Towards Technology with a Global Heart through

Compassionate Engineering

M. Bemardine Dias, Ermine A. Teves, and M. Beatrice Dias

Robotics Institute
Carnegie Mellon University
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
mbdias@ri.cmu.edu, eteves@cs.cmu.edu, beadias@cmu.edu

Abstract- This paper introduces the concept of

"compassionate engineering," a process adopted by
research group, TechBridgeWorld, for developing technology
solutions that are relevant and accessible to people
underserved communities. The stages of compassionate
engineering include establishing partnerships based in trust,
assessing needs, participatory design, iterative innovation with
frequent user tests, training developer teams, dissemination,
and deployment. This paper describes each of these stages in
detail along with lessons learned and recommendations. The
process of compassionate engineering is further illustrated via
the case study of TechBridgeWorld's Braille Tutor
project. The BT project tackles literacy challenges for children
in the developing world who are burdened by both poverty and
blindness. Literacy plays a key role in empowering the blind,
especially in the developing world. Over the past nine years the
BT project has explored the challenges and abilities of blind
children in developing communities, and developed technology
innovations to empower these children and their educators.
Keywords- Compassionate engineering; assistive
technology; blind and visually impaired; developing world
INTRODUCTION
Engineers are often taught to be objective and scientific
without being affected by emotions, and the process of
creating technology is rarely perceived to be a compassionate
endeavor. However, engineers bring their background,
experiences, passion and perspectives to the engineering
process. Moreover, the beneficiaries of engineering work
deserve solutions that have been crafted with compassion
and that cater to their specific needs and circumstances. In
fact, appropriately designed and applied technology can truly
transform the lives of people in many situations; especially in
underserved communities such as people in the developing
world and people with disabilities.
The goal of the TechBridgeWorld research group at
Carnegie Mellon University's Robotics Institute is to explore
how innovative technology can serve humanity across the
globe. In this paper we define and describe our process of
"compassionate engineering," illustrate this process through
our Braille Tutor project, and describe lessons learned.
This research was supported in part by the Qatar National Research
Fund's National Priorities Research Program (NPRP) through grant #30-6-
7-91, the Qatar National Research Fund's Undergraduate Research
Experience Program (UREP) through grant #4-15-6, the Qatar Foundation
for Education, Science, and Community Development, the Fetzer Institute,
and discretionary gifts to the TechBridgeWor1d research group at Carnegie
Mellon University. The opinions expressed in this paper are those of the
authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the sponsors.
our RELATED WORK
Applying skills learned from an academic environment in
in
a real-world context is recognized as a valuable experience
for university students, including engineers. In addition,
service learning (SL) provides students with structured
educational opportunities to address societal needs [1]. In a
university setting, SL typically manifests as courses with a
community project component ([1], [2]), engineering clinics
[3], and service projects [4]. Project partners range from
(BT) NGOs in a local community to international organizations.
All SL offerings aim to promote student learning and
development while benefitting the community at the same
time. However, some offerings place greater emphasis on the
quality of the student experience, at the expense of benefit to
the community partner ([ I], [2]). This can lead to a dual
concern where community partners feel that they have
wasted precious resources, and students learning that their
experience is more important than the benefit to the partner.
Offerings that also place an emphasis on the partner's
experience include Rowan University's Engineering Clinic,
which is a sequence of courses that engineering students take
every semester of their undergraduate studies that
"emphasizes engineering practice and professionalism in a
multidisciplinary setting" [3]. Upperclassmen are able to
participate in SL projects that have regional, national or
international impact, often participating in endeavors through
Engineers Without Borders (EWB-USA). Through EWB­
USA, students at Rowan as well as other universities gain
experience in utilizing their engineering skills to adapt
technology to meet the needs and resources of the host
community [3]. The Engineering Projects in Community
Service (EPICS) allows undergraduate students to earn
"academic credit for their contributions to long-term, team­
based design projects that deliver innovate, technology-based
solutions to problems identified by not-for-profit
organizations in the community" [4]. Multidisciplinary
student teams ranging from freshmen to seniors are matched
with local community partners on projects that undergo a
"start-to-finish" design experience involving needs
assessment, design, development, testing and deployment
(with the project partner). EPICS, which originated in Purdue
University is now adopted by several universities in the U.S.
TechBridgeWorld's compassionate engineering process
also values both student and partner experiences, but goes a
step further to empower its partners and impart this valuable
knowledge to students. Through this work TechBridgeWorld
aims to inspire fellow engineers to act with compassion, be
motivated by social causes and not just by monetary rewards,

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 and contribute their skills to solve problems that affect many the partner community's investment may not necessarily be
people who currently do not benefit from technology (and in monetary, it is a valuable resource necessary for the success
fact, are often marginalized by technology). of the project, and provides them with ownership.

