The latest in touch screen technology for the visually impaired has emerged from Finland.
Finnish computer scientists have created a touch screen phone prototype that can simulate Braille characters. The Nokia 770 mobile internet tablet was used for the prototype as it already has haptic feedback built into the display. The scientists claim the 770 prototype was “relatively easy to develop and test.”
Instead of recreating the 2 x 3 matrix of raised spots that represents a Braille character, the new system just vibrates the screen using the transducers. As a reading finger is touched to the screen, its position is logged relative to the conventional text character beneath: The Braille is then emulated as a Morse code-like chain of intense and weak vibrations of the screen. A strong one relates to a Braille dot, and a weak one represents a Braille space. It is ridiculously simple!
Most importantly, volunteers involved in the research have been able to make the transition between conventional Braille and this new technique without too much difficulty, reading single characters in around 1.25 seconds.
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