This Gadget Could Revolutionize How the Blind Learn Braille

On April 2, the TechBridgeWorld research team from Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) will head to Cambridge, Mass., to accept the 2014 Louis Braille Touch of Genius Prize for Innovation for their Braille Writing Tutor project.

A few weeks later, the team will be in India at Mathru Educational Trust for the Blind in Bangalore, where they will remain for nine months to conduct a comparative study between its first-gen braille tutoring gadget and a newer, more power-efficient version (pictured below).

This new, standalone Braille Writing Tutor (SABT) is a significant leap forward, TechBridgeWorld founder and CMU associate robotics professor Dr. M. Bernardine Dias told PCMag.

According to TechBridgeWorld, braille is usually written with a slate and stylus. But learning braille is a challenging and time-consuming endeavor, and visually impaired people in the developing world often don't have the resources they need to learn it.

The Braille Writing Tutor, however, "is an automated tutor with audio feedback that connects to a computer, to provide guided practice for beginners learning to write braille." It has worked well, but the second-gen device addresses the power constraints of developing regions, among other things.

"The SABT conserves all of the original Braille Writing Tutor's features," Dias told PCMag. "But, after many years of testing with partners in developing communities, the SABT now includes onboard power [via four, rechargeable AA batteries] and onboard computing to address additional challenges of power failures and lack of access to reliable computers in many developing communities."

As a result, the newer tutoring device does not need to be connected to a PC. As you can see in the video below (fast forward to 5:42), the second-gen device just connects to external speakers or headphones for audio.

"The SABT also has an SD card to store audio and configuration files and three swappable interface options (primary, intermediate, and advanced) so that teachers can select the appropriate interface to match the skill level of the student," Dias continued.

The upcoming Bangalore trip is funded by the Fetzer Institute as part of its investigation into compassionate engineering, Ermine Teves, project manager at TechBridgeWorld (who is temporarily based at CMU's Qatar campus in the Middle East), told us via email.

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"Engineers are often taught to be objective and scientific without being affected by emotions," Teves wrote. "So an important component of this work is to also inspire fellow engineers to be motivated by social causes and not just by monetary rewards, to contribute their skills to solve problems that affect many people who currently do not benefit from, and are, in fact, marginalized, from technology."

"We plan to creatively share results and experiences from this study with various audiences to challenge stereotypes and raise awareness of blind children in the developing world," Dias added. "Because if a visually impaired child is illiterate and cannot read or write, they cannot participate in the future of their community."

Dias is passionate about empowering future technologists in these communities. The grant funding and industry recognition from the Louis Braille Touch of Genius Prize for Innovation are important for the future of the project, but the fact that the CMU team are able to return to India to involve Mathru teachers and students in the evolution of this work is sure to inspire a new generation of engineers.