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Braigo (Brai-lle +Le-go) is a
Braille Braille ( , ) is a Tactile alphabet, tactile writing system used by blindness, blind or visually impaired people. It can be read either on embossed paper or by using refreshable braille displays that connect to computers and smartphone device ...
printer design. Braigo version 1.0 uses a
Lego Lego (, ; ; stylised as LEGO) is a line of plastic construction toys manufactured by the Lego Group, a privately held company based in Billund, Denmark. Lego consists of variously coloured interlocking plastic bricks made of acrylonitri ...
Mindstorms EV3 kit, which includes a microprocessor with assorted components such as
electric motor An electric motor is a machine that converts electrical energy into mechanical energy. Most electric motors operate through the interaction between the motor's magnetic field and electric current in a electromagnetic coil, wire winding to gene ...
s,
sensor A sensor is often defined as a device that receives and responds to a signal or stimulus. The stimulus is the quantity, property, or condition that is sensed and converted into electrical signal. In the broadest definition, a sensor is a devi ...
s and
actuator An actuator is a machine element, component of a machine that produces force, torque, or Displacement (geometry), displacement, when an electrical, Pneumatics, pneumatic or Hydraulic fluid, hydraulic input is supplied to it in a system (called an ...
s. Braigo v1.0 was designed by 13-year-old Shubham Banerjee in January 2014, as an entry in 7th grade school science fair project. The model was based on the PLOTT3R, a bonus model released with the EV3 kit and originally designed by Ralph Hempel. The cost was said to be about US$350 or 250
Euro The euro (currency symbol, symbol: euro sign, €; ISO 4217, currency code: EUR) is the official currency of 20 of the Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Union. This group of states is officially known as the ...
s for the Lego Mindstorms EV3 kit and some extra commonly used hardware whereas a conventional Braille printer retails starting from about $1,900. In August 2014, a new company called Braigo Labs Inc. was formed with an office in
Palo Alto, California Palo Alto ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for ) is a charter city in northwestern Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a Sequoia sempervirens, coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto. Th ...
. Since Shubham Banerjee was a minor, his mother Malini is listed as the President of the company and the law firm Inventus Law acting as advisor. On September 9, 2014, at the
Intel Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California, and Delaware General Corporation Law, incorporated in Delaware. Intel designs, manufactures, and sells computer compo ...
Developers Forum (IDF 2014), Banerjee demonstrated 'Braigo v2.0'. As of at least February 2018 the product has still not been released and there have been no official announcements since 2018.


The inventor

Shubham Banerjee was born in
Hasselt Hasselt (, , ) is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of Limburg (Belgium), Limburg in the Flemish Region of Belgium. As of 1 August 2023, Hasselt had a total population of 80,846. The old ...
, Belgium. The family moved to
San Jose, California San Jose, officially the City of San José ( ; ), is a cultural, commercial, and political center within Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area. With a city population of 997,368 and a metropolitan area population of 1.95 million, it is ...
, when he was four years old. Later he moved to
Santa Clara, California Santa Clara ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for "Clare of Assisi, Saint Clare") is a city in Santa Clara County, California. The city's population was 127,647 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities and towns i ...
, and completed his elementary schooling at Don Callejon School. He joined Magnolia Science Academy in Santa Clara in middle school for a couple of months, before moving to Champion School in San Jose for middle school. He lives in Santa Clara, California, with his parents and Older sister.


Braigo v1.0

In Banerjee's own words, taken from the abstract submitted at Synopsys Science Fair: Braigo v1.0 made Open Source As announced in a CNN and other interviews, Banerjee has decided to give away the design and software for free. He said on an NBC program "I think I'm doing something that could actually help people". He has uploaded building instruction on his
YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
channel, and also uploaded the software project file .ev3 on the
Lego Lego (, ; ; stylised as LEGO) is a line of plastic construction toys manufactured by the Lego Group, a privately held company based in Billund, Denmark. Lego consists of variously coloured interlocking plastic bricks made of acrylonitri ...
Mindstorms EV3 community page. He said that "I think Braigo making the news will rejuvenate others and the beneficiary will be the visually impaired individuals. All good for humankind." Detailed download and build information is available on-line and detailed directions on how to build Braigo were published in Makezine.


