write (and correct mistakes) using Polly’s electronic braille slate and stylus—the world’s first.”

A YouTube video on Annie in use by  kids in India can be found here.

Battery-swapping for e-rickshaws

Also making Time’s 2022 Best Inventions list is a battery-swapping solution for electric auto rickshaws in India which can also be used by electric bikes and 3-wheeled light carriers. 

The eZee swappable Lithium-Ion battery pack weighs 13 kg and delivers 2.5 Kilo-watt-hours (KWh) of power, good to go for a typical shift. 

Manufactured in a former Honda plant in Greater Noida, the eZee batteries can be swapped in dozens of Indian cities at battery banks that can be located through an app.

This eases one of the principal challenges for e-rickshaw drivers – the waste of productive time while a spent battery is recharged.

eZee is a development of the Pasadena, California (US)- Power Global, co-founded by former SpaceX engineer Porter Harris and international auto industry veteran Pankaj Dubey who heads the India operation, the company's biggest presence.

Says Dubey: "We are on a mission to improve access to clean energy solutions in India and other emerging markets by sharing our collective years of expertise in bringing affordable battery technology to market.

"While the eZee will give light mobility vehicles new life, it also represents a path to help build local economies with direct and indirect job creation.”

Time’s entry on eZee battery reads:

“…Power Global created the eZee module, a subscription battery service for drivers who use cleaner electric rickshaws. Drivers receive a battery module, which they can swap when depleted for charged ones at a growing network of kiosks, for roughly $2 to $3 per day  (Rs 165- Rs 250)—a savings of at least 30% per day compared with diesel or petrol costs.”

Power Global hopes to be, very soon, the largest leading domestic manufacturer of lithium-ion batteries in India, serving the domestic market as well in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Egypt, Nigeria and other locations in Southeast Asia and Africa.

Following the launch of the eZee battery module, the company plans to offer Retrofit Kits to convert diesel- and petrol-fueled auto rickshaws into zero-emissions electric vehicles.