Shubham Banerjee wasn’t trying to find groundbreaking technology when he was fiddling with robots from LEGO sets last year — the 12-year-old boy was just trying to finish his school science fair project.
But Banerjee’s LEGO Braille printer is a wonderful hope for the visually impaired community: while most Braille printers sell for US$2,000 (around 26.35 million Rupiah), Banerjee can afford to sell it for 200 US dollars (around 2.635,000 Rupiah).
Banerjee was surprised by the statistical data which stated that only less than 10 percent of the total blind people understood Braille, which prompted him to do something.
According to the Smithsonian, Banerjee was stuck with astonishing statistics when he was just about to start racking his brains to come up with ideas for his project. He learned that less than 10 percent of the 1.3 million Americans who are blind can read Braille. In addition, materials for Braille are not easy to obtain.
Banerjee decided to build a simple Braille printer that worked well. He spent weeks tinkering with his LEGO Mindstorms EV3 kit — an advanced LEGO set typically used to build anthropomorphic robot toys.
Banerjee not only won his school exhibition, he attracted the attention of several scientists and inventors from various universities.
When he presented the finished printer at the 2014 Synopsis Science Fair in Santa Clara, California, he took home not only the grand prize but also the attention of Henry Wedler, a Ph.D. candidate in organic chemistry at the University of California. Wedler, who was born blind, was very impressed with Banerjee’s project and decided to help him with its marketing.
Banerjee has answered what many researchers have been trying to find over the years and he is a quality Silicon Valley inventor.
Wedler told the Smithsonian that many inventors had tried to do what Banerjee had done with a Braille printer over the years. According to him, sometimes it takes a young and fresh imagination and mental steel to be truly innovative. Wedler also thinks that it is the energy and qualities that Banerjee possesses through his knowledge and interest as an inventor that often brings similar people to Silicon Valley.
Shubham Banerjee has his own company but continues to play every day like a normal middle schooler.
Wedler is currently a trusted advisor at Banerjee’s start-up, Braigo Labs, which is a combination of the words “Braille” and “LEGO.” Banerjee, who also received funding from Intel Capital, is still working on developing his printer further, he hopes to make it commercially available soon.
When not fiddling with his Braigo printer, Banerjee spends time playing football and taking on the normal challenges of a 9th grader. When asked if his friends see him differently because he is now a respected inventor who owns his own company, he replied that all his friends are cool.
This cool 13-year-old boy hopes to inspire parents and prospective parents to support their children according to their talents and interests. The hope is that they can excel by being useful for others, maximally and happily. It doesn’t have to be children, it can be all of us, because it’s never too late to achieve and benefit. You are ready?