Fostering Innovation, the Qatar way

Accessibility is an important factor when it comes to organising any big event - and the World Cup is no different. Here in Qatar, one local start-up’s ensuring that digital content is being made readily available for visually impaired fans. Qatar365 met the team at Bonocle to learn more.

Based inside the Qatar Science & Technology Park, Bonocle is the brainchild of two engineering students, who developed the braille entertainment platform by chance.

Abdelrazak Aly, one of the co-founders, broke his hand in a car accident and sought help from his university's Special Needs Centre in order to keep up with the demands of his degree.

"That’s where I got to interact with the blind community more. I became curious, how did they use technology? How do they access the study materials? I went through similar struggles they went through every day, from getting access to the content to struggling to getting some volunteers to write it in an accessible format before even studying," says Abdelrazak Aly, Co-founder, Bonocle

Bonocle is a small hand-held device which contains a fountain of possibilities. Designed with a "braille cell", 3 buttons and different haptics, the gadget's helps visually impaired people read, write, count, take measurements or even play games.

The final design was selected after testing several different handheld devices, including styluses or gloves.

Using technology to bridge the gaps

The creative team behind Bonocle says that the device was born from a need to modernise braille technology which was either very expensive, bulky or unreliable, and consequently widened the divide between the Blind community and their sighted peers, until now.

During his recovery, Aly and his fellow founder, Ramy Soliman were shocked by