Fingers Do the Reading
Computers are just as important to people who are blind as they are to the rest of us. But current systems of translating screen displays into the raised dot letters of the Braille alphabet are pretty clumsy: They require nearly 500 moving parts called actuators to display entire pages at a time. Now comes a device, invented by John Roberts and colleagues at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in Gaithersburg, Md., that uses as few as three moving parts.
A stream of Braille letters formed along the edge of a rotating wheel is the basis for the new display. Each turn of the wheel presents a new line of Braille text. Fingers held just above the rotating wheel read the dots as they go by. A commercial Braille wheel using this design could be about the size of a portable CD player and much cheaper than current displays. Software has been written for the wheel to display scrolling text from electronic books.
Deep Dive
Uncategorized
Embracing CX in the metaverse
More than just meeting customers where they are, the metaverse offers opportunities to transform customer experience.
Identity protection is key to metaverse innovation
As immersive experiences in the metaverse become more sophisticated, so does the threat landscape.
The modern enterprise imaging and data value chain
For both patients and providers, intelligent, interoperable, and open workflow solutions will make all the difference.
Scientists have created synthetic mouse embryos with developed brains
The stem-cell-derived embryos could shed new light on the earliest stages of human pregnancy.
Stay connected
Get the latest updates from
MIT Technology Review
Discover special offers, top stories, upcoming events, and more.