[nfbcs] Fw: Thai researchers develop affordable Braille display

[Mike Jolls]

I'd sure like to know if any of the technologies I'm reading about in the
Braille Display research area are legitimate .. and if they will make it to
market any time soon.  I've been trying to follow this for the last year or
two and the electrostatic polymer technology (plastics, if you will, that
can be stimulated by electricity to "deform" the plastic and make it produce
"bumps" for braille) has been something I've been very intrigued by.  The
research I've been reading says that a Braille display using the
electrostatic polymer technology should be possible at $5-$10 per cell.
That would certainly be a great cost savings over the $40 per cell that
these displays cost today.
But they you don't hear anything.  It's like they "throw you a bone" and you
get your hopes up and then nothing.  I'd like to know if there's really
anything to this.  Will we see any products in the next year, two, three, or
five years?  I'd like to get a portable wireless Braille display to
interface with my iPad and/or my desktop computer.  They're currently
available at $3000 or around that price-point ... but I sure don't relish
the idea of spending that kind of money if waiting a short time will enable
me to get the technology I want at a quarter of the cost.

What do you hear if anything?



-----Original Message-----
From: nfbcs [mailto:nfbcs-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of John G. Heim
Sent: Sunday, December 30, 2012 11:49 AM
To: NFB in Computer Science Mailing List
Subject: Re: [nfbcs] Fw: Thai researchers develop affordable Braille display

It's amazing how many of these stories there are about researchers making a
breakthrough in developing inexpensive braille displays. I'll bet I've seen
10 of them in the last 5 years. It's amazing to me that the raised soenoid
technology still dominates. I'd have thought that by now, one of these
breakthroughs would have been legitimate. 


On Dec 30, 2012, at 8:46 AM, Tracy Carcione wrote:

> 
> Thai researchers develop affordable braille display
> 
> Asia-Pacific, Dec 27, 2012
> 
> 
> 
> THAILAND: Thai researchers say they have developed a new and cheaper way
for people who are blind to read text from a computer.
> 
> 
> 
> A team at the Synchrotron Light Research Centre in Nakhon Ratchasima said
they have developed a Braille display with polymer cylinders that react to
light
> 
> rays to help people with vision disabilities read text.
> 
> 
> 
> While computer-connected Braille displays are not new, Synchrotron's
innovation is the first of its kind in the world, and is much cheaper than
other types
> 
> of Braille displays, researcher Rungrueng Phatthanakun said.
> 
> 
> 
> Synchrotron is the name of an accelerator, a machine that speeds up
electrons in the machine's magnetic field to produce light.
> 
> 
> 
> The light produces an x-ray which then causes tiny cylinders made out of a
polymer substance on the reading display to move up and down beneath the
reader's
> 
> fingers as "raised dots" of Braille alphabets.
> 
> 
> 
> Mr Rungrueng said his team had made a Braille display suitable for reading
Thai script.
> 
> 
> 
> However, users at Nakhon Ratchasima's school for the blind found the
display gives only a 67% accuracy in reading Thai words. English-reading
accuracy was
> 
> measured at 83%.
> 
> 
> 
> While some foreign Braille displays cost more than 300,000 baht a unit,
the researchers expect to sell their new displays for about 50,000 apiece,
Mr Rungrueng
> 
> said.
> 
> 
> 
> His team is seeking a patent for the innovation, and improving the device
to help users read electronic texts more accurately. The team also plans to
develop
> 
> Braille displays compatible with tablet computers and smart phones.
> 
> 
> 
> Source: Bangkok Post
> 
> ===
> 
> If we assume this Braille display would cost about on-sixth the price of
the displays we know, it would put it at about $500, still pretty step for a
lot of people.  But it is interesting.
> 
> David
> 
> 
> 
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