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National Call to Action: Teen Launches Vision 2025 to Transform Accessibility for the Visually Impaired using AI
Bangalore, June 30, 2025: India's Accessibility Conversation Just Changed: Vision 2025 marked an important milestone in the pursuit of inclusive technology for the visually impaired. Conceived and led by 17-year-old innovator Ashwat Prasanna, the Bangalore-based summit brought together technologists, NGO leaders, educators, and disability advocates to confront a systemic gap: how can India empower millions of visually impaired children with tools that are affordable, scalable, and tailored for local context.
Uniting a powerful cross-section of voices—ranging from blind education pioneers and national award winners to GenAI experts and nonprofit leaders working on the frontlines of disability inclusion, Vision 2025 witnessed key participants such as Ms. Madhu Singhal, founder of Mitra Jyothi and a veteran in disability rights; Dr. Rajdeep Manwani, a nationally awarded academic and motivational speaker who lost his sight at a young age; Shekhar Naik, Padma Shri awardee & former captain of India's blind cricket team; Mr. Arun Panayappan, Google Cloud's AI lead, who is leading efforts to bring next generation Gen AI for cloud and workspaces and leaders of various NGOs working with visually impaired children. Vision 2025 became a platform for dialogue, collaboration, and impact.
The summit directly addressed the challenges of deploying assistive technology in India: language accessibility, integration with existing NGO programs, infrastructure gaps in rural schools, and the need for hyper-localized solutions. Rather than a conventional tech showcase, Ashwat, the brain & heart behind this event, designed a lineup that purposefully blended technical expertise with lived experience—ensuring that innovation stayed grounded in empathy, equity, and practical execution.
It also fostered deeper dialogue among stakeholders and catalyzed action. A highlight of the event was the landmark launch of Ashwat's invention: the 'Eyesight' smart glasses.
It marked the launch of Eyesight—an AI-powered smart-glass attachment developed by Ashwat Prasanna, a student at The International School Bangalore to support independent navigation and real-time scene understanding for visually impaired users. A year in development and co-designed with blind students in Karnataka, the device is currently in advanced prototype stage and is being field tested with real users.
Eyesight retrofits onto standard eyewear, transforming it into an intelligent assistant capable of:
● Describing the visual environment in multiple languages using LLMs
● Reading text and explaining concepts described (e.g. textbooks)
● Providing haptic navigation guidance
● Identifying gestures, currency, and faces
● Issuing emergency alerts and proximity warnings
● Supporting Hindi, Kannada, Tamil & English
● Functioning affordably in low-resource school environments
The solution drew strong interest from accessibility experts and school partners for its potential to solve everyday mobility, safety, and learning barriers—especially in underserved communities. Eyesight also received a $3,000 grant from the International Baccalaureate (IBO), recognizing its promise and real-world impact.
