Braille writer app benefits blind tablet users

Tablet computers may soon become a helpful productivity tool for blind and visually impaired people, with a new Braille writer app. Undergraduate Adam Duran developed the app during a two-month summer course on high-performance computing at Stanford University. "Originally, our assignment was to create a character-recognition application that would use the camera on a mobile device – a phone or tablet – to transform pages of Braille into readable text. It was a cool challenge, but not exactly where we ended up," said Duran, who has a blind uncle. Duran, now in his senior year at New Mexico State University, went to Stanford last June at the suggestion of one of his professors. His mentors were Adrian Lew, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering, and Sohan Dharmaraja, a doctoral candidate at Stanford studying computational mathematics. With the tablet app, the user simply touches eight fingertips to the glass, and the keys orient themselves to the fingers. "No standard Braille writer can do this," said Professor Charbel Farhat, the chair of the Aeronautics and Astronautics Department and executive director of the summer program. "This is a real step forward for the blind." Braille basics Braille is a simple code with each character made up of variations of six dots arranged in a 2-by-3 matrix. The blind read by feeling the bumps with their fingertips. While a Braille character reader would be helpful to the blind, Lew and Dharmaraja found problems with logistics. Duran particularly cited problems on how a blind person can orient a printed page so that the computer knows which side is up. Other problems included ensuring proper lighting of the paper, even as the technology would be limited in day-to-day application. After mindstorming, they determined the killer app would be a Braille writer and not a reader. "Imagine being blind in a classroom, how would you take notes? What if you were on the street and needed to copy down a phone number? These are real challenges the blind grapple with every day," said Lew. Low-cost advantage While there are devices that help the blind write Braille and send email, these are expensive specialized laptops that cost $6,000 up. Yet, Duran noted a standard tablet computer "has more capability at a tenth the price." "So, we put two and two together. We developed a tablet Braille writer," said Dharmaraja, "A touchscreen for people who can't see." Duplicating braille on a tablet The team recreated a Braille writer on a tablet not by creating virtual keys that the fingertips must find - but made keys that find the fingertips. A modern Braille writer looks like a laptop with no monitor and an eight-key keyboard – six to create the character, plus a carriage return and a delete key. With the tablet app, the user simply touches eight fingertips to the glass, and the keys orient themselves to the fingers. If the user becomes disoriented, a reset can be done by lifting all eight fingers off the glass and putting them down again. "Elegant, no? The solution is so simple, so beautiful. It was fun to see," Lew said. Customizable to users Another advantage of touchscreens is that they are customizable, "They can accommodate users whose fingers are small or large, those who type with fingers close together or far apart, even to allow a user to type on a tablet hanging around the neck with hands opposed as if playing a clarinet," Dharmaraja said. Live demonstration Duran demonstrated the app by blindfolding himself and typing out an email address and a simple subject line, then typing the Burgers Equation, and followed with the chemical equation for photosynthesis. For Duran, who has an uncle who is blind, the greatest joy was in seeing a blind person using his creation for the first time. "That was so awesome," he said. "I can't describe the feeling. It was the best." Shaking up market Tech site CNET said an app like this "could greatly shake up the ultra-expensive Braille input device market." "If inexpensive software allowing the visually impaired to write on an iPad or an Android tablet matures, it could blow away devices that cost thousands of dollars more," it said. CNET noted an upcoming Android-based Braille display device, for example, is projected to cost "under $4,000." On the other hand, Apple's iOS offers much greater accessibility options than Android. Apple's mobile OS (and OS X) natively offer VoiceOver, a highly advanced screen reader that works with any app, and support double-tap, drag, and flick gestures. iOS4 also supports 30 Bluetooth Braille displays in more than 25 languages. — TJD, GMA News