The digital revolution has placed a wealth of electronic information literally at the touch of a button to the average individual. Unfortunately, blind people have been left behind by the revolution due to the lack of efficient, low-cost display systems. Existing commercial Braille Displays utilize piezoelectric actuators to deploy mechanical pins, which form Braille text. In order to reduce the cost of Braille Displays, a fresh approach is necessary. Orbital Research has developed a pneumatically actuated Braille Display concept that utilizes low-cost, small, and efficient MEMS microvalves. The microvalves are used to control air pressure delivered to each Braille dot to control deployment. During the Phase I program, Orbital Research successfully demonstrated two separate methods for producing a robust refreshable Braille Display surface and determined the feasibility of integrating cursor routing directly into the Braille surface itself, thereby enhancing the utility of the display while limiting cost increase. For the Phase II, Orbital Research will build on the foundation laid by the Phase I to develop a modular, pneumatic Braille surface that will enable multiple Braille modules and surfaces to be linked together to form any arbitrarily sized Braille Display. These Braille modules will integrate cursor routing techniques to enable the reader to rapidly move the cursor to any specific location they are reading.