Compassionate engineering often involves overcoming

THE COMPASSIONATE ENGINEERING PROCESS many barriers and challenges in order earn the trust and
TechBridgeWorld is guided by the belief that technology, respect of the community, especially if one is a foreigner.
when engineered with compassion and in respectful Approaching these obstacles with a positive attitude and with
partnership with users, can have the transformative power of a true commitment to understand and appreciate cultures and
affecting positive change in the lives of the disempowered. beliefs that may be very different from one's own is key to
Through a process defined as compassionate engineering, we building respectful partnerships with end users. This
build partnerships with disempowered communities by approach has enabled TechBridgeWorld to connect with end
establishing mutual respect and trust. These communities users at a personal level by gaining a better understanding of
typically include people with disabilities, and economically their life's struggles and passions. In tum, this understanding
disadvantaged people, especially in the developing world. A enables engineers to infuse their compassion for the
great deal of time and effort is spent on understanding a community into the work they do and the resulting
community's needs and forging working relationships with technology solutions they create.
individuals within these commumtles. This approach
requires compassion, dedication, and the ability to work Needs Assessment
across cultural and other barriers. In summary, A key component to designing useful and sustainable
TechBridgeWorld works with community partners in technology solutions is to ensure that they are built to
underserved communities to realize each community's vision address the needs of the user community. One way to
of development by inventing and customizing relevant and accomplish this is through needs assessment, where
accessible technology tools. researchers first learn about the needs and challenges
The compassionate engineering process engages in cross­ identified by community partners. The needs assessment
cultural, non-traditional interactions to develop technology process often involves individual as well as group interviews
solutions that address specific needs of disempowered and conversations, and can be done iteratively over a period
communities. This process deviates from more traditional of time. Depending on the location of the participants, needs
engineering endeavors in terms of the communication with assessment can be done remotely or in person on the ground.
users, which happens much earlier and more frequently. Although needs assessment can be done remotely, on­
Projects are born from an identified need and partner the-ground needs assessment is an important factor for
involvement is present throughout. The compassionate success, as it often reveals issues that failed to manifest in
engineering process also involves inspiring and training preparatory research or communications prior to arrival on­
future leaders in technology and engineering, (e.g. students site [5]. This process also teaches researchers valuable soft
studying at an elite and prestigious institute for higher skills such as initiating, fostering and maintaining a direct
education), to ensure their skills and impact also benefit line of communication with the various communities based
disempowered communities. The key elements of this on honesty, mutual respect, and trust.
compassionate engineering process are summarized in the
following sections.
Participatory Design. User Testing. and Iterative
Innovation
Establishing Partnerships and Building Trust
With a strong partnership established, trust gained, and
Working with a community partner is crucial to the needs assessment complete, participatory design is an
success and sustainability of every TechBridgeWorld essential step needed to ensure that the developed technology
project. Partners must have a good understanding of local truly serves the needs of the user community. An essential
community needs, strong leadership in the community and component of iterative participatory design is user testing.
the capability to sustain projects locally. Logistics-wise, Technology solutions should not be in their final form before
partners are instrumental in coordinating other aspects of the they are brought to the community partner for feedback.
partnership, such as assisting with travel visas and research Similar to needs assessment, user testing involves interviews
permits, assisting with housing and support for team and conversations with users to learn about their experience
members who travel to project locations, and liaising with interacting with the technology prototypes and their feedback
any local officials involved with the projects [5]. for improving the solutions to further meet their needs.
Furthermore, partners contribute significantly to the needs
assessment process and to the design and testing of It is often the case that project scope and direction can
technology solutions. change as a result of needs assessment, participatory design
and user testing. The needs of the partner can evolve, or
To engineer with compassion one must always respect
disruptive technologies can affect the landscape of what is
the end user and work in partnership with them to ensure
feasible. This change is not to be resisted, but rather
they are empowered by and feel invested in the development
embraced because it signifies the close partnership that has
of tools for them. Oftentimes, engineering projects with
been established and the trust that has been built.
disempowered communities require little to no investment on
the side of the partner community. In all of
Recruiting and Training Compassionate Engineering Teams
TechBridgeWorld's projects, we work with partners to
explore ideas for a meaningful investment. This has included An important aspect of compassionate engineering is
housing, meals, and transportation for engineers on the engaging the next generation of technologists. In a university
ground, a dedicated staff member on the project, etc. While setting, this can be accomplished through student

