[Nfbmo] {Spam?} U of Michigan working on reasonably priced pneumatic full page Braile display

[DanFlasar at aol.com]

Hi all,
       Here's a video from YouTube regarding  a prototype full-page 
refreshable Braille display being developed by researchers  at the University of 
Michigan.
 
    Following the link is a copy of the information provided  with the 
video.  The first paragraph describes the video, the last 3  describe the 
academic activities of the researchers.  It does appear that  the head researcher, 
Prof. Silke O'Modhrain, does appear to be blind  herself.
 
 
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fIg4rI4cDw
 
 
 
 
 
Reading a computer screen in Braille is a  cumbersome process today. The 
visually impaired people who rely on the system of  raised dots only have 
access to one line at a time. Beyond that, current systems  don't translate 
charts or graphs. A team of researchers from Michigan  Engineering and the 
School of Music, Theater and Dance are working on a  solution. Their technology, 
which has been described as a leader in the field,  relies on pneumatic use 
of liquid or air to shrink the mechanism and expand it  so it can display 
more at once. Their goal is for it to display the equivalent  of a page of 
Kindle text at once. 

ABOUT THE  PROFESSOR
Professor Sile O’Modhrain earned a BA in music from  Trinity College in 
Dublin, Ireland, and a licentiate in piano teaching from  Trinity College 
London. She holds an MS in music technology from the University  of York, York, 
England, and a Ph.D. in computer-based music theory from Stanford  
University.Professor O'Modhrain has worked as a researcher and faculty member,  both 
here and abroad, at the prestigious MIT Media Lab, Media Lab Europe, and at  
the Sonic Arts Research Center at Queen's University of Belfast. She has 
also  worked for BBC Radio as an audio engineer and program producer. Her 
research  focus is on haptics–touch and gesture–and its relationship to music 
performance  and on the development of new interfaces for technology-enhanced 
instruments  that extend the boundaries of musical expression. Also 
impressive is her  combination of experience in many areas related to audio, 
psychoacoustics,  computer music, cognition, and gestural control of music. 

Brent Gillespie is an associate professor of mechanical engineering  with 
research interests in haptic interfaces and robotics. Prof. Gillespie  
obtained his undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University  
of California, Davis and his MS and PhD from Stanford University. At Stanford 
he  was associated both with the Center for Computer Research in Music and 
Acoustics  (CCRMA) and the Dextrous Manipulation Laboratory. After his PhD, 
he spent three  years as a postdoc at Northwestern University working in the 
Laboratory for  Intelligent Machines (LIMS).

Alexander Russomanno  received a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the 
University of Virginia in  2012. He is currently a Ph.D. candidate in the 
Department of Mechanical  Engineering at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. 
His research interests  involve microfluidics, surface haptic interface 
design and human-machine  interfaces.
Dan