Diana Marusic - the teenager who created the software for short sighted people

Passion is often enough when it comes to important things. At only 16 years old and without fundamental studies in IT, Diana Marusic managed to invent a software for the blind, which allows commands to be performed by computer using voice. She participates and wins competitions of international class in IT and believes that this is the domain that allows her to help her peers.

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First name, last name: Diana Marusic
Date of birth: 08.11.1997
Place of birth: Chisinau
Education: "Ion Creanga" Lyceum
Domain of activity: IT
Achievements:  At only 16 years old and without fundamental studies in IT, Diana Marusic managed to invent a software for the blind, which allows commands to be performed by computer using voice

• IT is a very interesting field that requires a lot of creativity and inventiveness

Being a very curious nature, I am drawn to new things, thus IT offers plenty of opportunities to learn something new. In addition, programming often involves solving problems in very simple and effective ways that can sometimes help us in our lives.

• Every year I see more and more people who have myopia, and the main cause is computer overuse

In the era of information technology, I noticed a problem which becomes more serious. Programmers face mostly this problem. I made some researches and saw that these vision disorders can have serious consequences, myopia is a leading cause of vision loss. The study that I conducted made me ask myself whether blind people are able to program. Thus the idea of this software came to myself.

• The application is called Smart Visual IDE (Smart VIDE or SVIDE in abbreviation) and was created in JAVA programming language

It uses voice commands and word sounds for user interaction and specialized algorithms to simplify entering commands. Unlike specialized dictation software, SVIDE is designed especially for programmers, has a higher efficiency due to limited number of specialized commands and has a mechanism that ensures avoiding the most common mistakes in programming. Although it is specialized for people with visual impairments, one of the objectives of this program is to be universal and convenient for everyone.

• I care about people around, because we all have the same rights

It is not difficult to help someone who has a problem, but for that disabled person it will mean a lot. I am convinced that all the good deeds we do will necessarily come back to us and thus we must not be indifferent.

Through IT many problems can be solved. I try to create inventions as useful as possible for people and also universal and I believe that computer programs must be accessible to all, including people with special needs.

• At the moment, I see my future in IT

But my decisions might change over time, one thing I know for sure: I will work in a domain that requires a lot of creativity. Perhaps, I chose IT, because it is more a social domain, where we interact with people, work often in teams and we do have very many possibilities.