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 involvement in projects. However, it can be difficult for
engineering students to travel overseas for projects due to
their course requirements, as well as funding restrictions.
Thus, student involvement can be done through courses,
independent studies, research projects (funded by other
sources when possible), etc. Furthermore, students with
different levels of expertise and disciplines should
involved in the compassionate engineering process. For
example, a freshman can take a semester-long course and
then follow up with a more in-depth independent study in the
next academic year, or a research internship in the summer
after their junior year. Engineers should also be exposed to
working with students from different backgrounds, allowing
the multidisciplinary team to draw on the different strengths
of their teammates.
By involving students in such projects, a new generation
of engineers is inspired to take on the challenge of finding
solutions to real-world problems that disproportionately
affect people in developing communities. They are also
introduced to the concept of engineering with compassion,
and provided with avenues for creating positive impact in
underserved communities using their engineering skills.
Finally, these students are encouraged and prepared to
become effective ambassadors of compassionate engineering
through presentations to peers and other audiences.
Dissemination
An important aspect of compassionate engineering that
can easily be overlooked is dissemination. Whether
dissemination takes place in academic venues (e.g. journals,
conferences, university classrooms, etc.), traditional media
(e.g. television, newspaper, etc.) or social media
Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc.), the outcomes of a
compassionate engineering endeavor should be shared to
contribute to generalizable knowledge, raise awareness of
important issues, and highlight lessons learned. Effective
dissemination can also lead to funding and generate the
critical mass needed to sustain adoption and future work.
This dissemination process should always be respectful of
the partner communities, and include the voices of the
disempowered in respectful ways.
Deployment
When versions of a technology solution are sufficiently
stable, engineers should consider releasing these versions
under appropriate open source licenses so that potential
developers and users from around the world can have access
to these solutions and can customize and enhance them.
Where possible, engineers should also determine what needs
to be done for mass production (e.g. designing optimal
casing, meeting industry standards, finalizing production
location, etc.). An important consideration for engineers is
the tradeoff between capabilities and cost so that the final
product is affordable to partner communities. Furthermore,
engineers must also consider working with a variety of
partners to determine the best way to sustainably deploy their
innovation to potential users. One avenue is to partner with
one or more companies or foundations for mass production
and distribution.
A specific example of compassionate engineering is
presented in the case study of TechBridgeWorld's Braille
Tutor (BT) project in the following section.
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COMPASSIONATE ENGINEERING IN TECHBRlDGEWORLD'S
BRAILLE TUTOR PROJECT
Among the many projects TechBridgeWorld has
undertaken over the past decade, its longest running project
has been the iterative development of the Braille Tutor (BT)
project. This BT project tackles literacy challenges for
be
children in the developing world who are burdened by both
poverty and blindness. The project developed two types of
devices, described next, that teach the skill of writing braille
using the slate and stylus through guided practice.
Braille Writing Tutor
The Braille Writing Tutor (BWT) is an intelligent
tutoring device, which helps users learn and practice writing
braille. As the user writes on the electronic slate with the
stylus, the BWT provides immediate audio feedback by
repeating the written letters, numbers or words. The tutor
also guides writing and corrects mistakes. The immediate
audio feedback serves as a diagnostic tool for instructors,
giving them a real-time understanding of what concepts the
user did and did not grasp.
The BWT's tactile interface consists of an electronic slate
which is connected to a laptop or desktop computer through
a USB cable. This allows the device to access power from
the computer, and the software installed on the computer.
The BWT slate area consists of two rows of sixteen braille
cells. An alternate input area consists of six buttons
resembling an enlarged braille cell, which is intended for
younger braille learners as well as learners still developing
dexterity. A standard braille stylus is used and connects a
circuit on the BWT when its metal tip is inserted into a cell.
(e.g.
The BWT has many educational modes for users to learn
how to write, practice writing, and be quizzed on letters,
words, and numbers. The software was designed to easily
accommodate most braille languages (those with alphabets
that have 2 to the power of 6 characters or less). Basic
learning modes are available in many different languages
including English, Arabic, BangIa, Chinese, French, Hindi,
Kannada, and Kiswahili. Several educational games have
been developed for the BWT software, which are intended as
a further motivation factor for learning to write braille. The
software uses pre-recorded sound files for all feedback and
instruction, making it simple to add customized sounds for
each location with appropriate languages and accents. This
makes the instructions easier to understand for local students.
Stand-Alone Braille Writing Tutor
The Stand-Alone Braille Writing Tutor (SABT) is an
essential upgrade to the BWT that also addresses the
challenges of frequent power failures and lack of access to
