Avaz Brochure

8/6/2019 Avaz Brochure

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Avaz is Indias firstcommercially available Augmentative and Alternative Commu-

nicationAACdevice. It enables people with disabilities like cerebral pal-

sy,autism, mental retardation and speech disorders to communicate.

Avaz converts limited muscle movements into speech.

To learn more about Avaz, look inside...

Winner of the National Award for Empowerment of People with Disabilities, 2010

ENGINEERING PRODUCTS PRIVATE LIMITED

MIT Technology Reviews Innovator of the Year 2011


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Avaz works on the principle of converting muscle movements into speech. Users

with good hand control can use Avazs touch screen to select what they want to say.

Other users can use Avaz with scanning. In this mode, Avaz shows various options on

screen, and presents a highlight that moves between them. When the highlight reaches

the option that the user wishes to choose, the user makes a large muscle movementfor

example, by touching anywhere on the screenwhich selects the highlighted option.

When a full sentence has been constructed, Avaz converts the message into speech.

Scanning in Avaz is made faster using grouping, ordering, and prediction. The options

are arranged to mimic keyboards and alphabet charts, so it is quicker to navigate. Avaz also

uses artificial intelligence to automatically predict words based on what the user is

trying to type. A user using Avaz in text mode can make a sentence fast enough for a

real conversation!

In order to cater to a wider spectrum of disabilities, Avaz is also available in picture

modewith support for Indian languages. The picture mode is totally configurable,

so that Avaz can say anything that the user wantsno limits!

How Avaz worksPeople with neural motor condi-

tions are intelligent and aware of

the world around them, but have

poor muscle control. This often

includes muscles that make speech.

Avaz is a portable device which

constructs messagesfrom coarsemuscle movements. These messages

are then converted into speech.

Avaz is thus an artificial voice for

such people.


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Avaz Text

(English)

This variant of Avaz

is useful for people

who have high litera-

cy and cognition, and

who have started

using the English lan-

guage for their com-munication needs.

This is the most flexible form of Avaz, and the users can say anything they desire.

Avaz Text has a number of features for use in classrooms and social environments: it

has provision for storing and inserting pre-determined templates; it has a paragraph

mode for editing, saving and loading large blocks of text; and its dictionary (of more

than 10,000 words) can be modified with a spell mode.

Avaz Images

(all languages)

This variant of Avaz is

useful for younger us-

ers or people with

lower cognition, or forusers who do not use

English. This version of

Avaz is the easiest to

use, with the user nav-

igating through a pictorial set of words and sentences representing different objects

and actions. A PC-based editing software allows the options to be totally customized

for any language. The use ofrecorded voices increases naturalness as well as a senseof identity. Avaz Images uses Symbolstix images, used by leading AAC devices around

the world.

Variants of Avaz


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Portability: Avaz is only as big as a school note-

book, and can be carried around the neck with a

strap. It weighs only 400 gramsthe same as a

paper-back book!

All-day use: Avazs battery lasts for 5 hours of con-

tinuous use, and a full day of intermittent use. Re-charge at nightand use all day!

Making every voice heard: Avaz is designed to be

accessible to everybody. It is compatible with a varie-

ty of switch peripherals for easy access. Avaz sup-

ports audio scanning, which is useful for users with

visual impairment.

Avaz: designed for lifeAvaz was built to be a part of your life.

Here are some of the features built into Avaz

to help it become an artificial voice for you:

Your partner in school: You can use Avaz for

learning lessons, taking exams, and doing home-

work. The quick mode allows you to save and load

paragraphs. The dictionary can be customized to add

new words. By connecting Avaz to a PC, you can

save, edit and print out everything that youve saved.

Desk and wheelchair mounts: Avaz comes with

an adjustable desk mount which can be used for se-

curely holding Avaz while you type. If you use a

wheelchair, we can also make a special mount for you.

Your device, your voice: In picture mode, Avaz is

totally customizable. You can use pictures from the

internet, and even your own photographs. You also

can record the voice of your parent, your brother or

sister, or your best friend. Your device will speak

with your favorite voice!


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Rohit Jain, one of Avazs first users

Rohit Parekh Jain is one of the first users of Avaz. He was a stu-

dent at Vidya Sagar when Avaz was developed, and his feedback

was invaluable in the development of the device. Rohit is non-verbal,

and uses Avaz to communicate with friends, family and teachers.

Rohit is now studying Sociology in Loyola College, Chennai.

The story of AvazAn indigenous, low cost AAC device was one of the many product ideas conceptualized at

Silent Revolution, a conference that was held in 2005 at IIT Madras. Avaz was developed

with constant feedback and inputs from Vidya Sagar (formerly the Spastics Society of India,

Chennai). The development of Avaz was partly funded by the Department of Scientific and

Industrial Research (DSIR), Government of India.

Avaz was launched in Vidya Sagar on 27th

February, 2010. Since its launch, it has re-

ceived wide acclaim. Avaz was awarded the

National Award for Empowerment of

People with Disabilities on December 3rd,

2010. It was also recognized by MIT Tech-

nology Review as Indias Innovation of

the Year, 2011.

Avaz is now being used across India. Some

institutions using Avaz include: Indian Insti-tute of Cerebral Palsy (Kolkata), SPASTN (Chennai), Spastics Society of Karnataka

(Bangalore), AIISH (Mysore), and Sambhav Resource Center (New Delhi).

Avaz receives the National Award for Empowerment of People with Disabilities, from

the President of India on December 3rd, 2010.

Avaz is easy and fun to use. I use it regularly to talk. I spoke to my

parents using Avaz. They are very happy. - Rohit Jain


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Specifications

Avaz is priced at Rs 30,000 plus applicable taxes. This includes: free customization software on PC; free case, strap and stand; and free software up-

grades for 1 year. We provide manuals, training guidelines, pilot program guidelines, and online resources to all of our users at no extra charge.


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We welcome inquiries from people whom Avaz could help,

as well as people who could work with Invention Labs to improve the reach of

Avaz, and maximize its impact.

For more information, please contact us.

INVENTION LABS ENGINEERING PRODUCTS PVT. LTD.

Module 01C, First Floor, IIT Madras Research Park

Kanagam Road, Taramani

Chennai 600113, INDIA

Web: http://www.avaz.in

Phone: +91-44-65552989

e-mail: [email protected]

If all my possessions were taken from me with one

exception, I would choose to keep the power ofcommunication, for by it I would regain all the rest.

Daniel Webster

Contact us.

Copyright 2007-2010 Invention Labs Engineering Products Pvt Ltd.

All rights reserved.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS: Avaz was developed with the support of IIT Madras, Vidya Sagar (previously Spastics Society of India, Chenna i), TePP-DSIR and Villgro.

DISCLAIMER: Although efforts have been made to assure the accuracy of the information contained here, Invention Labs expressly disclaims liability for any error inthis information, and for damages, whether direct, indirect, special, exemplary, consequential or otherwise, that may result from such error. Any questions or com-

ments regarding this document or its contents should be addressed to Invention Labs at the address shown on the back cover of this document.

Invention Labs provides this publication as is without warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied, including, but no t limited to, the implied warranties ofmerchantability or fitness for a specific purpose. This publication could include technical inaccuracies or typographical errors. Changes are periodically made to the

information herein; these changes will be incorporated in new editions of the publication.

Invention Labs may make improvements and/or revisions in the product(s) and/or the program(s) described in this publication at any time 13 12 10 6 6 11

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