>
>IST Results, Belgium
>Wednesday, April 19, 2006
>
>Graphical world opens for visually-impaired people: The ITACTI project
>
>By CORDIS
>
>A new tactile device will allow the widespread use of graphical
>interfaces visually-impaired people. The tactile graphical display
>will open up new avenues
>of employment, communication and personal expression. Conceivably it
>could do for graphics what Louis Braille did for text in 1824.
>
>Current Braille displays generally show one line at a time using
>electro-magnetic or piezo-electrical forces to raise and lower the
>dots that make up Braille
>letters. Larger multiline displays were developed but never sold
>commercially because they cost over ?200,000 to produce.
>
>The new display uses electro-rheological fluids and will cost about
>?15,000 when it enters production, a comparable price to current
>top-of-the-range single
>line readers.
>
>"Piezo-electrical devices manufacture the dots in pairs, whereas in
>our system we can manufacture the entire display in one sweep, which
>keeps down the
>costs," said Dr Sami Ahmed, managing director of Smart Technology
>Group the scientific coordinator of the interactive Tactile
>Interface (ITACTI) project,
>backed by funding from the European Commission's IST programme.
>
>Smart were responsible for developing the electro-rheological (ER)
>fluids which change their state from liquid to semi-solid when a
>charge is applied. Developing
>the ER fluids was the greatest challenge faced by the project. Smart
>also was responsible for design and manufacture of the new display unit.
>
>"We use these types of fluid in other applications, but it took
>quite a lot of work to get the specification we required for this
>device," says Ahmed. System
>controls and special software allow dots to raise and lower
>individually, offering users an entire page of text or graphics.
>
>"Single line devices are fine for simple text, but what if you want
>to look at a spreadsheet? For that you need a full-screen display,
>which can also produce
>text," says Ahmed.
>
>The device could even make reading text easier for users. Current
>single line systems replace read lines with new lines of text, so
>users cannot conveniently
>refer back to something they've just read.
>
>But it is the exciting ability to include graphical elements that
>really sets the ITACTI device apart. "We're not talking about photos
>of Tony Blair, but
>rather practical applications like icons, bar charts and
>presentations. It will also be very useful for mathematical
>formula," says Ahmed.
>
>He believes it could also mean new job opportunities, and suggests
>it could be used to allow visually-impaired people to work in call
>centres when full
>screens of data need to be quickly scanned to respond to queries.
>
>Graphics is not the only innovation achieved by the team. Uniquely,
>the device integrates both input and output, so users can read a Web
>page and then click
>hyperlinks if they want. It can also work like a mouse, with the
>fingers moving the cursor around the screen while the thumb can
>click or double-click
>particular elements.
>
>So far the response to the new device is very enthusiastic. "Users
>loved it and it opened up a whole new world. This is because the
>Royal National Institute
>of the Blind in the UK was a member of the consortium. They told us
>what users needed," says Ahmed. The consortium also had strong links
>with the Italian
>charity ANS.
>
>Conceivably the device could create whole new fields for
>visually-impaired people. With widespread use the system could
>enable the emergence of new patterns
>to represent graphical elements.
>
>"Right now we're actively seeking ways to begin commercial
>production. For that to happen, we first need to produce a
>pre-production run and extend testing
>on the device. We hope to raise the investment necessary to tackle
>that stage. If that's achieved, then we could move to production
>quite quickly," ends
>Ahmed.
>
>Contact:
>Dr Sami Ahmed
>Managing Director
>Smart Technology Ltd
>Unit 41
>Coleshill Industrial Estate
>Coleshill
>Birmingham B46 1JT
>United Kingdom
>Tel: +44-8456-445059
>Email.
>sami@smarttec.co.uk
>
>Source: Based on information from ITACTI
>
>Information :
>
>DATE : 19 Apr 2006
>TECHNOLOGY AREA: Visualisation
>MARKET APPLICATION: Health/social services
>
>USEFUL LINKS: ITACTI project website
>http://www.itacti.com/
>
>ITACTI factsheet on CORDIS
>http://icadc.cordis.lu/fep-cgi/srchidadb?ACTION=D&CALLER=PROJ_IST&QM_EP_RCN_A=57833
>
>Related projects researching in this area
>http://www.cordis.lu/ist/ka1/special_needs/projects/projects_cluster.htm#ias
>
>Inclusion Policy Relevance
>http://europa.eu.int/information_society/activities/policy_link/policy_cases/index_en.htm#Inclusion
>
>(SOURCE URL)
>
>http://istresults.cordis.lu/index.cfm/section/news/tpl/article/ID/81443/BrowsingType/Features
David Andrews and white cane Harry.
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Sun Dec 02 2012 - 01:30:04 PST