SUNDAY 2ND AUGUST, 2015 – UWI TODAY
7
RESEARCH
“I saw it as a blind person’s independence day,”
Marlon
Parieaho, a member of a local NGO called Persons
Associated with Visual Impairment (PAVI), said of the
hand-over day of an app that allows persons in Trinidad
and Tobago living with visual impairment to identify their
local currency bills without assistance from the sighted .
He was referencing an app called MAVERICK –
which was created by Jessie Saitoo, an under graduate
student of the Department of Electrical and Computer
Engineering (DECE) of The University of the West (The
UWI), St Augustine Campus and presented to some
members of the visually impaired community last week.The
application MAVERICK is testament to what can happen
when a societal problem meets opportunity backed up by
institutional strength. The handing over ceremony drew a
crowd to the Audio Visual Room at the National Library
and Information SystemAuthority (NALIS) in Port of Spain.
It all started in 2014 when Marlon Parieaho—a Police
Officer, who lost his sight four years ago due to advanced
glaucoma—met Jamaican programmer and UWI Electrical
and Computer Engineering graduate Ramone Graham.
The latter was recruited to work on Mobi Assist—a project
which when completed would help persons with visual
impairment to safely navigate the streets. Impressed by
Graham’s programming skills, team leader Parieaho began
questioning the UWI grad about other ways technology can
help the visually impaired.
“I said you know what would be really cool, if you
can develop an app to help blind persons identify different
currency denominations,” Parieaho, 35, said.
All currency feels basically the same to the visually
impaired. Such individual employ techniques like folding
their notes, or compartmentalizing denominations in their
wallets to distinguish between notes. The problem is that
they must rely on others to help them identify the bill before
they are folded or compartmentalized. And both methods
are meaningless if the person with visual impairment
cannot remember how he or she has assigned the notes.
Foreign-designed money detectors are not adept at reading
TT currency.
But techniques, regardless of how fastidiously applied,
provide little protection against unscrupulous merchants.
Parieaho knows this first hand. He recalled the time he
paid for a thirty dollar lunch with a hundred dollar bill and
thought that he’d received his correct change. Upon return to
work, he discovered from his colleagues that he had in fact
received seven single dollars and not the seventy dollars he
thought he had. Parieaho got back his money, but he knows
too well that such examples of restitution are the exception
rather than the norm in his community.
Graham arranged for Parieaho to meet and share his
concerns with Dr. Akash Pooransingh, his former lecturer
in Computer Systems in DECE. “I listened to what Marlon
had to say,” Dr. Pooransingh said. “Not only with themoney-
reader but he expressed other challenges. Marlon was trying
to explain what it means to be visually impaired. Marlon
himself is an incredible and fascinating individual.”
Dr. Pooransingh, whose research area is in image
processing, saw an opportunity to engage his students. He
proposed the project as a final year undergraduate special
project. One student was selected for project from among
the best students in the Department. That student was Jesse
Saitoo, a National Scholarship winner. Saitoo has become
the visually impaired community’s new best friend, judging
by the hugs and praises heaped on him during the handing
over, which was well represented by the visually impaired
community.
Saitoo hunkered down to work immediately after
receiving the nod. As part of the requirements for this
project, he had to take Visual Media Processing, a Masters
course.This equipped himwith the image processing theory
A cross section on the packed audience present who
witnessed the handing over of MAVERICK.
AMAVERICK idea to count money
B y N a t a s h a C o k e r J o n e s
required to execute the project. Dr. Pooransingh reported
that every two weeks, Saitoo would come with a new and
improved version of the app. The moment of truth came in
February 2015, when Saitoo met Parieaho for the first time.
Let’s just say that things didn’t go as Jesse imagined.
“Basically what Marlon said was he was disappointed, so
I was disappointed,” Saitoo said of that meeting. “I went
home and started back from scratch. I had to research a new
method that would incorporate the feedback.”
He did just that, and not only did he eventually produce
an app that did the job, he earned himself an A plus. The
gravy came when he learned that the journal paper outlining
his approach—one based on facial recognition algorithms—
was accepted for publication by
The West Indian Journal
of Engineering
. Not bad for a 22-year-old undergrad, who
will be graduating this October with First Class Honours.
The project is finished; Saitoo’s got his grades, but he is
still tweaking the app to perfect it. He said it needed a voice
to let the user know that MAVERICK is running.
“No, I didn’t feel like Bill Gates,” Saitoo said chuckling at
the comparison. “Honestly, I didn’t feel like a UWI student at
an undergraduate level could impact the society in this way.”
Dr. Pooransingh is excited about the prospect of doingmore
work with the visually impaired community. In fact, he said
that the newly appointed Dean of Department, Professor
Stephan Gift has shared his plans for an Innovation Centre
which will see even more innovative ideas emerge from the
Faculty of Engineering.
The MAVERICK app is currently available for
download on PAVI’s website:
UWI innovates for visually impaired: MAVERICK, a money recognition app for persons with visual challenges was
handed over to benefactor groups by its creators in a ceremony where there was a deluge of praise for it by members of
that community. Representing both groups in the photo above are (l-r): Marlon Parieaho who has been visually impaired
for four years, Jesse Saitoo 1st class Hons. UWI graduate who developed the app, Dr Akash Pooransingh who was Saitoo’s
supervisor and Professor Stephan Gift recently appointed Dean of the Faculty of Engineering
All currency feels basically the same to
the visually impaired. Such individual
employ techniques like folding
their notes, or compartmentalizing
denominations in their wallets to
distinguish between notes.
