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Haptic Reader Helps Blind People Reading Non-Braille Books

TheFuture — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 09:02:39 +0000

Haptic Reader is a concept device that features an innovative way of helping blind people on reading non-Braille books. This device incorporates a flat glass surface that converts the letters of a page into Braille characters and projects them on the flat surface of this device when the user places it on a book. Moreover, this device also helps those people who don’t know reading Braille characters through the embedded speaker. The device can scan the text and convert it into voice which is played via the speaker. The handy device is designed in a simple way and is very much convenient to use.

Designer : David Lee, Yuna Kim, and Hansub Lee

Voice Stick : Portable Text Scanning Device For The Visually Impaired

TheFuture — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 07:07:43 +0000

Technology is improving day by day and many of the innovations are being planned for various segments of people. Many of the innovations are also invented for people with various ailments. Like the new Voice Stick, a text scanning device for the visually impaired. As the name suggests, the stick when scanned in the printed letters, the OCR function recognizes the text and converts the information into voice. The voice is then read back and thus helping the visually challenged. It is a quite innovative and practical product. So whatever be the matter, like letters, E-mails etc, it works out to be a perfect solution and companion for the visually challenged.

Braille is on of the most important ways that visually impaired individuals acquire their information. The problem is that it is hard to find braille books due to the high costs involved to published them compared to common books.

Voice Stick is a portable text scanning device for the visually impaired. When it scans printed letters, the OCR (Optical Character Recognition) function recognizes the texts and converts the written information into a voice. The portable stick, Voice Stick, can be used to convert any words or letters found in our daily life, such as in books, newspapers, contracts, mail, etc., into voice information.

Designer : Sungwoo Park

e-Sullivan, Portable Communicator for Deaf-Blind People

TheFuture — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 07:30:52 +0000

e-Sullivan will help deaf-blind people to communicate by converting all types of printed materials into Braille. e-Sullivan is a handheld portable communicator for hearing and vision impaired, not only it can convert into Braille, but also provide assistance with such computer-related tasks, such as instant messaging and web browsing.

This device is very slim, you can carry it anywhere, protected by a sturdy outer shell composed of a rubber and plastic resin, no worries when you accidentally drop it. Hearing and vision impaired people can get help from e-Sullivan for reading store product information and prices without any assistance. Its simple surfaces and minimal number of buttons emphasize tactile interaction for straightforward usability. The middle, ring and little fingers operate Braille input buttons, and the thumbs are used for the scrolling wheel and the mode button. Index fingers operate the scanning button. Taeho Wang, the genius designer, has created e-Sullivan concept with hope to be able to lower the wall between deaf-blind people and the world.

Designer : Taeho Wang and Seungho Chung

Siafu PC Design with Full Spread Braill Layouts

TheFuture — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 02:41:15 +0000

One of Next-Gen PC Design finalists is Siafu PC Design. The idea behind Siafu was to give people with vision loss an intuitive computer experience. It provides a digitally tactile interface that completely revolutionizes the way that blind people interact with a computer. Siafu lays flat like a tablet and allows the user to fully interact with it by way of touch. The surface of Siafu utilizes a conceptual material called magneclay. This material has the ability to morph upward into any shape. This means that Siafu can generate infinitely refreshable braille and then display it in a book format instead of just one line at a time like current braille displays. Siafu also has the ability to display images as a 3-dimensional relief, allowing blind computer users to experience digital images, and graphic layouts for the first time.

This product is to be used by people who have experienced a loss of sight. Siafu allows users to read text by generating full page braille displays.

The onscreen relief feature also allows users to explore the internet and navigate through websites by physically touching, clicking, and dragging the graphic elements, links, and arrows of the web page. Siafu is also capable of converting all onscreen text to braille relief, so that the user can read whatever is on the screen first hand.

Designer : Jonathan Lucas via NextGenDesign