This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will assess feasibility of adapting established BrainPort Vision Device technology to the task of reading braille thereby creating an entirely new kind of hands-free Braille display. BrainPort currently converts images acquired from a camera to low resolution, tactile impressions on the tongue. To date, it has been successfully used to inform blind users of details of their environment. Proposed research eliminates camera input but instead sends fabricated images of braille dot patterns directly to the tongue using newly developed companion system software. No other developers have ever applied BrainPort technology to Braille reading. Having to read Braille only with the fingers excludes certain individuals from reading braille such as blind people who have physical disabilities/diabetic neuropathy, deafblind people who cannot make signs as they read, and blind musicians who cannot perform music while reading it. Also, users of conventional Braille displays who read with their fingers must repeatedly move their hands back and forth from the PC keyboard to the display, slowing productivity. The BrainPort Braille solution develops companion system software that permits users to read braille by directly transmitting dot patterns of characters to subject?s tongue using patented BrainPort hardware.
The broader impact/commercial potential of this project includes: widening educational opportunities for blind and deafblind students; improving job performance for working professionals benefiting society through increased employment/job retention; Expanding product line of established, life-style business practicing social entrepreneurship since 1992. The research targets low-incidence population of blind, deafblind and physically disabled people. Technology unprecedented: no direct competition. Indirect competition: conventional braille displays, screen reading software. Early adopters will be working professionals, clients of rehabilitation agencies seeking employment, and educators of motivated blind, deafblind students previously unable to read due to physical disability. Individuals commonly use both conventional braille displays and synthetic speech from screen readers to read and use one or the other method depending on material to be read. A BrainPort Braille display will not be mutually exclusive but will increase options for such users. Dancing Dots will sell Hands-free Braille Display to world-wide market of tens of thousands of current and potential braille readers prevented from reading with their hands through established customer database, website, search engine optimization and international trade shows.
Project Outcomes or Findings Louis Braille, the ingenious French inventor, discovered an elegant and economical method for blind people to read and write. His system of reading information, comprised of raised dots, (the braille system or just braille), is today in use in virtually every country in the world. Blind people use braille to read text, arithmetic and even music. Having to read braille only with the fingers excludes certain individuals from reading braille such as blind people who have physical disabilities/diabetic neuropathy, deafblind people who cannot make signs as they read, and blind musicians who cannot perform music while reading it. Also, users of conventional braille displays who read with their fingers must repeatedly move their hands back and forth from the PC keyboard to the hardware display, slowing productivity. The experimental BrainPort® Braille solution under development includes companion system software that permits users to read braille by directly transmitting dot patterns of characters to subject’s tongue using patented BrainPort® hardware. Much more research needs to be completed before this technology will be practical benefit to members of the targeted population groups mentioned above. But researchers are encouraged by preliminary results that one day reading braille with the tongue instead of the fingers will be a viable option for those blind individuals. Additional Information The broader impact/commercial potential of this project includes: widening educational opportunities for blind and deafblind students; improving job performance for working professionals benefiting society through increased employment/job retention; expanding product line of established, life-style business practicing social entrepreneurship since 1992. Targets low-incidence population of blind, deafblind and physically disabled people.
