The VersaBraille was the first refreshable Braille display available in the United States released in 1982. This system now sits in a museum as it has become antiquated. Since then a dozen other Braille displays and notetakers have been developed. While these devices help to serve the needs of users who are blind or deaf-blind, they are limited to text.
When it comes digital accessibility, not much progress has been made to allow for the blind to “see” elements like graphics and photos. Dot Incorporation has introduced advanced innovation that provides tactile representations of images and graphics enabling greater accessibility for users with visual impairment virtually improving digital accessibility tenfold.
How Dot Pad works
Dot Pad is a device that comprises 2,400 pins available in a pixel-like format, which can be set for down or up positions, forming identifiable shapes or Braille letters. This device provides for 300 glyphs in Braille, as well as 20 more glyphs in the line below. Watch the process in this video.
While several Braille digital devices exist, the Dot Pad provides far more functionality and variety of options. Many of the standard devices also are not made with children in mind or individuals with non-traditional learning methods.Dot Pad aims to offer Braille services to a wider audience of blind or deaf-blind users.
Dot Pad is compatible with many Apple devices. This includes the ability to integrate with Apple’s VoiceOver, providing additional screen reading capabilities.
Complexity in a smaller package
The Dot Pad aims to revolutionize the assistive technology field through more capable hardware, as well as deeper integration with tablets and smartphones.
Most Braille reading devices are generally very complex, relying on hundreds of gears and hinges, which lower and raise the pins on demand. This means they are known to be heavy and bulky. The Dot Pad hardware has pins that are smaller and quicker, allowing for devices that are less clunky and easier to transport.
The Dot Pad takes its inspiration from the mechanism behind speakers. The tiny electromagnetic actuator vibrates in smartphone speakers. The team adapted this to move the pins up and down using a magnetic ball rotor. The rotor can easily lock itself in the down or up position, or can unlock and make the pins disappear. The size of the entire device is a fraction of what similar devices have been previously.
Millions of possibilities
The screen on the Dot Pad refreshes from top to bottom, in just a second. The speed is further being improved, to the point that animation may also be possible in the near future. Dot Pad is able to pull images from any source whether hand drawn, online, or from a smart phone.
The processor in this device uses artificial intelligence (AI). The AI can recognize millions of existing visual and tactile graphics. It is programmed to be able to analyze, understand and segment visual content, and translate it to tactile graphics most suitable for blind users.
Excellent for kids’ learning
Children with visual impairment miss out on a lot of things, such as illustrating shapes, images and letters. In fact devices for children are so limiting, that parents of a child born with Usher Syndrome, a common cause of blindness and deafness, created their own toy to help their daughter. BecDot helps toddlers learn the Braille alphabet.
The Dot Pad is a game changer when it comes to kids’ education in the visual impairment community. The Dot Inc. team is working on improving the library of Dot Pad custom graphics. This opens up a whole new world of learning for children and provides technology needed for when learning goes remote, as it did during the COVID19 pandemic.
Future developments
Dot plans to include photo representations on their tactile display. There are also plans to lock the pins at the middle of the display, to enable experiencing gradations. Next steps in the evolution of this device will also include the ability for dot input, empowering blind or low vision users to create designs from their display.
The company will eventually make their core tech available to the developer community allowing developers a chance to weigh in based on their experience with the API.
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