braille

Tiny Gas Explosions Create the Raised Dots on This Electronic Braille Display

It sounds scary, but the approach offers some significant improvements over current Braille displays.

Gadgets Andrew Liszewski Oct 15

The Best Toys of the Week Are All Nostalgic Blasts From the Past

Welcome back to Toy Aisle, io9’s round up of the latest and greatest bits of plastic siphoning money from our cash reserves. This week, we’ve got a mothertrucking great Optimus Prime, Playmobil gets even more retro with Back to the Future, and Mexo’s latest DC Marvel is a throwback to Wonder Woman’s wonderful past. Check…

Toys & Collectibles Andrew Liszewski Oct 4

Lego’s Newest Sets Leverage the World’s Most Popular Toy To Teach Kids Braille

A couple of years ago, design agency Lew’LaraTBWA created a set of Lego-like bricks that used the plastic stubs to recreate the patterns that make up the braille alphabet. It was such a clever way to help encourage blind or visually impaired children to learn braille that Lego is officially releasing its own Braille Bricks…

Tech News Andrew Liszewski Apr 24

Apple and Microsoft Help Create New Standard for Braille Displays

Today, many people who are blind or have low vision must cobble together different hardware and software just to use computers. But a new standard backed by some of the biggest names in tech should mean that braille device users wont have to search for custom software for different operating systems and screen readers. The…

Tech News Jennings Brown May 31

Using Lego-Like Bricks to Teach Kids Braille Is a Stroke of Genius

Unless you’re blind or know someone who is, you might not be familiar with what braille actually looks like. It turns out the braille alphabet uses a series of dot patterns that are remarkably reminiscent of the studs atop a Lego brick, and merging the two makes learning to read and write in braille far…

Tech News Andrew Liszewski May 3

Moog Is Putting Braille On Its Synth So the Visually Impaired Can Jam

Moog just trotted out a new version of its popular Sub Phatty synth that’s got a braille overlay to help the visually impaired. It’s hard to believe it took the legendary manufacturer this long to get around to it, especially given that it’s actually a pretty simple modification to the panel’s design. OK, so when…

Tech News Mario Aguilar May 8

How Braille Was Invented

Braille was invented by a nineteenth century man named Louis Braille, who was completely blind. Braille’s story starts when he was three years old. He was playing in his father’s shop in Coupvray, France, and somehow managed to injure his eye. Though he was offered the best medical attention available at the time, it wasn’t…

Tech News Emily Upton - TodayIFoundOut.com Nov 26

A Hybrid Braille Font Lets Visually Impaired Kids Read Any Book

To make kids living with visual impairments able to share the same experiences as their friends and peers, a new series of children’s books was created. The Storybook For All Eyes each feature a custom-designed font that incorporates both braille and english letters into a single typeface so they can be shared and enjoyed by…

Tech News Andrew Liszewski Aug 28

An Interaction Designer Creates a Tactile Comic Book For the Blind

Comic books and visual novels are difficult to translate into Braille; Usually, they’re novelized or retold in audio formats. But is it possible to tell a visual story using tactile means alone? A Berlin-based interaction design student named Philipp Meyer thinks so. Working with a blind collaborator named Michael and NOTA, a Copenhagen-based institute for…

Tech News Kelsey Campbell-Dollaghan May 31

New implant allows the blind to stream Braille directly onto their retinas

In a medical first, researchers have streamed Braille patterns directly onto a blind person’s retina, allowing him or her to read letters and words visually, with almost 90% accuracy. Developed by researchers at Second Sight, the headset-like device is set to revolutionize the way degenerative eye diseases like Retinitis Pigmentosa are treated. To help us…

io9 George Dvorsky Nov 22

Sesame Seed Braille Buns Promote Menus For the Visually Impaired

A South African burger chain called Wimpy’s wanted to bring attention to the fact that they’ve just introduced menus for the visually impaired. So they worked with ad agency Metropolitan Republic to create burgers with sesame seed braille messages on top. The braille messages on the buns (which read “100 percent pure beef burger made…

Tech News Andrew Liszewski Jan 14

This App Could Make Tablets Accessible to the Blind

The Braille system has allowed blind people to read the written word since 1825. Unfortunately, Braille doesn’t translate well to the glossy smooth surfaces of modern touch screen tablets and phones. A new app thinks it can change that. Each character in the Braille system—developed by Louis Braille for the French military—consists of a series…

