AIS evolves new machine for farmers to read e-books on finger touch

---

Yasir Wardad Agricultural Information Services (AIS) has designed a new machine through which farmers, who are not oriented with the operation of computers, will be able to read e-books on finger touch on the screen of the new machine, officials said. "The machine named 'Information on Finger Touch' has been built to provide all sorts of agricultural information to farmers through one booth in the easiest way", Mr Badal Sarker, technical participant of AIS and also the designer of the machine said. Talking to the FE he said that illiterate farmers could also receive information through the e-books using the machine as the e-books contain different multimedia features. He informed that the e-books contain multimedia features such as recital of the chapters in audio format and video footages of short plays that would open on a finger touch on the designated icons on the screen. When asked he said that he got the idea from observing the function of card readers (Automatic Teller Machine or ATM) at the booths of different banks. "I was convinced that similar devices could be developed for simplifying the process of information dissemination to farmers", Badal said. Mr Badal said, "After getting the idea, I consulted with the companies that provide the card reader machines to the banks, but the costs they projected for the machine was very high - at least 0.75 million per machine". Mr Badal said as the cost was higher , they decided to develop the machine by themselves. "All the softwares were developed in-house, while some hardware parts were imported from abroad while it cost AIS nearly Tk 0.35 million for per machine," he added. AIS director Md. Nazrul Islam Khan said that they had already demonstrated the function of the machine during the e-Asia Conference that was held in the first week of this month in Dhaka. Talking to the FE he said AIS was conducting an assessment study to install the machine to each of the 95 AIS centres across the country. "If the study is proved successful, the farmers may be able to receive the information they need directly on their own finger touch, rather than depending on third party", he said. The AIS director pointed out that the books were created incorporating features such as animation, still and video images and audio speech concerned to the educational level of the farmer readers. AIS has already created 12 'information on finger touch' machines based on the cultivation of different crops including rice, jute, wheat, maize, potato, chilli, pulses, tomato and four kinds of spices, Mr Badal Sarker informed.