

Need help with sourcing components for a prototype - datashovel
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-ccUgdiq03mLA1lws-Hez0jPVoLiMkckLBSeF-THryY/edit?usp=sharing

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minthd
These guys[1] are working quite a few years on an affordable braille reader,
they're pretty close to release , cost 330-400GBP. SO maybe the task is much
harder than it seems, but on the other hand, on it's way to getting solved.

[1][http://bristolbraille.co.uk/](http://bristolbraille.co.uk/)

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datashovel
In my mind what I'm thinking of could theoretically cost in the low 10's of
US$. At scale my hunch is costs would theoretically go down as low as 1's of
US$ per device. Yes, less than $10.

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minthd
I think the difference between $500 and $40 won't be liked much in most of the
u.s. since people get much more value from a full line braille machine. But i
could be wrong - but to save yourself a lot of work, maybe it would be easier
to ask blind people for their opinion , maybe in (reddit.com/r/blind , or
quora) ?

An alternative could be talking with blind people in the third world, maybe
this single cell solution would be good enough for them ?

The other option is to really work on basic mechanisms to make the basic cell
far cheaper. For example [1] , which uses electrodes and small electric
current as the basic sensations(not sure if good idea).

Also , there's a company called senseg doing tactile displays for tablets.
Since tablets have quite a large area(and the price of components is highly
constrained), and a braille strip could need far less,maybe they could offer a
cost competitive solution. And they also have an sdk(and maybe tablets).

[1][http://aac-rerc.psu.edu/wordpressmu/RESNA-
SDC/2013/06/19/pan...](http://aac-rerc.psu.edu/wordpressmu/RESNA-
SDC/2013/06/19/pandabraille-a-refreshable-electro-tactile-braille-display-
with-no-moving-parts-vit-university/)

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datashovel
Thanks for the suggestions.

I've been thinking about how to approach the blind community with the idea. My
feeling right now is I should at least have something to "try out" to give
them a sense of what I'm after. As soon as I figure out how to get the
"reader" down to a size where I feel good about its usability (doesn't matter
too much if wires are sticking out etc.) I just want the actual interface to
be an appropriate size.

Another thing that is also "pie in the sky" but I think another reason I'm so
interested is I think there are alot of applications (some reasonable today,
but some that may be pushing the boundaries of what we may think of today).

I can imagine (at low enough cost, and by perfecting the mechanics) an entire
industry could be born around the idea of "consuming information tactilely".
Even for sighted people.

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minthd
Maybe tactile information could be useful. definetly worth a try.

As for small components - maybe wait for the apple watch teardowns ,they'll
tell which components have they used for the taptic engine.

------
minthd
read "4.1 Limits of a Single Braille Cell Display ":
[https://www.nbp.org/downloads/cbi/EAPActuators.pdf](https://www.nbp.org/downloads/cbi/EAPActuators.pdf)

This and the other links might be decent starting materials.

[http://www.utopiamechanicus.com/article/open-source-
hardware...](http://www.utopiamechanicus.com/article/open-source-hardware-
braille-display/)

[http://www.instructables.com/id/Brail-language-cell-phone-
fo...](http://www.instructables.com/id/Brail-language-cell-phone-for-visually-
impaired-pe/?ALLSTEPS)

I wouldn't be surprised if 3d printers could enable cheaper readers(both by
the ability to try many ideas, and using them as a low-volume manufacturing
tool to start). But i think you also need to check patents in this field.

~~~
datashovel
Thanks for the resources. That will be helpful.

It appears those implementations are far larger than I anticipate my prototype
would be. In fact the hobbyist solenoids I found were already pretty small
(around 1" x 1/2"), but I'm looking for something even smaller (ideally the
end prototype would be something a person could attach to their wrist or just
hold in one hand.

And with today's components being so small I'm thinking (distant future) you
could have a camera that would take a photo, then send the photo of text
wirelessly to a server where it would perform OCR then send back instructions.
Perhaps it has GPS.

I did think about navigation, which could be hard to get right. I get the
impression there are probably only a few essential operations for something
like that. (ie. toggle between apps, toggle between documents, back one word,
back one sentence, skip word, skip sentence). Then perhaps a few "reading
modes" (ie. forward letter by letter, forward word by word, forward sentence
by sentence). "reading operations" could obviously be remapped to have
different meanings depending on the context of which application you're using
(ie. get GPS from GPS app, get time from watch app, get date from calendar
app).

Alot of that is obviously pie in the sky thinking. But the only component that
I think is going to be tough to find as small as I want (for the prototype) is
going to be the solenoids.

But then again they're simple enough to create from scratch I may end up
trying that.

