Project information

StatusFinalist
URLGo to website
CategoryHealth
Disabilities support
CountryColombia
Operational areasUrban, Rural
Target groupsChildren, Youth
Fixed connectionDSL
Wireless connectionN/A
Access pointsSchool, Library
InteractDesktop Computer, Laptop , N/A
Software License TypesProprietary

Project location

Random images Challenge 2008

IRIS Project

  • Brief description
  • The IRIS Project is a system that allows a visually impaired person to perceive all kind of images, forms, figures and colors using their hands, like no other system in the world does. In this moment main goal of the project is to enable visually impaired children to access visual resources with the same or better quality that the ones given in a regular classroom. This is accomplished by the use of database of categorized pedagogical images (geometry, biology, history, etc), that the child can perceive using the IRIS device.
  • Vision, Objectives and Goals
  • Our goal is to give equality in the education process to the children with visual disabilities of the world, using the IRIS system. For this we have 3 main phases: First to develop a Pilot Test that demonstrate in a scientific way that IRIS works for the children with visual disabilities and help us to customize the Colombian curriculum to the system, second to expand our system all around Colombia with the support of the national government and Third the export the system to the world creating developing teams in each country that adapts each single educational system, using a collaboration platform to exchange experiences and images, and using our international patent to enter each country.
  • How does ICT contribute to the organisational objectives
  • The IRIS Project is a solution for a problem of the society, that uses cutting end technology that is also a feasible business project. By using this kind of technology we are able to create an international product that is aimed to be used in the benefit of the society, from a country that is not used to develop technology.
  • Transferability
  • We have plans to directly supervise the expansion process in Colombia. For the rest of the world we plan to create development groups that help us to customize the local culture and special characteristics of each educational model so the system can be successfully implemented.
  • Project summary
  • The IRIS System was born as a honored thesis in the Technological University of Pereira back in 2004. Then DUTO was created as a company to develop this system, and with the financial support of the local government there have been developed and highly tested more than five different versions of the system. For his unique characteristics this project have been awarded nationally and internationally for organizations like Ventures, MTV, IDB, OAS, YABT, GlobalTiC, BidNetwork, and Global Knowledge Partership, in countries like Colombia, Panamá, Taiwan, Netherlands and Malaysia. In this moment is in developed a pilot test with 10 systems financed by the local government, and there' plans for national expansion in the second part of 2008, and global expansion in the 2009 with development of a global collaboration platform for the teachers to exchange the pedagogical images used in each culture.