Handhelds for the Blind? 16
A not-so Anonymous Reader asks: "Is there any possible way, a blind person can READ a handheld like a simputer. I know there are text-to-voice converters, but really you can't beat reading. If you disagree with this, think about having a Physics passage or a complex sentence read out to you. I am sure it would be much more difficult to comprehend it that way then to read it. There are braille readers available, but none have been designed to be fit into a handheld device, until now. Most of them are in fact rather large. I would like to know if there are any projects that right now aim at fulfilling this void. Similarly, is there a way a blind person can input stuff into a handheld using braille input. Are there braille enabled handhelds. Is there any way a blind person can use it effectively. Do handhelds support accessibility standards?"
"I am now working at making a mall-lightweight piezoelectric display that can be used to display braille information and also take in braille input. I plan on using a transparent display that would make it possible to use the handheld fully by both a disabled and a normal person. The problem is with the piezo's. though they are light they are very very fragile, and it seems nutty to use solenoids or servos in a handheld. Major priorities are right now in miniaturizing the thing and reducing the fragility of the entire assembly . Can anybody give us some info about how we go about doing this."
You should check your grammar before you post (Score:1)
it's THAN to read!
They already have these (Score:4, Interesting)
The one she used was called a "Braille'n'Speak" by Blaise (?). Dumb name, nifty device. It's apparantly been far outpaced by the compatition nowadays (well, it's been 15 years).
Basically, it's a standard braille keyboard (a chording keyboard invented decades ago) with seven keys, a speaker, headphone jack and a serial port, all in a small package. It allowed the user to interface it to a computer and use it for speech synthesis. This was the age of DOS (and BBSes, where she and most of the blind community were), so it was easy to tie into the BIOS and redirect text. You could take notes, and import and export text files.
All the users I saw who used it cranked up the speed of the speech until, to a non-user, it sounded like an unintelligable warble. This allowed the users (who were used to it), to whip though gobs of text as fast or faster than many people could read.
Now, if this was state of the art in the late 80s, I'd imagine that there are some significantly more advanced models. BTW - try IRC, as I've run into several VI users in various channels (VI as in visually impaired, not the editor). Heck, one of the serverops on Slashnet is legally blind.
BTW - if any blind people used text2b.com or text2b2.com (those aren't web sites, they are apps - remember when dot com meant an executable file?), I wrote those about that time... I released 'em as shareware and got a few hundred bucks, mostly from schools. Text to braille and text to grade 2 braille, pretty much for use as printer filters. I also had a semiworking MIDI to braille sheet music app. All written in Mix Power C.
--
Evan
Re:They already have these (Score:2, Funny)
Re:They already have these (Score:3, Informative)
No one would use such a thing... (Score:3, Insightful)
Well, maybe a few could, but not many.
I was completely stunned by how expensive even a measly 40 character Braille display unit for a home computer costs. They typically start at $4,000 (USD)! That's for 40 characters in a straight line! The 80 character ones cost at least $10,000 (USD)! Can't believe it? Here's a good link to various Braille display manufacturers [utoronto.ca].
These piezo-electric devices also have an apparently well-founded reputation for needing frequent servicing, and just in general not being durable.
So
It's a nice idea, but unless you've got some super new technology to bring the price way down and the reliability way up, I'm not sure how well this would work.
For the record, I really wish these things were cheaper! It occurred to me a few weeks ago that Braille would solve a lot of my vision issues. I would love to be able to sit at my computer and keep my eyes closed
Re:No one would use such a thing... (Score:2)
He doesn't have to make a profit on it! I heard the other day that the dot com revolution was starting all over again. :-)
My eyes feel like crap after staring at a computer screen for 14 hours a day.
If you've looked into a braille solution, I'm sure you've looked into other ideas too, but for the benefit of the slashdot audience, I would like to remind everyone to look out their window or focus on the most distant object in the office they can see *every* 15 minutes or so.
Re:No one would use such a thing... (Score:1)
Thanks for trying though.
