[nfbcs] Braille on the iPad

Mon Oct 31 00:35:23 UTC 2011

Braille input on the iPad is cool .. that's for sure.  But it doesn't
address the need for a Braille display to read documents stored in the
device.  Unfortunately, that's where a Braille display comes in ... and
they're expensive.  I'm debating purchasing an iPad and a Refreshabraille
18.  I would want to have the iPad to download documents.   Then once
navigated to the document I'm interested in, put the iPad away in the carry
bag I always have with me and use the little Refreshabraille to navigate and
read the document.  In this day and age, small is the answer, and the
Refreshabraille is just that.  In a way, it's too bad that I've found
Braille so useful.  It sure beats holding a device or publication two inches
away from my face to read it (I have vision).  The problem with any Braille
display, of course, is the cost.  The little Refreshabraille is $1700 ...
just for that small device.  It should be more like $500 which would open up
the availability to a lot more people.  I'm hoping the research they're
doing in deformable polymers brings the cost of a cell down to $5 or $10
like the researchers are saying.  Then a 20 cell display would only be $200
plus the other hardware on the device.  Perhaps that would reduce the cost
to the $500 price tag I mention.

Despite that, I think it's great that we have such devices as the iPad and
the fact that they are wireless which makes the Refreshabraille solution a
possibility.  And, let's not forget Mr. Braille's contribution.  Without
that ... well we'd be in a world of hurt.

And since this is the computer science discussion group ... can I ask a
question?  If someone came up with a new program that would help the blind
... who could they submit it to for evaluation?

-----Original Message-----
From: nfbcs-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nfbcs-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of Tami Kinney
Sent: Friday, October 21, 2011 11:58 AM
To: NFB in Computer Science Mailing List
Subject: Re: [nfbcs] Braille on the iPad

Oh, I would buy one in a heartbeat! If I had a job and were earning money to
pay for it. /lol/

Love the leaps in progress!

Tami

On 10/14/2011 11:09 AM, John G. Heim wrote:
> Yeah, interesting for sure. Normally, you can't type as fast on a 
> braille keyboard as on a qwerty keyboard because it takes several 
> fingers to make most braille letters. But its possible that that 
> drawback would be lessened on a touchpad. In fact, given the difficult 
> nature of the touch keypads, a braille keyboard might be more 
> efficient than a qwerty keyboard because there are far fewer keys.
> If I ever lost my job, I think I'd try starting a company to sell 
> Soekris brand computers to blind people. These are little computers 
> about the size of an old VHS tape that run linux. I'd attach a USB 
> keyboard and speakers and set them up with a screen reader. Bingo, done!
>
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Tracy Carcione" 
> <carcione at access.net>
> To: "NFB in Computer Science Mailing List" <nfbcs at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Friday, October 14, 2011 12:51 PM
> Subject: Re: [nfbcs] Braille on the iPad
>
>
> It seems like it's braille input only, which makes sense.
> I think I read braille a lot more than I actually write it, so I'd 
> want both.
> Still, it's interesting.
> Tracy
>
>> This is not simply connecting a Braille display or keypad, it is 
>> Braille directly through the touch screen. This sounds pretty cool.
>>
>>
>>
>> _next article
>>
>> Tablets turned into Braille keyboard by US researchers
>>
>> Man reading Braille Braille can seem outdated in a world where
>>
>> touchscreens are ubiquitous
>>
>> A team of US researchers has devised a way for people with impaired
>>
>> vision to use the touchscreen of a tablet such as an iPad as a 
>> Braille
>>
>> keyboard.
>>
>> It turns some previously fundamental thinking about how to make
>>
>> technology accessible to blind people on its head.
>>
>> Instead of using a keyboard or mechanical writer, users type directly
>>
>> onto the flat glass.
>>
>> The inventors used a novel design for the keyboard to overcome the 
>> lack
>>
>> of tactile features.
>>
>> Smart keyboard
>>
>> "Instead of having fingers that find the buttons, we built buttons 
>> that
>>
>> find the fingers," said Stanford's Sohan Dharmaraja, one of the
>>
>> researchers on the project.
>>
>> Mr Dharmaraja using iPad with Braille software The software creates a
>>
>> smart keyboard for users
>>
>> Users place eight fingers on the screen and the keyboard appears.
>>
>> Shaking the device activates a menu, and further interaction is
>>
>> achieved by regular touch gestures.
>>
>> Mr Dharmaraja, alongside team-mates Adam Duran - an undergraduate 
>> from
>>
>> New Mexico University - and assistant professor Adrian Lew, came up
>>
>> with the idea during a boffin's X-Factor-style contest.
>>
>> The competition, organised each year by Stanford University, 
>> challenges
>>
>> students to come up with some innovative future computing ideas over
>>
>> their summer break.
>>
>> In demonstrations Mr Duran typed out a complicated mathematical 
>> formula
>>
>> and the chemical equation for photosynthesis.
>>
>> But it also offers a solution for more basic problems.
>>
>> "Imagine being blind in the classroom, how would you take notes? What
>>
>> if you were on the street and needed to copy down a phone number? 
>> These
>>
>> are real challenges the blind grapple with every day," said Prof Lew.
>>
>> There are some obvious benefits to using touchscreen technology over
>>
>> traditional Braille writers.
>>
>> "Current physical note takers are big and clunky and range from 
>> $3,000
>>
>> (£2,000) to $6,000 (£4,000). Tablet PCs are available at a fraction 
>> of
>>
>> the cost and do so much more," said Mr Dharmaraja.
>>
>> Promising development
>>
>> As part of the project, the students had to learn Braille. The 
>> system,
>>
>> originally developed for the French military, is made up of six dots
>>
>> arranged in various patterns. They are read by people's fingertips.
>>
>> But the system can seem outdated in a modern era where touchscreens 
>> are
>>
>> ubiquitous.
>>
>> Accessible touch screen devices such as the iPad offer a huge range 
>> of
>>
>> possibilities for developers and for blind and partially sighted
>>
>> people," said Robin Spinks, the Royal National Institute for Blind
>>
>> People's manager of digital accessibility.
>>
>> "This prototype Braille keyboard for touch screen devices represents 
>> a
>>
>> very promising development, and RNIB look forward to being able to 
>> test
>>
>> it with our members in the future," he added.
>>
>> It may be some while until the Stanford project is turned into a
>>
>> commercial reality but the team are determined.
>>
>> "Who knows what we will get because of this device. It is opening a
>>
>> door that wasn't open before," said Mr Dharmaraja.
>>
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>
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