Braigo v2.0

On September 9, 2014, at the Intel Developer Forum (IDF 2014) Mega Session: ''The Next Revolution in Computing: Edison, Wearables, and New Devices'' with Intel VP and GM, Mike Bell, Banerjee demonstrated Braigo 2.0. Braigo 2.0 promises to be the world's first, relatively inexpensive, silent, IOT enabled, light weight, consumer oriented, braille printer or embosser. Braigo 2.0 reportedly contains new patent pending technology in addition to
Intel Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California, and Delaware General Corporation Law, incorporated in Delaware. Intel designs, manufactures, and sells computer compo ...
's Edison Chip paired with a development board. After Braigo v1.0, the natural progression for Banerjee, after feedback from the visually impaired community, was to make a real consumer version that could eventually be bought off-the-shelf.


Transcoding of documents to braille on-chip

At Campus Party Keynote in São Paulo, Brazil, in February 2015. Shubham Banerjee gave a demonstration of a new method of transcoding documents to braille without any software installation on the computer. The technology involves uploading any document from a computer into the memory of the
Intel Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California, and Delaware General Corporation Law, incorporated in Delaware. Intel designs, manufactures, and sells computer compo ...
's Edison chip that's the brain of the Braigo Braille printer. The idea behind this new method is to reduce the cost of ownership of the Braigo printer without having to buy any transcribing software for braille.


Awards/Recognitions


Media coverage


Television

On February 21, 2014,
CNN International Cable News Network International or CNN International (CNNi, simply branded on-air as CNN) is an international television channel and website, owned by CNN Worldwide. CNN International carries news-related programming worldwide; it cooperates ...
in their program ''Quest Means Business'', hosted by Maggie Lake, aired an interview with Banerjee about Braigo titled "Boy Genius makes Braille printer from Lego". On February 28, 2014, Lake commented on
Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...
"Am I going to look back and say I interviewed the next
Steve Jobs Steven Paul Jobs (February 24, 1955 – October 5, 2011) was an American businessman, inventor, and investor best known for co-founding the technology company Apple Inc. Jobs was also the founder of NeXT and chairman and majority shareholder o ...
,
Bill Gates William Henry Gates III (born October 28, 1955) is an American businessman and philanthropist. A pioneer of the microcomputer revolution of the 1970s and 1980s, he co-founded the software company Microsoft in 1975 with his childhood friend ...
?". On February 29, 2014, NBCs ''Bay Area Proud'' program, hosted by Garvin Thomas, aired a full program dedicated to Banerjee and his invention of Braigo. On May 13, 2014, NBC aired a "Bay Area Proud Updates" to inform viewers of progress with Braigo since their February 29, program aired. The program took segments of the official Lego "Build 4 Good" event video in Seattle, published in YouTube. On March 15, 2014,
MSNBC MSNBC is an American cable news channel owned by the NBCUniversal News Group division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. Launched on July 15, 1996, and headquartered at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Manhattan, the channel primarily broadcasts r ...
Melissa Harris-Perry program made Banerjee the "Foot soldier of the week". On March 4, 2014, '' Janet's Planet'', hosted by Janet Ivey, an interview titled "Lego Braille Printer - Braigo Inventor on Janet's Planet" was made available. On June 23, 2014, Banerjee was featured on '' The Queen Latifah Show'' and also a surprise recognition from Lego was presented to him by Queen Latifah- "Queen Latifah gives a special award to 12-year-old Shubham Banerjee who created a low-cost Braille printer out of LEGOS".


Radio

On February 22, 2014,
CBC Radio CBC Radio is the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which (regardless of language) are outlined below ...
aired an interview of Banerjee on their program '' As it Happens'' titled "California seventh grader makes Lego braille printer" On February 22, 2014 NPR aired an interview with Banerjee titled "Boy Builds Braille Printer Out Of Lego".


Creation of Braigo Labs Inc.

In August 2014, Braigo Labs Inc. was formed with Banerjee announcing that he is working on his next version of the Braille Printer and named it as Braigo v2.0. Since he is a minor, his mother Malini Banerjee is named as the President of the company with him listed as Founder. Braigo and BraigoLabs are both now registered trademarks of Braigo Labs Inc. The offices of the company is located in
Palo Alto Palo Alto ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for ) is a charter city in northwestern Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a Sequoia sempervirens, coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto. Th ...
,
California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
.


