[gui-talk] Fwd: Article: Electroactive Polymer Design Opens Door To 'Full Screen' Displays For The Blind

[Steve Pattison]

 From:    adam Morris lists at damorris.com
 To:      vip-l vip-l at freelists.org

see below for the text of the article.
the direct link is:

http://bit.ly/dBpWMY

Imagine if your computer only allowed you to see one line at a time, no
matter what you were doing - reading e-mail, looking at a Web site,
doing research. That's the challenge facing blind computer users today.
But new research from North Carolina State University is moving us
closer to the development of a display system that would allow the
blind to take full advantage of the Web and other computer
applications."Right now, electronic Braille displays typically only
show one line of text at a time. And they're very expensive," says Dr.
Neil Di Spigna, a research assistant professor at NC State and co-
author of a paper describing the research. In order to develop a more
functional, and affordable, tool that would allow the blind to
interface with their computers, Di Spigna and his colleagues are
working to develop a full-page, refreshable Braille display. Braille
uses a series of raised dots to represent letters and numbers,
allowing blind people to read. braille-400 The researchers have
developed a concept called a "hydraulic and latching mechanism," which
would allow the development of a full-page, refreshable Braille
display system.Such a display would also translate images into tactile
displays, effectively mapping pixels in an image and allowing the full-
page Braille display to represent the images as raised dots.The
researchers have developed a concept called a "hydraulic and latching
mechanism," which would allow the development of such a display system.
The mechanism would be made of an electroactive polymer that is very
resilient and inexpensive, when compared to current Braille display
technologies. "This material will allow us to raise dots to the
correct height, so they can be read," says Dr. Peichun Yang, a
postdoctoral research associate at NC State and co-author of the paper.
"Once the dots are raised, a latching mechanism would support the
weight being applied by a person's fingers as the dots are read. The
material also responds quickly, allowing a reader to scroll through a
document or Web site quickly."Earlier this month, the researchers
presented their findings on the hydraulic component of the mechanism,
showing that it is a viable technology. The next step is to
demonstrate a proof-of-concept model of the latching mechanism. "We
hope to have a fully functioning prototype of the mechanism within a
year," Di Spigna says, "and that could serve as the functional
building block of a full-screen refreshable display.""Reading Braille
is essential to allowing blind people to find employment," says Yang,
who is blind. "We're optimistic that this technology will give the
blind additional opportunities in this area.""The last 20 years of
computer technology have been relatively inaccessible - and today's
common mobile computing devices, from smart-phones to digital
navigators and iPads, have been completely nonexistent - to blind
people, because the display technology for the blind has not kept pace,
" says David Winick, a researcher at NC State and co-author of the
paper. "We hope to enable the development of applications that will
give the blind more complete access to the internet and other computer
resources, such as e-books."The research, "The integration of novel
EAP-based Braille cells for use in a refreshable tactile display," was
presented March 8 at the 12th International Conference on
Electroactive Polymer Actuators And Devices in San Diego. The work was
funded by the National Institute of Disability and Rehabilitation
Research, which is part of the U.S. Department of Education. The work
was co-authored by Di Spigna, Yang, Winick, Parthasarathi Chakraborti,
an NC State graduate student, Dr. Tushar Ghosh, a professor of textile
engineering chemistry and science, and Dr. Paul Franzon, a professor
of electrical and computer engineering.NC State's Department of
Electrical and Computer Engineering is part of the university's
College of Engineering. NC State's Department of Textile Engineering,
Chemistry and Science is part of the university's College of
Engineering and its College of Textiles.-shipman-Note to Editors: The
presentation abstract follows."The integration of novel EAP-based
Braille cells for use in a refreshable tactile display"Authors: N. Di
Spigna, P. Chakraborti, D.Winick, P. Yang , T. Ghosh, P. Franzon,
North Carolina State UniversityPresented: March 8, 2010, at the 12th
International Conference on Electroactive Polymer Actuators And
Devices in San Diego.Abstract: Structures demonstrating the viability
of both the hydraulic and latching Braille dot, and the dielectric
elastomer fiber Braille dot have been fabricated and characterized. A
hydraulic proof-of-concept structure has achieved the necessary
volumetric change required to lift a Braille dot over 0.5mm at
voltages under 1000V and at speeds under 100ms. Long bimorphs have
been fabricated that demonstrate large tip displacements over 2mm that
could be used to mechanically latch the Braille rod in the 'up'
position to achieve the force requirement. The addition of radial
prestrain in dielectric elastomer tubes has reduced the wall thickness
and directed the strain in the axial direction which has had a
dramatic impact on their resulting characteristics. The required bias
voltage for the dielectric elastomer fiber Braille dot has been
reduced from 15.5kV to 8.75kV while the Braille head tip displacement
of a fabricated prototype has almost tripled on average and now also
exceeds the required displacement for a refreshable Braille display.
Finally, potential solutions to the current shortcomings of both
designs in meeting all of the requirements for such a display are
discussed.

Regards Steve
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