Hi Denise,Great article! I loved my old Braille display and I'm sad I can't hook it up to my Mac.
On Aug 14, 2009, at 6:15 PM, Denise C. wrote:
>> Braille Displays Get New Life With Artificial Muscles >> >> Research with tiny artificial muscles may yield a full-page active >> Braille >> system that can refresh >> automatically and come to life right beneath your fingertips. >>>> Yosi-Bar Cohen, a senior researcher at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory>> in >> Pasadena, Calif, >> was inspired during a business trip to Washington, D.C., where a >> convention >> for people with >> visual impairments was taking place. >>>> Bar-Cohen came up with an idea to create a "living Braille," a digital,>> refreshable Braille device>> using electroactive polymers, also known as artificial muscles. He wrote>> up >> a technology report >> and included information in a related book that he published. His >> writings >> inspired other>> scientists and engineers to create active displays using this technology,>> and prototypes are now >> under development around the world. >>>> "I hope that sometime in the future we will have Braille on an iPhone.>> It >> will be portable and>> able to project a picture of a neighborhood popping up in front of you in>> the form of raised dots,">> said Bar-Cohen. "A digital Braille operated by artificial muscles could>> provide for rapid>> information exchange, such as e-mail, text messaging and access to the>> web >> and other electronic >> databases or archives." >>>> According to the World Health Organization, about 314 million people are>> visually impaired >> worldwide; 45 million of them are blind. >>>> Recently, Bar-Cohen was contacted by the Center for Braille Innovation of>> the Boston-based >> National Braille Press to reach out to the Electroactive Polymer >> community >> and take advantage>> of his role in this field. The National Braille Press is a non- profit>> Braille printing and publishing>> house that promotes the literacy of blind children through Braille.>> >> Current Braille Display Technologies >>>> The challenge for creating an active Braille display is in packing many>> small dots into a tiny >> volume. >>>> Unlike hardcopy Braille, a refreshable display requires the raising and>> lowering of a large number >> of densely packed dots that allow a person to quickly read them. >> Currently, >> commercial active>> Braille devices are limited to a single line of characters. A full page>> of >> Braille typically has 25>> lines of up to 40 characters per line. Characters are represented by six>> or >> eight dots per cell,>> arranged in two columns. To produce a page of refreshable Braille using>> electroactive polymers>> requires individually activating and controlling thousands of raiseable>> dots. >> >> Developing New Braille Technologies >>>> Some of the leading-edge work in Braille technology was developed at SRI>> in >> Menlo Park, Calif.>> Richard Heydt, a senior research engineer there who was involved in>> developing a prototype>> says, "The electroactive polymer technology seems to be a natural fit for>> Braille and tactile >> display applications." >>>> The Braille display developed at SRI is based on activating a type of>> polymer consisting of a thin>> sheet of acrylic that deforms in response to voltage applied across the>> film. The individual Braille>> dots are defined by a pattern on this film, and each dot is independently>> activated to produce the >> dot combinations for Braille letters and numbers. >>>> In currently available active refreshable Braille displays, each dot is a>> pin driven by a small motor>> or electromagnetic coil. In contrast, in the SRI display the actuators>> are >> defined regions on a>> single sheet of film. Thus, while each dot is raised or lowered by its>> own >> applied voltage, there>> are no motors, bulky actuators, or similar components. Since the system>> has >> far fewer discrete>> components for a Braille dot array, it would be potentially much lower in>> cost. >>>> "The contributions of the developers of electroactive materials to making>> a >> low-cost, active>> Braille display would significantly improve the life of many people with>> visual impairments,>> while advancing the field to benefit other applications" said Bar-Cohen.>> >> Looking for the 'Holy Braille' >>>> The Boston-based National Braille Press has recently established a Center>> for Braille Innovation.>> They're looking for the "Holy Braille," a full-page electronic Braille>> display, at a low cost. >>>> "We feel that the exciting field of electroactive polymer technology has>> matured to the point>> where it can provide real solutions for Braille displays. We welcome and>> encourage anyone who>> wants to take part in Braille innovation," said Noel H. Runyan, National>> Braille Press, Center for >> Braille Innovation >> >> In the spring of 2010, Bar-Cohen is including a special session on >> tactile >> displays at an SPIE>> conference. SPIE is the international society for optics and photonics.>> Tactile displays will be>> presented and possibly demonstrated at the conference. He hopes these>> baby >> steps may someday>> lead to a full-page Braille system that will allow people to feel and>> "see" >> the universe beneath >> their fingers. >>>> JPL is managed for NASA by the California Institute of Technology in>> Pasadena. >> ------------------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SeeingHearts/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SeeingHearts/join (Yahoo! 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