First Laptop for the Blind

Until now, it was rather difficult for the blind to gather information on computers. At this year’s ‘Sight City’, the largest trade fair for Blind and Visually Impaired assistance instruments in Germany, the research project “Hyper Braille” was presented. The laptop prototype, funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs (BMWi), consists of the latest technological touch surface in which several thousand small moveable pins present graphs, tables, spatial structures, text, menus, illustrations and other icons. This unique display enables the blind and the visually impaired to use the standard computer systems such as MS-office and Internet applications. This ‘laptop’ is a great leap forward in terms of blind technologies, especially because the computer is now essential in both our living and working environments, but rarely offers a speaking or Braille-pad function. Blind students will particularly benefit from the possibilities this product can provide.
Currently, the prototype runs with the MS-Office programs Word and Excel, along with Microsoft Internet Explorer. The research team hopes to have all current Office programs functional by the end of 2010.

Behinderung Empirie / Forschung Sprache Englisch Work-Life