
Lego Braille bricks - app4soft
https://www.newelementary.com/2019/05/lego-braille-bricks.html
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jawns
This is an awesome idea, and I do hope that at some point these sets become
more widely available.

Many people think of Braille as something that is not necessary to learn
unless you are blind or visually impaired.

But having sighted people learn Braille has all sorts of positive indirect
consequences.

For instance, at the very least, it is likely to help them keep accessibility
issues more toward the front of their minds than if they had no exposure to
it.

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bluGill
It is one of those things that seems like it would be fun to know, but I have
no idea how to learn. Even if I would learn I don't know where to get reading
material to practice with. I suspect most readers agree with the above.

~~~
app4soft
Free PDF-book «Connect The Dots»[0] by The Blind Foundation[1] would be good
start point.

[0] [https://bf-website-uploads-
production.s3.amazonaws.com/uploa...](https://bf-website-uploads-
production.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2017/11/ConnectTheDotsAccessible-1.pdf)

[1] [http://blindfoundation.org.nz/how-we-can-help/daily-
life/bra...](http://blindfoundation.org.nz/how-we-can-help/daily-
life/braille/learning-braile)

~~~
app4soft
As addition here is online Braille Translator[0]

#LEGO ⮂ ⠸⠹⠇⠑⠛⠕

[0] [https://www.branah.com/braille-
translator](https://www.branah.com/braille-translator)

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Someone
The 16 patterns that don’t have dots in the top row can be rotated over 180
degrees, producing 10 equivalence sets, six with two bricks, and four with one
brick each (the empty brick and the one with four dots in Braille positions
2,3,5,6 (US digit ‘7’) are invariant under that rotation, as are the pattern
matching ‘e’ and ‘i’, lowered one row (U.S digits 5 and 9)

So, if they don’t use tactile letters and don’t add any tactile pattern to
indicate orientation, they need only 57 new moulds.

~~~
em-bee
but without orientation it is more difficult to learn and check. you intend to
put one letter but pick the wrong one, later a teacher can't tell which
mistake you made, and can't help you correct it.

or imagine cooperation _" hey, can you give me an 'a'?"_ you get a letter, and
place it the wrong way, then you read and think _" this is an 'a'"_ learning
the wrong pattern.

you don't have that problem with other tools because you orient the whole
device (or paper)

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sametmax
Great idea.

Plus, you don't even need special bricks, use regular ones, and put as many
one-square bricks on them as you need.

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mc32
As others are saying this is cool idea.

I wonder since the clutch or friction is reduced due to fewer pegs, why not
consider null pegs, pegs which are like a hollow cylinder rather than solid
cylinder. Maybe it would be too much of a compromise and distract learners or
misinform learners what true Braille is like?

~~~
em-bee
lower height pegs might work, but why would you use braille bricks in places
where you can't read the text? they are not building blocks but writing
blocks, the same way you would use flat bricks that have letters printed on
them or a sticker.

not being useful as building parts also help them not as easily disappear into
lego buildings elsewhere. (although that is a faint hope, as i am sure kids
will use them that way anyways without considering the lack of stability)

~~~
mc32
That makes sense but kids being kids I’m sure they’d like a dual purpose toy.
One they learn with but which they could also play/build with.

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Theodores
The LEGO patent ran out a few years ago, anyone could make these. But they
didn't, plus it has taken decades for this Braille teaching aid to come along.

I suspect this will sell well to adults who have fond memories of playing with
LEGO and have got bored of fridge magnets.

~~~
jacquesm
The LEGO patent was about as illegal a patent as there ever was, especially
given that LEGO stole the original design of the bricks.

~~~
em-bee
got any reference to that claim?

the patent for the material too? i think the problem with earlier clones was
not the shape but the quality of the plastic

~~~
jacquesm
The plastic was orginally cellulose based plastic which did not keep its shape
very well over time and also tended to become more and more transparent.

As for the bricks themselves:

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hilary_Fisher_Page](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hilary_Fisher_Page)

As much as I'm a fan of LEGO that was a pretty dirty trick they pulled and the
whitewash attempt later on even dirtier.

More here:

[http://www.hilarypagetoys.com/Home/History/26/0](http://www.hilarypagetoys.com/Home/History/26/0)

~~~
em-bee
thanks. that doesn't really make patents illegal, because there should be
significant differences. and significant improvements on existing things are
themselves patentable.

but i agree with you that whitewashing history is dirty. although, i do
remember in a 5 minute video about lego history which i believe was made by
lego, it was acknowledged that they got the brick idea from a fair that demoed
injection molding machines.

as for suing their competition, i do hope they don't succeed. lego is pretty
big in china too, but clones are rampant, and their brick quality is getting
hard to distinguish from lego.

there are of course those that directly copy lego original models. but they
also design their own. the latter should be allowed.

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RenRav
This is super interesting, like a combination of braille, legos, and moveable
type... I don't know how someone didn't think of this sooner.

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WrtCdEvrydy
OMG, This would be an amazing 3d printable item.

~~~
jackpirate
I'd be surprised if you could 3d print lego bricks with sufficient accuracy to
get proper clutch.

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jerrysievert
i've managed to get decent clutch, but they wear out a lot more quickly.

~~~
em-bee
i am still waiting for the day that i can print my own lego compatible bricks
that actually work reliably.

i am glad to see that progress is being made. i hope that the wear out is a
problem of the material and not the printing process, so maybe better material
can solve that?

