Affordable Wheel Based Refreshable Braille Display
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Affordable Wheel Based Refreshable Braille Display
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Re: Affordable Wheel Based Refreshable Braille Display
#2As someone blind, my two pens are that noise, power consumption, and fragility are things that could be compromised to a large degree. If I've had a braille display at school and uni, it would've helped with many of my math issues. If it works and it is cheap, it would be a big step forward for many people. Power is not that expensive compared to the current displays, noise could be mitegated or just powered through, and important stuff could be kept in good order. Money are harder to spend.
Screen readers are perfect for plain text and gui navigation, but a multi dimensional object like an equation are easier to understand if you have your hands on it.
Re: Affordable Wheel Based Refreshable Braille Display
#3Braille was designed for paper. Maybe there's an interface that is easier to actuate using motors if you don't absolutely require it to be Braille.
Re: Affordable Wheel Based Refreshable Braille Display
#4why couldn’t it be done on an off-the-shelf 28-byj-48 stepper?
The reason is probably explained somewhere in the article, I just can’t find where
Re: Affordable Wheel Based Refreshable Braille Display
#5Fantastic effort, but oddly and almost shockingly archaic. This is seriously the way the problem is being solved? Why isn’t it microelectronics or MEMS? If we can print 3μm OLED pixels surely there’s a way to lift a discrete 1.6mm dot, especially with that huge 2.5mm spacing. Even adjacent dots ought to be no big deal. Maybe a haptic kludge or grid of air pressure nozzles?
I have a personal theory of invention that states: “If you thought of it, someone else thought of it.” I’ll go have a look…
OK, an hour later, what about this Dot Pad? “Dot actuator” is micro mechanical? Looks like almost a product. Dig the groovy scroll-in-place presentation, wtf.
Re: Affordable Wheel Based Refreshable Braille Display
#6The article is rather long and I didn’t manage to read it all. But why wouldn’t this be done like a lock, where the shape of the key determines how far (or in this case which) pins are pushed? That way, you never have to touch the rotating wheel directly.
The key then would just be an internal wheel that rotates and pushes out the right pins. If it works for a lock, surely it would work for something with much less resistance?
Edit: nvm, they discussed this and dismissed it, although I don’t fully agree with the reason.
Re: Affordable Wheel Based Refreshable Braille Display
#7I love how "science fair" this writeup is.
Personally, I would have looked at more options before going for the (rather large) motorized wheel route. Two that come to mind are reusing the ball-type powered typewriters from the 80s/90s since the balls had embossed letters and high-precision positioning already. A second is microfluidic displays, which cellphone makers toyed with for on-screen keyboard tactile feedback back in the early 2010s. And indeed a quick search shows that a University of Michigan team used exactly that for a braille display 8 years ago [1] and it's spinning out into a company now. The company that was working on this for "pop-up" touchscreens 10 years ago was Tactus [2]. On the electromechanical side, it looks like there's an open source movement already with some interesting results so far [3].
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fIg4rI4cDw
Re: Affordable Wheel Based Refreshable Braille Display
#8Beautiful example of the innovation narrative that keeps CTOs of the largest companies awake at night. A (very) intelligent outsider, with pen and paper, computer, a 3D printer who lives where Aliexpress delivers. Meanders and bounces between theory, practice and sleep deprivation can come up with a disruptive PoC in a matter of weeks [0].
I would really like this to work, and/or that it inspires others to make these braille readers affordable.
[0]: the inspiration for this project started 48 days ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39159476
Re: Affordable Wheel Based Refreshable Braille Display
#9Dumb question. Could one instead go with some sort of inflatable system? Thin layer of plastic with some controllable channels. Inflate the individual dots? There was an early smartphone that had a system like this for tactile feedback, I don’t know if it ever went into production.
Re: Affordable Wheel Based Refreshable Braille Display
#10Fantastic effort, but oddly and almost shockingly archaic. This is seriously the way the problem is being solved? Why isn’t it microelectronics or MEMS? If we can print 3μm OLED pixels surely there’s a way to lift a discrete 1.6mm dot, especially with that huge 2.5mm spacing. Even adjacent dots ought to be no big deal. Maybe a haptic kludge or grid of air pressure nozzles? I have a personal theory of invention that s…
Only £12k! https://www.visionaid.co.uk/dot-pad