A Touching Sight
Researchers have developed two technologies which
could help the visually impaired see electronic
images just like reading with braille...
Computer World
Researchers Oliver Slattery (left) and John Roberts
(right) use the tactile graphic display device to
depict the NIST logo. Their new systems translate
electronic images into braille-like patterns, enabling
the visually impaired to see the images
Art and images enrich our lives, be it to illustrate
an example or to appease our aesthetic side. But the
lives of the visually impaired are devoid of this
aspect. Seeking to help those with optic defects,
computer scientists and engineers in the US have
developed technologies that help the blind get a
feel
of the image.
Researchers John Roberts and Oliver Slattery of the
National Institute of Standards and Technologys
(NIST) Information Technology Laboratory have created
two tactile graphic displays that bring electronic
images to the blind and visually impaired in the same
way that braille makes words readable.
The inspiration for both tactile graphic displays came
from a bed of nails toy.
Watching the pins in the toy depress under fingers
and then return to their original state got us
thinking about how the principle could be applied to
electronic signals, said researcher John Roberts.
A HELPING HAND
The first graphic display technology, introduced as a
prototype in 2002, conveys scanned illustrations, map
outlines or other graphical images to the fingertips,
and can automatically translate images displayed on
Web pages or in electronic books.
It uses refreshable tactile graphic display
technology, allowing a person to feel a succession of
images on a reusable surface, said the researchers.
The machine uses about 3,600 small pins known as
actuator points that can be raised in any pattern.
They can then be locked into place to hold the
pattern for reading by placing ones hand on it,
similar to the braille system.
The actuator points then can be withdrawn and reset in
a new pattern, allowing the tactile reading to
continue through a variety of images.
Each image is sent electronically to the device, which
uses software to determine how to create a tactile
display that matches the image.
AT YOUR FINGERTIPS
An array of about 100 small, very closely spaced
actuator points set against a users fingertip is the
key to the second tactile graphic display technology.
This device gives the user more direct control, the
researchers said.
To view a computer graphic with this technology, a
blind or visually impaired person moves ones
device-tipped finger across a surface like a computer
mouse to scan an image into the systems memory.
The computer sends a signal to the display device and
moves the actuators against the skin to translate
the pattern, replicating the sensation of the
finger moving over it.
US-based ELIA Life Technology Inc recently licensed
for commercialisation both the tactile graphic display
device and fingertip graphic reader developed
by NIST researchers. However, the company released no
details on when the product would be available.
In the future, the researchers say the technology
could possibly be used to make fingertip-based tactile
graphics ractical for virtual reality systems,
or to give a detailed sense of touch to robotic
control and space suit gloves.
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