stable computers in many developing communities. The
SABT, which costs roughly twice as much as a BWT,
conserves all of the BWT's features but is battery-powered
and has onboard computing. Headphones or speakers can be
plugged in to access audio output from the SABT.
Project History
Over the past nine years the BT project has explored the
challenges and abilities of blind children in developing
communities, and has developed technology innovations to
empower these children and their teachers. The BT project
began in 2006 when TechBridgeWorld was introduced to the
98
 Mathru School for the Blind in India.
TechBridgeWorld has maintained its partnership with the
Mathru School, as well as partnered with organizations in
Bangladesh, China, Qatar, Tanzania, the U.S., and Zambia.
During the 2006 study in India, Mathru teachers were
concerned about the progress of a young student who was
blind since birth. She had been taking braille classes for the
past four years and no matter what exercise they assigned her
in those four years, the outcome was the same: a single cell
of braille with all six dots embossed. This student was
diagnosed by her teachers (who are also blind) as not being
able to learn to write braille. The teachers - out of respect to
the researcher's time - suggested that the
excluded from the study. However, since TechBridgeWorld
aims for all potential users to benefit from our work, this
student was not excluded from our work. As the student
wrote using the BWT, the device provided immediate audio
feedback to guide her writing and correct her mistakes. The
tool revealed to the teachers that the student understood
everything about braille except the concept of writing each
character in a different cell - a simple mistake that was
difficult for her blind teachers to previously diagnose.
Fig. 1. From left to right, top to bottom: a student in India writing braille
with a slate and stylus; a student in India working with a version of the
BWT with his teacher; the BWT juxtaposed with a slate and stylus; a
student in India testing with the SABT; the SABT with swappable
interfaces
Compassionate Engineering in the BT Project
Since TechBridgeWorld is based in the U.S., needs
assessment was conducted remotely with the Mathru School
based in India. To respect limited resources of the research
group and the partner, creative strategies were utilized to
learn more about the needs and challenges of the Mathru
School. A personal contact of the TechBridgeWorld team
who lived in Bangalore visited the Mathru School, with
permission, to capture video footage of educational activities.
A series of phone calls and e-mail exchanges also took place
between TechBridgeWorld and the Mathru School to clarify
needs. It was determined that the school's greatest need,
which TechBridgeWorld had the expertise and the ability to
address, was to teach the skill of writing braille using the
slate and stylus through guided practice. TechBridgeWorld
researchers were also able to conduct on-the-ground needs
assessment with the Mathru School. During the first visit in
2006 and through follow-up visits in 2008
researchers were able to effectively understand the needs of
the Mathru School and developed practical, sustainable, and
relevant solutions to address those challenges.
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Since then, User testing of the BT technologies with Mathru teachers
and students also took place during the pilot study in 2006
and during follow-up VlSlts in 2008 and 2013.
TechBridgeWorld researchers obtained valuable feedback
confirming the relevance of the BT technologies and its
potential, as well as critical design changes. During testing in
2006, the researchers learned that the concept of the BWT's
wired stylus needed to be completely changed because
children at the school were taught that wires are dangerous
and therefore they were concerned about using the device.
Furthermore, the researchers learned that the serial cables
used to connect the original BWT design to the computer
were difficult for the blind teachers to align correctly when
student be
setting up the device. The teachers also requested a method
to familiarize younger learners (who were still developing
dexterity) with the concept of a braille cell and dots. To
address these findings, the second version of the BWT
underwent a major design change in which any regular metal
stylus could be used for input, the device connected to a
computer through a USB cable, and six buttons representing
a large braille cell were added as an alternate input area.
Researchers returned in 2008 to test the second version of
the BWT which confirmed that the design changes
incorporated were effective. Needs assessment conducted
during the visit indicated the need for educational games,
which were consequently developed and added to the BWT's
software. In later years, the researchers also learned about the
school's need for a device that did not need to be connected
to a computer and worked despite power failures. This
information led to the design of the SABT. In 2013,
researchers returned to the Mathru School to test the SABT
beginner interface. User testing confirmed the relevance of
the SABT and several modes were enhanced and new modes
developed to meet the curriculum needs of the school.
Since TechBridgeWorld is based at CMU, the
compassionate engineering process lives on through student
involvement. Demand from students interested in conducting
projects with TechBridgeWorld is very high. As a result, the
compassionate engineering process and components of the
BT project were integrated in several courses, independent
studies, honors theses, and research projects. In all cases,
students are mentored and led by TechBridgeWorld faculty
and staff. Students' activities are designed with educational
objectives in mind, but also help meet project objectives.
Over the years, TechBridgeWorld has involved over 40
