[nfbcs] Fw: Thai researchers develop affordable Braille display

Sun Dec 30 18:39:29 UTC 2012

Dear All,

People who want to often develop some thing new don't get the support that is needed. Development comes at 90+ percent and gets faded away. Ideas don't get to market because of a few people who are otherwise authorities, heads of organisations ignore them. There are wonderful ideas that people work for the betterment of options for VI people.

I can list at least five such instances but nobody bothers to listen to them, I am referring to people in the front of organisations. People in India and UK are spending lot of resources on something that is of little help than something that is of more value.take the case of making ATMs accessible . 

I m not against it but I wish to ask one simple question, we lack basic infrastructure over education in mathematics and science but instead of that we are trying to prioritise other things.

Well this topic is too big to be spoken about. 

Regards,

Kiran

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On 30-Dec-2012, at 11:50 PM, "Mike Jolls" <majolls at cox.net> wrote:

> 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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