Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and Barclays in India have expanded their partnership to help more children with neuro-muscular disabilities become self-reliant by bringing the TCS Virtual Habilitation (VHAB) solution to Bal Kalyan Sanstha in Pune.
As part of the collaboration, TCS is deploying and supporting its VHAB solution and Barclays, as part of its Disability and Mental Health Network “Reach” is providing the hardware, equipment, and ongoing support.
VHAB is a digital assistive solution conceptualized, designed, and developed by TCS to significantly improve the physiotherapy regimen for children with locomotor disabilities due to cerebral palsy or autism. The gamified solution uses motion sensors, progressive analytics, gesture analysis, finger mapping and real-time simulation in an immersive VR environment to create a series of personalized simulated environments that children can interact with and develop skills that will enable them to carry out everyday tasks.
In 2019, TCS and Barclays launched the solution at ZEP Rehabilitation Centre in Pune, where it is being successfully deployed to fast track the learning of children with autism and cerebral palsy. VHAB is also being used by over 500 students across three schools for children with special needs. The results have been promising with children displaying increased attention and concentration and acquiring essential life skills.
Praveen Kumar, Managing Director, Barclays Global Service Centre Private Limited, said, “We are delighted that our collaboration with TCS through our Reach program is making a significant difference to specially-abled children. It will boost their confidence as they get empowered to perform daily tasks more independently, which is the core objective of this initiative. We look forward to leveraging our combined strengths to extend this initiative to more charity partners.”
“Technology can break barriers and empower people with disabilities. At TCS, we have been leveraging technologies like artificial intelligence, robotics, extended reality, motion sensors and wearables to build innovative solutions that impact lives of people,” said K Krithivasan, President, Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance, TCS. “We are proud of this growing initiative that reflects TCS and Barclays’ shared goal of using technology to bring about social good. We will continue to expand VHAB to reach more and more children.”
Bal Kalyan Sanstha, an NGO established in 1979, works towards ensuring overall development of children with special needs. It runs a recreational and cultural center where it offers sports, art and craft and other activities free of cost to 4,000 children from 85 special schools.
