There have been several instances over the years where Braille has been incorporated into the technology and gadgets to improve the experience of learning and making the lives of the visually impaired a lot easier. These efforts have been taken to implement affordable and technologically developed assistance without having to depend on other people for learning or guidance.
For instance, ‘Kindle’ is going to introduce Braille kindle which is a tactile device that lets one feel the written words and images with their fingers. The display will be like raised bumps which can be felt by touch. The pneumatic system creates certain bubbled surfaces to create such graphics or words. These researchers belong to the University of Michigan and aim to reduce the difficulties of millions of blind citizens.
Since the current Kindle is expensive, the researchers aimed to make a more pocket-friendly Kindle because this device is created for helping the disabled and should be affordable to them or else it might not be worth it.
BLITAB
BLITAB is another Braille device that is an award-winning visually impaired tablet which aims at achieving an inclusive future and universal literacy. Its motto is study, work, play, and connect. It can convert any text into Braille, minor dots emerge on the screen as tixels and then fall down when words change on the screen. A new experience is developed for Braille as well as non-Braille readers via the text-to-speech output, touch navigation, and Perkins-style keyboard application.
InsideONE is a Braille Tactile Tablet for Windows 10 with 32 celled refreshable display of Braille that is fully integrated and has superior quality. It unites print and Braille in a wonderfully unique way.
Amazon Fire Tablet
The Amazon Fire tablet Braille support might not be the perfect package yet, but it is certainly a very helpful device, especially for people who prefer reading devices. Amazon basically changed how it integrated Braille, and instead, it was incorporated directly into Fire Tablet’s ‘VoiceView’. Since then several updates have been made from the primarily released read-only tablet. The process of pairing the Braille display is firstly going to Accessibility> VoiceView > Braille > search for devices and then finally select the display from the given list.
Therefore, it is evident that efforts have been made constantly by researchers to develop new technologies for visually impaired people however the question still remains whether reading and writing tangibly can ever be replaced by digital means. Even though these gadgets are amazing, most of the visually impaired people might not be comfortable using them and will continue to prefer books or paper for the feel and smell of a page turning. While the younger generation might relate more to tablets, the older generation might prefer tangible Braille learning.
Learn more about the usefulness of braille to those with vision impairment and advantages & disadvantages of Braille technology right here.