Something you think that would have been invented by now, a 13 year old boy can take the credit for. According to USA Today on Jan. 20, 13 year old Shubham Banerjee from California has invented a Braille printer for the blind out of a Lego Robotic kit his dad bought him. He at first invented this amazing new printer for blind people to show off at a science fair at his school but is now the proud owner of his own startup company backed by his parents and Intel Corporation in California, called ‘Braigo Labs.’
One night Shubham asked how blind people read print-outs and his parents told him to use Google to find out. So he did and what he found out was astonishing to him. Young Shubham not only found out that printers for blind people cost around $2,000 and up but they weigh at least 20 pounds. He decided from then on to make his own and make it affordable enough for the blind to be able to buy. Every night after school he would sit at the kitchen table and build and disassemble many different ones until he got it perfect and he was satisfied with it. He took it to his school science fair and everyone was amazed at what he had invented. Out of just a Lego Robotic kit, a desktop printer, and a computer chip, Shubham Banerjee invented ‘Braigo,’ a Braille printer for blind people to be able to use.
According to CBS News, young Shubham had this to say about the Braigo printer:
My end goal would probably be having most of the blind people…using my Braille printer.
He came up with the name ‘Braigo’ by combining Braille and Lego together. Although he did start the new company, he is too young to be CEO of it so his mother took this role on for him. ‘Braigo’ costs about $350, which is a whole lot cheaper than the price of one of the original ones Shubham found online. His also weighs as less as a few pounds as compared to the original one that weighs about 20 pounds.
