From the point of view of packaging design, there is very little we know from literature about how blind people relate to everyday packaging and consumer products in India (Mumbai). As part of a design research project At IDC, we attempt to get answers and insights into how visually impaired people access various products (especially FMCG) on a daily basis. Are there no standards set up by the government or the food industry to aid people? If not, how are people currently accessing products? These are some of the key questions to which we tried to look for answers. There are also issues like how visually impaired people currently identify, locate, and find information about the products and the shopping stores. In most cases, people are accompanied by a family member or a friend, but if a person lives alone and is independent for most of the daily chores, what are the problems faced by them (if any) and what are the workaround solutions? They have devised ways to tackle these daily problems.

My summer internship project was with XRCVC. The Xavier’s Resource Centre for the Visually Challenged (XRCVC) is an integral part and department of St. Xavier's College, Autonomous, Mumbai. The Beacon project with Next Byte Wave Tech is currently being built for the Mumbai International Airport. When ready, XRCVC will help with testing, evaluation, and feedback to make the app accessible. Tactile graphics are for blind and low-vision students.

The effectiveness and necessity of interactive tactile graphics have been well established in the field of education for blind children. Developments in production technology are making tactile graphics (TGs) more affordable, but specialised hardware for interactivity is usually unaffordable for many blind students in India.

This design project uses an inexpensive webcam or a camera phone to make TGs interactive. A camera is mounted at a fixed height above the TG, and the forefinger of the dominant hand is marked with a blue-coloured sticker or sleeve. As a user explores the TG with their hands, the marked finger’s motion is tracked and is used to interact with the voice system.

Basic content primitives and interactions are designed based on the unique constraints, affordances, and potential of this novel interactive medium, which serve as building blocks for more complex content. The usability of the medium is studied using simple tasks designed to demonstrate the possibilities.

Many examples of assistive technology developed in the past have been found to be useful for a broader audience as well. Similarly, this medium of interaction can be used to enhance the learning experience for sighted children and for children with learning disabilities.

The objective of this project is to present information about the government in such a way that it enables a layperson to understand its complex mechanics and develop informed opinions. In the first phase, the data focused on organisational structure in considerable detail, which did not prove useful beyond a browseable directory. In order to truly understand the workings of a government, one must be able to trace the flow of decisions and track their impact. Here is the project, which pivots from the "what it is" approach to "what it does, using case studies. Focusing on decision-making processes, four stories have been selected that each involve the interplay of the legislative, judiciary, and executive These narratives are represented over an illustrated map of New Delhi as animated clips, which are evaluated over semi-structured interviews with their intended users.