Tablets turned into Braille keyboard by US researchers
Published
12 October 2011
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Image caption,
Braille can seem outdated in a world where touchscreens are ubiquitous
A team of US researchers has devised a way for people with impaired vision to use the touchscreen of a tablet such as an iPad as a Braille keyboard.
It turns some previously fundamental thinking about how to make technology accessible to blind people on its head.
Instead of using a keyboard or mechanical writer, users type directly onto the flat glass.
The inventors used a novel design for the keyboard to overcome the lack of tactile features.
Smart keyboard
"Instead of having fingers that find the buttons, we built buttons that find the fingers," said Stanford’s Sohan Dharmaraja, one of the researchers on the project.
Image caption,
The software creates a smart keyboard for users
Users place eight fingers on the screen and the keyboard appears. Shaking the device activates a menu, and further interaction is achieved by regular touch gestures.
Mr Dharmaraja, alongside team-mates Adam Duran – an undergraduate from New Mexico University – and assistant professor Adrian Lew, came up with the [...]