Read the following text about an innovative youngster whose invention can help low income people with hearing disability.

 

High school student invents a cheaper hearing aid

 

1 When Mukund Venkatakrishnan was 14, he visited India and was tasked with helping his grandfather get tested and fitted for a hearing aid. He saw what a costly and difficult process it was and resolved to find an alternative.

 

2 Venkatakrishnan said they spent about $400 or $500 on doctor's appointments and about $1,900 on the hearing aid itself.

 

3 He realized that hearing is a luxury many people in developing countries can't afford. "In India, the median household income is $616 a year," Venkatakrishnan said. "If someone in India saves all year without spending a penny, they still can't afford a hearing aid."

 

4 Venkatakrishnan's device is unique because it not only tests a person's hearing with a series of beeps, but it also programs itself to become a hearing aid. It only costs about $50 to make and can be used with even the cheapest set of headphones.

 

5 In its current form, the device is about two inches and looks like a computer processor. Venkatakrishnan is planning to bring it down to about one inch and encase the operating system. He envisions the device, which has a standard headphone port, fitting into someone's pocket.

 

6 Venkatakrishnan even created a way for users to calibrate the device themselves.

 

7 Each device has an audio file of the sound of hands rubbing together. To calibrate it, a person just has to rub their own hands together and match the volume of the audio file with the volume of their own hands.

 

8 If the user can't hear their own hands, someone else can calibrate it for them.

 

Disponível em: http://money.cnn.com/2016/04/09/technology/mukund-venkatakrishnan-cheaper-hearing-aid/index.html. Acesso em: 14 abr. 2016.

 

According to the text, Venkatakrishnan had the insight to create an alternative hearing aid when he realized:

• a standard hearing device was as expensive as a doctor´s appointment.

• the discomfort that heavy and big devices used to impose on their users.

• its cost and manipulation were impracticable for an average citizen.

• how demanding it was for his grandfather to agree with the treatment. 

• an average citizen should save his anual income to pay the treatment.