Maths students want to help the visually-impaired
“Huan is the one who initiated the idea of the reading device for the visually-impaired” enthused Phuc, team leader of WIS-EYE, “ as he told the motivating story of how they made it to incubation and their dream to help thousands of visually-impaired people.
“Huan was walking home from school when he saw a blind man selling gum on the pavement. That was the moment when he came up with a reading device for the visually-impaired. He believed they could not have a decent job unless they had access to the unlimited sources of knowledge which are books” — recalled Phuc.
Motivated by the idea, Huan had started developing the hard components of the device before team-member, Dung joined him for the software. The other two members, Phuc and Minh, were responsible for the internal and external communications, funding and procurement, showing the group had split their responsibilities and strengths well.
However, they were also open about what hadn’t gone so well. “We successfully developed a device, but failed to examine whether it met the needs of targeted group or not. After joining UPSHIFT, we completely changed the device. We found out through surveys that although the visually-impaired already had a reading app, but they still could not read the physical books. They wanted to read like most people with a small, easy-to-carry device while our product was too heavy and complicated” Phuc shared.
To make it more realistic, all the groups were requested to conduct a survey which involved the target audience. The results shifted their perspectives significantly during the project, making their ideas more realistic. During the survey, participants also felt empowered and their voices heard.
When asked about the plan following today if chosen, Huan did not hesitate, “If we can make it to top 5, we will try our best to finish the sample, conduct trials, analyse survey’s results, upgrade, and repeat the process. We will keep innovating a better device. Along with developing the product, we would consider establishing some communication channels to engage more people”. His eyes sparkled with lights of hope when talking about his team’s project.
UPSHIFT is not only a journey to accomplish the incubation, but also a chance for our teenagers to become a more mature version of themselves and gain valuable life skills.
“Our team got along much better after UPSHIFT. We knew how to listen to each other, our mentor also supported us a lot and provided us with knowledge, patience and motivation. The key lesson I’ve learnt is how to listen and get the information in a patient way.” — said Phuc.
No matter how rough the road ahead is, we believe that these young people will overcome all the obstacles in their way with determination and burning desire. Above all, UPSHIFT deeply appreciates the meaningful time with Vietnamese youth and hopes to continually be the motivating portal where life-changing ideas meet. Together, “We can do it”!
For more details about UPSHIFT program, please visit:https://goo.gl/gfrA8h