CMU students and alumni in the BT project through courses,
independent studies, honors theses, and through the iSTEP
internship program. Participants ranged from undergraduate
freshmen to Ph.D. students and came from backgrounds
including computer science, public policy, the humanities,
business, electrical engineering, art, and design. These
offerings typically attracted students who had a strong desire
to use their skills to achieve positive impact in real-world
settings. But they also attracted students who simply wished
to fulfill curriculum requirements. For many of these
students, their view on technology for development matured
and a greater understanding for compassionate engineering
was achieved.
and 2013,
TechBridgeWorld also offers a paid internship program
called iSTEP, short for innovative Student Technology
ExPerience, which provides CMU students with the
opportunity to conduct technology research projects in
developing communities [5]. Four of the six years of the
E4S Conference Leuven (6) June 18&19, 2015 99
 iSTEP program involved working on the BT project in India, Next, we highlight some of the important lessons learned
Bangladesh and Tanzania, in the context of an intensive 10- we learned and recommendations.
week summer internship. Interns were trained in the
• Build strong partnerships to ensure the success of a
compassionate engineering process through mini courses and
project. Gaining a better understanding of the
a one-week orientation and training session. Once complete,
partner's struggles and passions enables engineers to
the iSTEP interns, in collaboration with TechBridgeWorld,
infuse compassion for the community into the
carried out most stages of the compassionate engineering
resulting technology solutions they create.
process with partner communities.
• Avoid overlooking and rushing needs assessment.
In addition to the main outcomes of the BT project,
While time-consuming, accomplishing needs
effective promotion efforts have helped to raise greater
awareness about the needs of blind people, particularly in assessment properly can save effort and resources on
the part of the partner as well as the engineers
terms of literacy, and especially in the developing world.
involved, and lead to technology solutions that exhibit
This work has also encouraged others to interact with and
true compassion.
support blind children with compassion, and improve
conditions in schools for the blind by investing their time and • Empower the partner community through
resources. Perhaps most importantly, this work has served as participatory design, user testing, and iterative
an inspiration for many engineers and technologists. innovation. Periodically obtain feedback from
Underlying the BT project case is the motivation of partners to ensure that technology solutions further
compassion that drives TechBridgeWorld to conduct this meet the community's needs.
work. TechBridgeWorld's slogan "Technology with a global
heart" guides researchers to be motivated by compassion for • Engage and train the next generation of
humanity in their efforts to affect positive change in the lives technologists. By involving students in
of underserved commumtIes across the world. compassionate engineering processes, they will
TechBridgeWorld's dissemination efforts have illustrated become effective ambassadors of compassionate
how technology, while neutral in itself, can be given a global engmeenng.
heart if it is engineered with compassion.
• Disseminate outcomes of compassionate
TechBridgeWorld has received many inquiries from engineering projects in a way that is respectful of
parents, mentors, teachers, etc. from around the world about partner communities, and includes the voices of the
the BT project. They acknowledge the project's potential and disempowered in respectful ways.
often want to buy or loan the BWT and SABT devices for
• Release stable versions of a technology solution
their child or student. TechBridgeWorld researchers have
under appropriate open source licenses so that
released an early version of the BWT software and hardware
potential developers and end users can have access to
under open source licenses and will continue to release
these solutions and can customize and enhance them.
further versions as they are stabilized. To engage the open
When commercializing a technology solution, ensure
source community, TechBridgeWorld developed an initial
that the products will be affordable to partners and
BWT simulator so that a physical device is not needed for
those with limited purchasing power.
developers to improve the software. Furthermore, several
organizations have reached out to TechBridgeWorld to
commercialize the BWT and SABT, but were ultimately ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
turned away since it was unclear that they would ensure that We thank the many inventors and collaborators who have
the products will be affordable to our partner organizations been involved with the Braille Tutor project since it began in
(such as the Mathru School) because of their limited 2006. We also thank our project partners and the many
purchasing power. teachers and students who were involved in our research.

LESSONS LEARNED AND RECOMMENDA nONS REFERENCES

In this paper we have described our compassionate
engineering process for how technology can serve humanity
across the world. Since TechBridgeWorld started over a
decade ago, close to 100 students have experienced the
compassionate engineering process through our academic
offerings, in which they contributed their knowledge and
expertise to research projects that serve the needs of partner
communities. In tum, the outcomes of these projects have
touched the lives of many people in
communities around the world. Many of these students have
graduated and gone on to work in industry, academia, and
the non-profit sector. On the other hand, our partners'
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