ABLED — AI Vision Technology for the Visually Impaired
Restoring independence for India's blind and low-vision community through affordable, India-built technology.
The Need
India is home to 6.2 million blind individuals and 55 million people living with visual impairment — one of the largest populations of visually impaired citizens in the world. For most of them, everyday tasks such as reading a letter, identifying a currency note, or recognising an object remain daily struggles.
Assistive technology exists, but it has largely stayed out of reach. Imported smart-vision devices cost between ₹1.5–2.5 lakh, placing them firmly beyond the means of the elderly, rural, and first-time users who need them most. As a result, a vast majority of India's visually impaired population continues to navigate life without any technological support.
Our Mission
Wockhardt Foundation is committed to improving health and quality of life for underserved communities across India. Through ABLED, we aim to close the accessibility gap in assistive technology — making AI-powered vision support available not to a privileged few, but to every visually impaired individual who needs it, regardless of income or geography.
The Objective
ABLED is an affordable, India-built AI vision device designed to read text, recognise objects, and describe surroundings aloud — giving blind and low-vision users real-time audio awareness of the world around them. Priced at approximately ₹10,000, a fraction of comparable imported alternatives, ABLED is built specifically to reach the users existing technology has left behind.
The device is a working, patent-filed prototype that has already been field-tested with the National Association for the Blind and the Blind Persons Association, with encouraging results. Our immediate objective is to move from prototype to impact: a first structured deployment to 100 visually impaired beneficiaries, with outcomes tracked and measured to inform wider rollout.
Through ABLED, Wockhardt Foundation seeks to demonstrate that dignity, independence, and access to technology need not come at a premium price.
To know more about the product visit https://www.abledvision.com/partner.