ANAGRAPHS

Anaglyptic Refreshable Photo-Haptic Screen

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 Word cloud

Esplora la "nuvola delle parole (Word Cloud) per avere un'idea di massima del progetto.

 Obiettivo del progetto (Objective)

'The scientific and technological developments in the present research project will be to make possible the manufacture of an anaglyptic or tactile display that can be connected to a personal computer or used in stand-alone mode as a Braille e-book reader. The display may be read either by touch or indeed by sight, since the tactile dots will also be illuminated when active. This feature will be of use in educational settings. Such a product will provide for the reading of any kind of textual or graphic information with 100% reliability. The device will not only applicable to Braille readers, as it will also be adaptable as a graphic tactile display able to display updatable information for non-Braille users. This could be applied to mass transportation, municipal and mercantile contexts. The system will be a major contribution to the integration of blind and visually impaired individuals into a society of knowledge. Our proposed development aims to deliver a system which better meets the needs of blind and sight-impaired people by providing a device which operates by thermo-hydraulic micro-actuation. Each of the six thousand Braille dots will be activated by resistive heating which is distributed to each cell of the display by a novel Resistive heater system. The system will be under microprocessor control using specially developed software.'

Introduzione (Teaser)

A new device may soon give visually impaired people much greater opportunities to access information via computer or to read a book through a new standalone Braille e-reader.

Descrizione progetto (Article)

Society has not always provided equal opportunities to blind or visually impaired individuals, particularly in the information age where more can be done to facilitate access to knowledge.

An interface device that is anaglyptic and touch-sensitive (i.e.resembling a board full of individual pins) could give the visually impaired a major tool to access a computer or read information.

In conjunction, the use of photo-haptic technology that exploits the sense of touch and infrared lasers can also help produce innovative interface equipment for visually impaired people.With this in mind, the EU project 'Anaglyptic refreshable photo-haptic screen' (ANAGRAPHS) rose to the challenge.

It worked on developing an anaglyptic or tactile display that connects to a personal computer or that could stand alone as a Braille e-book reader.

The project team envisioned a device that could display Braille characters but also other visual data, opening users to a whole world of knowledge.

Building a prototype device required thermo-hydraulic micro-actuation where each Braille dot is activated by a heating system controlled by microprocessors.

The prototype employed simple waxes that change from solid to liquid to help create a powerful interface.

This also involved the development of sophisticated software and housing components.

In parallel to creating the prototype, the project team developed a cost model for the device.

It showed that the product could be very cost effective and prove competitive on the market.

It then tested the system in partnership with the University of York in the United Kingdom to assess the functionality, performance and market needs, exploring ways to drive costs further down.

Described as the Holy Grail for the visually impaired and blind Braille users, the device could revolutionise how blind people interact with information from the outside world.