Blind and Visually Impaired Community
↑
3
↓
idea for blind people (self.Blind)
submitted 9y ago by jmdugan
would blind people like to have a device that sits next to a computer and gives them a tactile version of images?
I'm thinking something like a tablet, that the person could select an image on their computer, and the tablet would then create a raised 3rd dimension version that a person could run their hand over to get a sense of what was displayed in the image.
Perhaps with a set of presents that make different aspects of the image different heights - for example, lightness/darkness, or some combination of saturation and hue - whatever it would take to give a blind person the ability to understand what's in an image.
I'm thinking something like a tablet, that the person could select an image on their computer, and the tablet would then create a raised 3rd dimension version that a person could run their hand over to get a sense of what was displayed in the image.
Perhaps with a set of presents that make different aspects of the image different heights - for example, lightness/darkness, or some combination of saturation and hue - whatever it would take to give a blind person the ability to understand what's in an image.
dmazzoni 3 points
The cheapest device I'm aware of that does this is an embosser - literally a printer that can translate gray levels into heights that it pushes up the paper. That's what's used to print braille, but most embossers can print any image.
Refreshable braille display exist - those are electronic devices that can dynamically move pins up and down to show a braille pattern. You could show a simple picture with that, I guess. They're pretty expensive, because they're so specialized, and they only display one line of text.
I've seen experimental electronic devices that could dynamically make a 2-D tactile image, but none that are sold to the general public. Did you have an idea of specific technology?
Usually the best solution is when you can adapt a general-purpose device so that a blind person can use it, rather than build a device specifically for blind people - unless that's impossible, of course. The problem with special-purpose devices is that manufacturing becomes very expensive without economies of scale (there aren't enough blind people to buy one to make the costs go down).
Refreshable braille display exist - those are electronic devices that can dynamically move pins up and down to show a braille pattern. You could show a simple picture with that, I guess. They're pretty expensive, because they're so specialized, and they only display one line of text.
I've seen experimental electronic devices that could dynamically make a 2-D tactile image, but none that are sold to the general public. Did you have an idea of specific technology?
Usually the best solution is when you can adapt a general-purpose device so that a blind person can use it, rather than build a device specifically for blind people - unless that's impossible, of course. The problem with special-purpose devices is that manufacturing becomes very expensive without economies of scale (there aren't enough blind people to buy one to make the costs go down).
ArtisticProgrammer 1 points
That's an excellent idea. I've been wondering a lot about this myself, and I like your idea.
This nonprofit website is run by volunteers.
Please contribute if you can. Thank you!
Our mission is to provide everyone with access to large-
scale community websites for the good of humanity.
Without ads, without tracking, without greed.
scale community websites for the good of humanity.
Without ads, without tracking, without greed.
©2023 HumbleCat Inc • HumbleCat is a 501(c)3 nonprofit based in Michigan, USA.