Portable Text to Braille Reader Concept

If you’re a regular reader of my blog then you know I frequently mention how I have a friend and coworker who is blind and fluent in Braille. You also know how I’ve mentioned that very few people who are blind actually know Braille because of a variety of reasons. But even with advancing technology such as text to speech software, knowledge of Braille still has a useful place. Especially with paper documents where an electronic version might not be available. In which case this portable text to Braille reader concept by Jia Mengyin & Bao Haimo would come in handy.

Ink to Dot
The Blind Reader is an index card sized electronic device that can translate text into Braille on the device’s surface. The user simply places the device on top of the text on a page. Then tiny Braille dots push upwards to form characters. Since Braille is larger than most text, the Braille characters won’t matchup exactly with the text. But a page could be fully read.

Conclusion
Despite the low number of people who know Braille, the Braille Reader could be useful for those who are fluent. Even in an increasingly paperless world, physical documents are still in use. That’s when the Braille Reader would find its place.