Wow!!! What an article!!! If this really comes true, I will most surely be one of the most happiest campers in this world. I have always loved Braille. That was how I learned to read and write and spell. I can't live without it. Yep, Ia'm a true fanatic!!! ----- Original Message ----- From: "Denise C." <quest74@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <infoshare@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Friday, August 14, 2009 6:15 PMSubject: [infoshare] Fwd: [SeeingHearts] FYIBraille Displays Get New Life Through Artificial Muscle
>> 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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