Re:No one would use such a thing... (Score:1)
A Braille Display as it is known in the industry is actually a relitively simple device both communication wise and physically. The hardware are usually very fast acting strong servos that raise and lower nylon pins. Most displays are driven off the serial port of a PC, but some now are comming USB equipt since the serial port is fading away. The hard part of this whole equasion is the Screen Reader "the interpreter, so to say". It takes the information off the screen and translates it into a understandable form. The best one for Windows is JAWS for Windows http://www.freedomscientific.com. The only one I currently know of for Unix and Linux is BrailleTTY which works with most serial displays.
Blind computer users, use this type of technology in many fields. My boss uses her PowerBraille 40 and 65, a Baum Vario 40 (know as the RBT 40 here in the US) to handle most aspects of running our company. She does everything form the Accounting to writing proposials with the device. I have mnay clients that works for Banks and the Programming Industry where accuracy is essential who could not do their jobs as effeciently if they did not use a Braille Display.
The prices are just economics. The precentage of blind people to regular computer users are low. Thus a manufacture can not sell as many of the devices, so it costs more to make those devices.
Most of the people in the Blind Commnity wonder wny anyone would spend $3000 on a Multimedia Projector or $30,000 on a SUV. Those prices are outradgus but people will pay that and not think about it. So it is with the blind paying $5000 for a braille display. If they need it they will get it.
voice based PDA (Score:1)
Just a smidge of innovation, and a soldering iron (Score:3, Informative)
Similarly, is there a way a blind person can input stuff into a handheld using braille input.
Um, who uses "Braille input"? Most blind people type on regular keyboards that have raised Braille characters on the faces of the keys...all you need to do is get a PDA keyboard from Targus, and put Braille letter stickers [lingua-uk.com] on the keys. Easy peasy.
Sharp Zaurus (Score:1)
accessible. I think the Sharp Zaurus might be the answer. It has a
keyboard, sound, and a processor capable of speech synthesis. I intend
to get one and write software for it which speaks. I will of course
make the software available to anyone else. If anyone is interested,
contact rob _@_ mur.org.uk.
Pulsedata BrailleNote (Score:1)
Braille... (Score:2)
My step-mother, who is now in her fifties, has been blind since she was 9. She was given full classes in braille and has used it most of her life. However, she does not prefer it. I've seen her read braille; its painfully slow. She can usually do better with her text-to-speech program than with braille. I don't know many blind people that can read braille at anything like elementary reading speeds. Just my $.02, but it's intrinsically faster to scan a line of text with your eye (that doesn't have to move; just pivot) than to run your fingers over it and decode it one character at a time. My point? It's a mistake to think of braille as writing for the blind; its an alternative for those situations where a blind person has to read or convey information in a permanent, written manner, but don't fool yourself into thinking that it's a drop-in replacement.
As far as writing, I have never met a blind person that writes in braille. I have seen typewriters whose keys are both printed and in braille, and the typewriter embosses the paper in braille instead of printing in ink, but that's it. Most blind people I've met who are lucky enough to have family that will help them, actually write in english and have their SO or other family member read their writing for them.
Voice interface would be better (Score:2)
It might be wise to use a chorded keyboard for data entry if you want something in the meantime. Voice synthesis is EASY to do, though difficult to do well; The Amiga did it on a 7.something megahertz 68000, and any modern handheld (even palm's least) has more processing power than that. Way more. PocketPCs have ridiculously more. So if you use voice for basic navigation ("launch address book") and the chorded keyboard for data input, you could use a current palm device with a minimal handspring module to provide the keyboard and audio hardware.
And let me just say that this is an excellent application for bluetooth, as well; You can have the chorded keyboard and the audio device separated from the unit, and the only thing you'd need on your handheld would be a bluetooth module. The audio device can be a headset on one ear, either with a boom mic or with a in-ear bone conduction mic, and the handheld keyboard, well, that doesn't take much imagination. Just put some cute little charging sockets on them which cannot be plugged in incorrectly, and hook everything up to a charger at the end of the day.