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Smartphone For the Blind Invented In India

Posted by samzenpus on from the let-your-fingers-do-the-talking dept.

hypnosec writes "The world's first smartphone for the blind that features a display capable of converting text and pictures into Braille and raised patterns has been invented in India. Based on Shape Memory Technology – a concept whereby metals expand and contract to retain their original shape – the phone's screen has a grid of pins. These pins move up and down based on the text or display to be represented."

23 of 46 comments (clear)

  1. Useful even for the non-blind by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Imagine the battery life on a device that never had to light up a display all the time.

    1. Re:Useful even for the non-blind by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      1) the display is not lit all the time on a normal smartphone
      2) most "idle" power draw is from the radio emitter/receiver, keeping touch with the base station
      3) shape memory alloys draw tons of current and get burning hot...

    2. Re:Useful even for the non-blind by ArcadeMan · · Score: 2

      You mean like electronic ink?

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    3. Re:Useful even for the non-blind by stephanruby · · Score: 2

      Imagine the battery life on a device that never had to light up a display all the time.

      Yes, imagine the battery life on a device that is using mechanical parts for display purposes. What used to be 6 hours battery life may now mean a 30 minutes battery life. Imagine all blind people fighting each other for the last electrical outlets at malls, conferences, and coffee shops.

      It will be very interesting to say the least.

  2. But is it practical? by segin · · Score: 1

    If it's a grid of pens, a lot of gestures based on swiping seem slightly risky because it could end up taking off a chunk of skin under a very rare corner case.

    1. Re:But is it practical? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      You're just holding it wrong.

    2. Re:But is it practical? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

      If it's a grid of pens, a lot of gestures based on swiping seem slightly risky because it could end up taking off a chunk of skin under a very rare corner case.

      1) Braille is read by running your fingers over the bumps. If there was a chance of slicing off skin from swiping over these pins, then it fails at the basic intended purpose of displaying braille in the first place.

      2) A lot of the gestures you're thinking of only make sense for the visual display on the phone. swiping a on/off switch to on only makes sense if you can make the visual connection to a switch metaphor from the graphics. This inherently doesn't work if you're blind since the metaphor is completely visual (and wouldn't carry over to a tactile experience well). Not to mention the OS would have to distinguish between a gesture operation vs a sweeping finger that is just reading the braille.

      It doesn't look like it's something you could throw any OS on and have it work as some sort of accessibility assistant for everything, but it's a technological advancement towards having both a portable text/image -> braille converters (the article looked like the phone could OCR off the camera and produce braille from that), as well as the hardware base for a more blind-friendly smartphone + OS.

    3. Re:But is it practical? by phantomfive · · Score: 5, Interesting

      These things already exist. Make sure your websites are accessible for blind people.

      iPhone already has a good accessibility system for blind people. You can drag your finger across the phone, and it will read whatever you are touching in a computer voice. It's amazing to watch a blind person using an iphone with it.

      Android has a similar system, except it's better because it's open to third parties, and worse because it is buggy.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    4. Re:But is it practical? by segin · · Score: 1

      No, I'm not blind. I'm using Slashdot.

    5. Re:But is it practical? by ArcadeMan · · Score: 2

      But, you say, how can I test websites for the blind since I am not blind?

      Close your eyes for a few seconds and think about it.

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    6. Re:But is it practical? by phantomfive · · Score: 2

      In my side by side tests, the VoiceOver built into iOS curbstomps the similar products on Android.

      Yes. Unfortunately I would never suggest Android to a blind person.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    7. Re:But is it practical? by stephanruby · · Score: 1

      These things already exist.

      Yes, they do, and I've even tried two different models at Google I/O, but they're not the same as this thing. This Indian device promises to be a thousand times better and cooler. See pictures here and here.

      Unfortunately, it seems to be a concept-only device right now. No outsider was given the actual prototype to try in real life, and no one was even shown a demo in real life. So to me, that means it's a concept-only device.

      I generally do not trust picture mockups and PR people, especially from a company that I've never heard of before (the company could be legit, but honestly, I just don't know that either way). So one hopes that this device does work and does behave as described, and that it will come out soon. Because for all we know, this could be just another flying car concept: a very cool and attractive concept, but one that doesn't really work as originally advertised or as originally promised.

    8. Re:But is it practical? by ozmanjusri · · Score: 4, Funny

      If there was a chance of slicing off skin from swiping over these pins, then it fails at the basic intended purpose of displaying braille in the first place.

      Very true.

      My blind friend once picked up a cheese-grater by mistake. She said it was the most violent book she'd ever read.

      --
      "I've got more toys than Teruhisa Kitahara."
    9. Re:But is it practical? by phantomfive · · Score: 1

      FWIW here are the WWW guidelines for accessibility. If you want to make sure your content is available for disabled people (and you should), that is a good place to check.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
  3. Imagined != Invented by timeOday · · Score: 1, Redundant
    It appears to be nothing but CGI at this point.

    I quote: "Once the prototype of the product is ready..."

    1. Re:Imagined != Invented by OptimalCynic · · Score: 1

      Yeah, and I'll bet it doesn't work as well in reality as they think it will. Anyone remember that Rainbow Versatile Disc thing?

  4. Why now and not earlier? by houbou · · Score: 2

    1) There is no money in this for Apple, Samsung, Nokia and others, this is a niche phone for a minority of people.

    2) Accessible phones in the usual UI way with readers have been around for a while as well as computers.

    Problem with web content is that some authors don't make it accessible to other types of user agents (beside the usual keyboard/mouse combo) by adhering to the WWW Web Accessibility Guidelines, which is a shame for these guidelines aren't all that hard to implement and it's just a little bit more planning ahead, which in the end, makes it easier to deal with your site's content in the long run.

    What is nice about this new smartphone is that blind people can now deal with a smartphone with their own braille reading skills and thus can operate the device in silence, instead of being read the display like other smartphones with content readers.

    1. Re:Why now and not earlier? by Mike+Frett · · Score: 1

      There are about 39 Million completely Blind people in the World and about 30 Million Xbox Live Customers. So I guess Xbox Live is a Niche market by your way of thinking right?. =p

      What company wouldn't want to make 2 Billion extra dollars by selling these devices at $60 each?. Perspective is the name of the game.

    2. Re:Why now and not earlier? by houbou · · Score: 2

      A braille solution only caters to blind people, a solution where you have a voice reader is usable to all.
      I'm not saying people afflicted with blindness don't deserve any consideration, I'm saying from a business perspective that smartphones took the road of PCs and included software for accessibility which reads your choices and actions.
      From a business standpoint, it makes sense.
      A braille smartphone only caters to the blind, and thus it is indeed a very small niche.
      Comparing gaming consoles to braille devices is like comparing Ham to a Hamburger. Makes very little sense.

  5. OS by manu0601 · · Score: 1

    TFA does not say what OS this is running. Anyone knows?

    1. Re:OS by coolmadsi · · Score: 1

      TFA does not say what OS this is running. Anyone knows?

      I don't think it is running an OS at the moment, it has not been completed yet:

      "Once the prototype of the product is ready"

  6. Discrimination by shikaisi · · Score: 1

    Why no Smartphone for the Deaf, you insensitive clods?!

    --
    No left turn unstoned.
    1. Re:Discrimination by Lanforod · · Score: 1

      Smartphones work fine for the deaf. It's not a hardware solution in that case. What we need is adequate software for converting speech to text or sign language. Something that doesn't require human input (ie. court reporter or interpreter). Something that is voice accent, background noise, volume and connection speed independent, 99+% accurate etc. Also needs to be developed for all major languages.
      I've always thought an AI would need to be developed for this...