- Researchers are developing a Refreshable device like an Kindle e-reader
- It will display pages of raised bumps, Which can be read by touch
- Current devices are expensive, running into thousands of pounds
- Pneumatic system Creates bubbled surface that produce braille and graphics
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A Kindle-style Braille e-reader for blind and partially sighted people could make reading text and working with graphs easier for millions suffering from sight problems.
Researchers at the University of Michigan are developing a Refreshable device That will be capable of displaying pages of the raised bumps, Which can be read by touch .
While Refreshable Braille displays are already available, they are limited by the amount of text they can display, often is only a single line of text at a time.
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Researchers at the University of Michigan are developing a Refreshable device Which, when available, would be capable of displaying pages of the raised bumps, Which can be read by touch. The ‘Braille Kindle’ (artist’s impression illustrated) could make reading text and working with graphs easier for millions
The Braille alphabet Enables Blind and partially sighted people to read by tracing lines of raised bumps with Their fingers.
Led by Dr Sile O’Modhrain, an associate professor of information at the University of Michigan, the team are developing a full page Refreshable Braille tablet that works much like the E-Ink used in Kindles and other e-reading devices.
They say it will allow people to feel entire pages of text while also helping a tactile display graphs and even graphics.
‘Imagine having a Kindle, that is not a visual Kindle, but instead has a That tactile surface can be read by a person who is blind, using Braille, ‘explained Dr O’Modhrain.
Current Braille readers are expensive, with cost of a single device running into thousands of pounds and can not be easily used while on the move.
A Device That produces single line of Braille at a time starts around the £ 2,000 mark ($ 3,000), with a full page Braille display costing in the region of £ 38,000 ($ 55,000).
The concept is based around a pneumatic system. The device uses either air or fluid to push up the small plastic pins from an 8 × 7 grid, forming Braille letters (pictured left). The result is a bubbled surface Which could Represent a while Page of text yet is small and portable, like a Kindle (stock image right)
The team at the University of Michigan are aiming it develop an accessible, and much more affordable and portable device and have revealed Their progress in a video.
THE BRAILLE KINDLE
Refreshable Braille readers already exist, but the technology is expensive.
A single line of Braille starts around the £ 2,000 mark ($ 3,000), with a full page Braille display costing in the region of £ 38,000 ($ 55,000).
The system being developed by researchers at Michigan can use either air or fluid to push up the small plastic pins from a grid, forming Braille letters.
The result is a surface bubbled Which could Represent a while page of text.
‘You can not do much with a single line,’ said Alexander Rossomanno, and graduate student research assistant in Dr. O’Modhrain’s lab.
‘It’s hard to read for one … but also, you can not do things like graphs, you can not do spreadsheets, you can not do any kind of spatially distributed information. ‘
The Michigan group have Transferred the same dots of Braille is an entirely pneumatic system, Which can use either air or fluid to push up the small plastic pins from an 8 × 7 grid, forming Braille letters.
The result is a bubbled surface Which could Represent a while page of text.
Dr. O’Modhrain said: ‘That Means That we’re able that produce a display that’s a lot cheaper than displays Which isnt rely on electronics.’
Available readers are expensive, with the cost of devices running into thousands of pounds. A single line of Braille starts around the £ 2,000 mark ($ 3,000), with a full page Braille display costing in the region of £ 38,000 ($ 55,000). Pictured is a single line Refreshable Braille device
Using this approach Means the technology does not need to worry about wiring or putting together series’ of individual mechanical components.
‘We just build up layers of bubbles,’ she explained.
The biggest difficulty faced by the team is controlling the thousands of pneumatic pumps needed to create an entire page of text, while keeping the entire device small enough to be portable.
The group are reported to be working on a potential solution that this problem Which would enable them to pack In all the technology into a small device.
Sile O’Modhrain (pictured), an associate professor of information at Michigan, is leading the team at Michigan is develop a full page Refreshable Braille device, Which will be able that display full pages of text Which can be refreshed under computer control
Dr. O’Modhrain added: ‘One of the Consequences of blind people not being able to access Braille, Is That they’re limited in terms of the kind of scientific or mathematical things they can to In Their access is spatially Displayed information.
‘And even being able to do something fun, like see a graphic That Represents The performance statistics for Their football team over the last year.
‘That’s something That people with vision to all the time, and it would be really nice to think that we could actually Bring That Back. ‘
The Project, Which started in 2013, has a projected end date of September this year.
Accessibility technology has been used for a number of years, with screen reader programs’ commonly used by blind and partially sighted people to read text out loud and describe images and visual elements.
Other groups are working on taking These readers further Top, Incorporating cameras that enable users to read non-Braille books.
ACCESSIBLE READERS FOR THE BLIND
A prototype device developed by MIT Media Lab’s Fluid Interfaces group Enables the wearer to scan a text line with Their finger and receive an audio feedback of the words.
It also Provides motion feedback in the form of small vibrations to make sure That the user does not veer away from the text.
The device is still in its development stage, and the Video Reveals there are still a number of Improvements That could be made.
For instance, the speed is far slower than it could be and there is no headphone jack in place.
Eventually, however, might be able FingerReader it replace braille Which is already being taught less given the rise of audio- visual software.
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