This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will draw on the research team's experience with electronic Braille Displays to extend their benefits to Tactile Graphic Displays seeking to considerably increase their portability and decrease their cost. C.A.Technology has performed extensive experiments on Shape Memory actuators and intends to test the feasibility of low profile Tactile Arrays based on this technology. In the first part of the research program, the feasibility of a single dot tactile module as described in our US Patent Application will be tested. In the second part, the feasibility of an Array comprising a plurality of single dot modules plugged into a base motherboard will be tested.
These Tactile Arrays could be easily implemented into a wide range of electronic data acquisition and processing devices, particularly portable devices: notebook or pocket computers, digital cameras, cell phones. By removing the cost and size factors which have limited the market penetration of current electronic Tactile Displays, this new technology will be accessible to many more blind and deaf-blind individuals and significantly improve their employment opportunities.