Gadgets Andrew Tarantola Oct 10

Some People Don’t Understand What Braille Is Used For

I have very little understanding of Braille but I’m pretty sure you have to touch it to read it. [Reddit via Buzz Feed]

Tech News Casey Chan May 15

Haptica, A Beautiful Watch Set in Braille

Currently, the blind have two ways of telling time: using an audible watch or an open-face watch to feel the watch’s hands. This watch, the Haptica, actually sets the time in Braille and could become real with your help. Click to view For fear of sounding insensitive, the watch is admittedly great lookin’. That’s not…

Tech News Casey Chan Feb 5

Remainders – The Things We Didn’t Post: Faster Than a Speeding Bullet Edition

In today’s Remainders: feats of amazement. Superman’s first comic book appearance sells for $1.5m at auction; RIM posts its most impressive quarter ever; Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet performed…over Twitter; researchers create a full-screen Braille display; and more. • An issue of Action Comics from 1938 that saw Superman’s first comic book appearance was sold for…

Tech News Kyle VanHemert Mar 31

Braille Rubik’s Cube Would Take 54 Times As Long To Complete

Somehow, I think this braille Rubik’s Cube would be a lot harder to solve than that other blind-friendly touch cube with different textures for each panel. Not saying I’ve ever solved a classic Rubik’s Cube, mind. [Konstantindatz via Yanko Design] https://gizmodo.com/rubiks-cube-for-the-blind-155779

Tech News Kat Hannaford Mar 17

Embossing Braille Labelmaker Listens and Gives You Something to Touch

Designed by Danny Luo, this embossing Braille labelmaker may look like a flashlight, but in reality it’s a innovative tool for the sight-impaired: speak into the wide end and the labelmaker will spit out labels with embossed Braille characters The 25mm x 50mm labels produced by this printer are intended to simplify the identification of…

Tech News Rosa Golijan Aug 20

Braille E-Reader Concept Raises Dots with E-Ink

Braille books are mighty thick, so while I remain skeptical of standard e-book readers’ utility, a braille version would make it much easier for the blind to carry books with them. This particular concept was designed by Seon-Keun Park, Byung-Min Woo, Sun-Hye Woo & Jin-Sun Park, and it uses an electroactive polymer to raise the…

Commerce John Mahoney Apr 20

Apple to Make iTunes 8 and iPod Completely Accessible to the Blind

Apple has committed to work with the state of Massachusetts to use its VoiceOver technology from Mac OS X to make its iTunes and iPod ecosystem fully usable for the blind. Before the agreement, Apple had already been making strides: VoiceOver and Braille support for OS X and closed captioning for iPod and Apple TV…

Tech News Dan Nosowitz Sep 27

B&D Messenger Helps the Blind Read SMS

The B&D messenger, designed by Okada Noriaki, bills itself as a way for both blind and deaf people to communicate via text message. Though there are several Braille phone products already in the market, Noriaki device is much smaller in size and pretty inexpensive. On one side of the gadget is twelve points that rise…

Tech News Elaine Chow Aug 23

braille

Tiny Gas Explosions Create the Raised Dots on This Electronic Braille Display

The Best Toys of the Week Are All Nostalgic Blasts From the Past

Lego’s Newest Sets Leverage the World’s Most Popular Toy To Teach Kids Braille

Apple and Microsoft Help Create New Standard for Braille Displays

Using Lego-Like Bricks to Teach Kids Braille Is a Stroke of Genius

Moog Is Putting Braille On Its Synth So the Visually Impaired Can Jam

How Braille Was Invented

A Hybrid Braille Font Lets Visually Impaired Kids Read Any Book

An Interaction Designer Creates a Tactile Comic Book For the Blind

New implant allows the blind to stream Braille directly onto their retinas

Sesame Seed Braille Buns Promote Menus For the Visually Impaired

This App Could Make Tablets Accessible to the Blind

Some People Don’t Understand What Braille Is Used For

Haptica, A Beautiful Watch Set in Braille

Remainders – The Things We Didn’t Post: Faster Than a Speeding Bullet Edition

Braille Rubik’s Cube Would Take 54 Times As Long To Complete

Embossing Braille Labelmaker Listens and Gives You Something to Touch

Braille E-Reader Concept Raises Dots with E-Ink

Apple to Make iTunes 8 and iPod Completely Accessible to the Blind

B&D Messenger Helps the Blind Read SMS

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