14-year-old Yah Mehta is on a mission to transform lives through innovative braille technology. The eighth-grader developed an affordable electronic braille reader that makes the technology accessible to visually impaired individuals living in low income communities. Mehta was inspired to create a new version of the antiquated braille reader after visiting his grandfather in India, who runs a school for the blind. He was shocked to learn that braille readers cost anywhere from $3,000-15,000 and wanted to create a cheaper option that allows more visually impaired people to access education. His invention, which translates computer text into braille letters, costs only $20-35 and was awarded the first place prize at the Thermo Fisher Scientific Junior Innovator’s Challenge. This breakthrough could dramatically improve literacy and daily life for the 36 million people suffering from blindness or vision impairments around the world, and Mehta is looking forward to further improving his device to increase efficacy and accessibility.
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