[Nfbsatx] A Touch Screen Braille Keyboard coming soon

[Mary Donahue]

Hello everyone,

    Being able to enter Braille via a touch screen is only half of the 
equation. For such a device to be of any use you need both Braille input and 
output. I'll applaud these guys for trying but they need to develop a 
solution that allows one to enter Braille with a touch screen and then be 
able to proofread what they've written hence the need for simultaneous work 
on both touch screen Braille input and tactile Braille output devices which 
will be cheaper than current Braille display technology. JMO.

Peter Donahue

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jose Martinez" <jose.martinez07 at gmail.com>
To: "San Antonio Texas Chapter Mailing List" <Nfbsatx at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Monday, October 24, 2011 12:26 PM
Subject: [Nfbsatx] A Touch Screen Braille Keyboard coming soon


> Feature Writer Alena Roberts - A Touch Screen Braille Keyboard Coming
> to a Tablet Near You
>
> The ability to use a touch screen as a blind person is amazing, but it
> is still quite difficult to type efficiently. IOS devices like the
> iPhone can have a physical blue tooth keyboard or braille display
> attached to them, but this adds extra cost and requires extra space
> for traveling. What if instead, the blind could write using a braille
> keyboard on the touch screen itself? Well now, a team at Stanford
> University has come up with a way to do this.
>
> According to the lead designer, to use the braille keyboard the person
> simply places their eight fingers on the touch screen once. The touch
> screen then recognizes that the person wants to type using braille. As
> long as the person keeps their fingers close to where they started,
> they can start typing and the program will adjust to movements in your
> finger position. If you want to get a drink of water or move your
> hands to do something else, simply put eight fingers back on the touch
> screen and tap once and you can start typing again.
>
> This project could be a way to increase braille literacy because the
> software will be built into the device. Braille displays and
> notetakers cost thousands of dollars which puts them out of reach for
> a majority of the blind community. If a braille keyboard was available
> on a tablet PC, then far more people would have access. The next step
> should be building in braille output, but that will be more of a
> challenge.
>
> To learn more about the project, listen to this episode of the market
> place tech report:
> http://marketplace.publicradio.org/www_publicradio/tools/media_player/popup.php?name=marketplace/tech_report/2011/10/17/marketplace_tech_report20111017_64
>
> You can also watch this YouTube video presented by Standford
> University: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABfCXJSjAq0
>
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