With the innumerable technological advances marking each new day, it seems like there is something for everyone. But up until recently, there is a very important niche market that has been overlooked: the blind. Smartphones and touchscreens, iPads and Kindles, all are geared towards a public that is not visually impaired. Researchers think this is unfair, and are working toward new ideas to help remedy this deficit.
One such example is student Adam Duran at New Mexico University. Along with two of his professors, he designed a touchscreen Braille writer that serves as a multi-purpose keyboard. Winner of the 2011 Android Application, it’s a revolutionary idea that surpasses even its’ inventor’s original expectations. Considering the limitations currently curtailing blind people, the challenge of taking a popular feature like touchscreens and adapting it has been considerable.
The idea itself is to create a keyboard that is not only functioning, but that can also be re-adjusted if the customer gets disoriented during use. With eight keys that align under the reader’s fingers, and a customized framework that adapts to things like finger size and spacing, this is an effective and user-sensitive product. Duran proved the merit of his invention when he successfully tested it blindfolded, and completed the mission set forth by he Army High-Performance Computing Research Center. It’s a 2-month program at Stanford, challenging its participants to creatively problem-solve.
Duran and his mentors Adrian Lew, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering, and Sohan Dharmaraja, a Stanford Ph.D. candidate studying computational mathematics should be very proud of their creation. Not only is it making the technological community more inclusive, but its also remarkably cost-efficient. With a price tag that will be decidedly less than most of its competitors, their brainchild is poised to dominate a very specified market. I researched other, similar devices that cover a range of functions, mostly Braille-related or voice I discovered that most of them start at $400.00, and the prices only go up from there. The SpeakEasy Media System, a computer for the blind, goes for 495-1995 dollars.
Another example is nearing the final stages of production in India. It’s called the refreshable Braille display, which gives the visually impaired instant access to the online world. It “functions of a personal digital assistant, where they can store and retrieve information, have their own digital libraries, all without the use of embossed paper.” Unlike the touchscreen Braille writer, this is still in experimental stages and won’t be available for at least a year.
These inventions could not come at a better time. For a considerable period, group that advocate equal rights for the blind have lamented the many barriers keeping people who are visually impaired from leading a normal life. Actually, it would be more accurate to say leading a life that is active socially, with employment opportunities. The National Federation of the Blind shows that there are over 1.3 million blind people in this country, and out of those only 30 percent are employed. Hopefully, more and more people like Duran get inspired to start leveling the playing field.
Edited by
Stefanie Mosca
