13-year-old develops a low cost Braille printing machine
Shubham Banerjee might seem just like any other 13-year-old kid who seems to be interested in science. What makes him special from the majority of the 13-year-old is the fact that he is one of the youngest CEOs in the world. His claim to fame is the fact he has developed a low-cost machine to print Braille.
Braille is the writing system for those who are visually impaired. He made printer with the help of the Lego Robotics kit. He had made this printer as a science project. Earlier in January, Shubham even launched his own company in order to make low-cost machines to print Braille. Shubham has named the machine Braigo. It is the combination of two words, Braille and Lego.
How he got inspired to develop a low cost Braille printer, Shubham stated that he had done some research online and found out that the cost of one Braille printer was around $2,000, which he found really expensive. That is when he decided to make a cheap machine, which could be used by all. The cost of one these machines would be around $350 each, and would also be much lighter than the standard Braille machines.
This machine has been appreciated by the visually impaired community quite a lot.
Banerjee started his company last summer, with the initial investment of $35,000 provided by his father, Niloy Banerjee.
Investors from Intel were so impressed by Shubham’s machine that they have invested an undisclosed amount for the set up of the company. They have also roped in some experts, who will help develop the product even further. Intel is planning to have a few prototypes of the Braille printer by the start of the summer of 2015.
The Company now is being looked after by Shubham’s mother, since he is too young to run a company. She also stated the fact that earlier she was a bit apprehensive about Shubham working on the machine, but now she is quite proud of him.
