Central Scientific Instruments Organisation (CSIR), Chandigarh developed a personal reading machine “Divya Nayan” for visually impaired people. In this device, any printed or digital document can be accessed in the form of speech output. The device can analyze a multi-column document and provide a seamless reading on the basis of the principle of contact scanning. Users can place the device over the document to be read and manually scan it. The image is converted into text, the text is converted to speech and audio with the help of language-dependent optical character.
CSIR was established by the Government of India in September 1942. It is an autonomous body and has emerged as the largest research and development organization in India. Ministry of Science & Technology, Government of India is its parent organization. The institute was founded by Shanti Swaroop Bhatnagar.