Braille Technology: What’s New and Emerging?
By Steven Kelley, CRC, CVRT Unless you’ve grown up using braille, you may not realize that braille technology has been in the electronic world for many years. Braille is far more than dots on paper! Many computer or tablet users who have an acquired vision loss may not even be aware of the value or use of braille in the technology we use every day—computers, tablets, smartphones, and e-readers, such as the Kindle and Kindle Fire. Many of these devices can connect to braille displays, so that text on the screen can be read as tactile characters on a display, read by touch. Historically, these displays have been pricey and not often found in many workplaces, libraries, or homes, so it is not at all surprising if you have never seen an electronic braille display. This may be changing very quickly, however! In vision rehabilitation, braille can be a tricky subject to broach, particularly with a recently acquired vision loss, or with a person who has low vision. It is not uncommon for someone with a recent vision loss to be unwilling or reluctant to try using braille for reading or even basic labeling. Given the high cost of some current braille technology, or the large and cumbersome size of some embossed-paper braille magazines or books, it’s not difficult to see why this can often be a challenging discussion to have with someone new to braille. What’s really needed is an affordable, portable device that lures readers into the braille world … a sexy, braille Kindle-type device that says, “Touch me!” the moment it’s picked up!
The Braille Alphabet

the letter “A”

Producing Braille

Generation brailler
Braille Displays
In the tech world, the first braille displays appeared in the mid-1970s, and the first commercially produced braille display, the VersaBraille, was released in 1982. Five years later, the Braille ‘n Speak was released as the first portable notetaker that used a Perkins-style keyboard for inputting data, instead of a QWERTY keyboard. In other words, electronic braille notetakers are nothing new. They’ve been commercially available for longer than most of us have had access to a personal computer at home!Electronic Braille Displays
Electronic refreshable braille displays create the dots in braille cells by raising and lowering plastic or metal pins to correspond to the dots in the letters or numbers being represented. Little has changed in this technology, almost since the technology first appeared, and this design contributes to the cost. Typically, braille displays offer anywhere from 10-80 cells in a linear display, and the cost goes up dramatically as the number of cells increases. Although the cost of personal computers has declined dramatically over the years, the decline in cost for a device with an electronic braille display has not. As manufacturers, like Humanware, Freedom Scientific, and HIMS are quick to point out, the braille market is a small, specialized, low-incidence market. As a result, until recently, even a small braille display that will fit in a pocket and connect by Bluetooth to a computer, tablet, or smartphone costs nearly $1,000, and a notetaker with a small braille display that includes the other features you might expect in a tablet, like a word processor, WiFi, or email, can start at nearly $3,000! Electronic braille has been disproportionately expensive from the outset, and the Holy Grail of braille displays has been reducing the cost of the technology behind the display without reducing the durability of the display or the feel of the dots.What’s Changing? Some Recent Projects
The Orbit Reader 20
The Orbit Reader 20 (pictured at left) will become available commercially in early 2017, from the American Printing House for the Blind (APH), at a yet-to-be-determined price in the range of $500. This dramatic reduction in cost for a 20-cell braille display is due in large part to The Transforming Braille Group, an international consortium of groups and agencies whose mission was to locate a manufacturer willing to design and produce a braille display reader for commercial resale, under $500.