Intel Capital Investment

Intel was so impressed with Banerjee's efforts that Mike Bell, Intel's VP and GM of New Products Group announced at Intel Developer Forum (IDF 2014) that Intel will invest in Braigo Labs Inc. to help bring the printer to market. In Intel Capital Global Summit 2014, it was announced that they have closed the seed investment round for Braigo Labs Inc. founded by Shubham Banerjee,


Youngest entrepreneur to receive Venture Capital funding

On November 4, 2014, at the Intel Capital Global Summit,
Intel Capital Intel Capital Corporation started off as the investment arm of Intel Corporation in 1991 and in January 2025, it spun off as a standalone investment fund. Intel Capital makes equity investments in a range of technology startups and companies off ...
announced that they have funded Braigo Labs Inc. the startup founded by Shubham Banerjee.
CBS News CBS News is the news division of the American television and radio broadcaster CBS. It is headquartered in New York City. CBS News television programs include ''CBS Evening News'', ''CBS Mornings'', news magazine programs ''CBS News Sunday Morn ...
' John Blackstone reports, "the eighth grader is already a star; the youngest person ever to get venture capital investment for a start-up", reports CBS News correspondent John Blackstone; Silicon Valley Business Journal reported "Shubham Banerjee is among a couple dozen entrepreneurs who received funding from Intel Capital on Tuesday, but he is probably the only one whose father had to drive him there".
Venture Beat Venture may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music *The Ventures, an American instrumental rock band formed in 1958 *"A Venture", 1971 song by the band Yes *''Venture'', a 2010 EP by AJR Games * ''Venture'' (video game), a 1981 arcade g ...
Editor-in-Chief reported "Banerjee had to take the day off from middle school. That's because he's just 13 years old — making him, quite possibly, the youngest recipient of venture capital in Silicon Valley history. (He's definitely the youngest to receive an investment from Intel Capital.)"
San Jose Mercury News ''The Mercury News'' (formerly ''San Jose Mercury News'', often locally known as ''The Merc'') is a morning daily newspaper published in San Jose, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is published by the Bay Area News Group, a subsidia ...
reported on their front page on November 4, 2014, newspaper "And on Tuesday, Intel Capital, the company's global investment arm, will announce it has invested in the teenager's company, making Shubham the world's youngest tech entrepreneur to receive venture capital funding." In an article in ''
The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...
'' titled "Intel Capital's Arvind Sodhani: Unique Companies 'Rarer and Rarer'" on November 4, 2014, journalist Deborah Gage asked the question "You've been at Intel Capital for a long time. How much longer are you going to keep doing this?", Arvid Sodhani answered "I'm having fun. We're having a successful year. The fun part is meeting people like Shubham Banerjee who are passionate about pursuing their dreams and feeling comfortable that this is a risky business. It's not just a risk for us, but the individuals doing this are taking a risk at a personal level. I like pinpointing the risk—it's rewarding to have a success down the road." As reported by Johnny Dodd, reporter from ''People'' magazine, "'We've funded young entrepreneurs, but no one this young – certainly not in middle school,' a spokesman for Intel Capital says. The venture-capital firm recently announced an investment deal with Banerjee's company, Braigo Labs, that one source estimates is worth several hundred thousand dollars."


Microsoft Relationship

Shubham Banerjee was invited by
Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...
for their Student Tech Fair on May 13, 2015, in
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
to display his work with Braigo. After the event Microsoft publishedStudent entrepreneur uses Windows and Surface to build a better Braille printer
/ref> that Shubham is working with the
Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...
team at Microsoft to integrate the Braigo with the
Windows 10 Windows 10 is a major release of Microsoft's Windows NT operating system. The successor to Windows 8.1, it was Software release cycle#Release to manufacturing (RTM), released to manufacturing on July 15, 2015, and later to retail on July 2 ...
for easy integration of the solution that he is developing. "Now Shubham is working to bring the Braigo 2.0 to market. He's started working with my colleagues on the Windows team to integrate Braigo drivers with Windows for easy deployment."


References

{{Braille American inventions Braille technology Robot kits