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braille

You may have heard: There's a total solar eclipse coming!

Maybe it's the pseudo-apocalyptic vibe we're all getting every time we turn on the news these days, but everyone seems to be especially jazzed for this eclipse, set to take place on Aug. 21.

Convenience stores, hardware stories, big box stores, and even online retailers are selling (and selling out) of the special glasses you'll need to see it.

But what about those people who aren't able to "see" it at all?

NASA recently announced a guidebook that helps the visually impaired experience this and other eclipses.

Photo by NASA Ames Research Center

The tactile book, called "Getting a Feel for Eclipses" uses braille, patterns, and other textured graphics to help people who won't be able to see the eclipse chart its path, understand the moving parts, and take part in the experience.

[rebelmouse-image 19528483 dam="1" original_size="528x294" caption="GIF via NASA/YouTube" expand=1]GIF via NASA/YouTube

This isn't just the "next best thing" to seeing the eclipse; it provides a totally unique perspective on it.

"We've been finding that it's extremely helpful for those who are sighted as well, to grasp the concept," said Cassandra Runyon, director of the South Carolina Space Grant Consortium in a video released by NASA.

Photo by NASA Ames Research Center

NASA created the guide on the heels of other braille space books about craters and Mars. Making space and exploration more accessible has been a big push for the agency lately.

"It's the perfect opportunity for NASA to engage the public, including the visually impaired, in our missions, in our understanding of the natural world around us," said Joe Minafra, innovation and tech partnerships lead at NASA. "It's their space agency. We want to include them as well."

Over 5,000 copies of the book have been sent around the country, to schools, libraries, museums, and science centers.

Runyon told The College Today that thank-you letters have been pouring in from organizations who've received the book.

Call your local science center or library for the visually impaired to find out if they have a copy (or get more information straight from NASA here), then get ready to experience the solar eclipse in a totally new and exciting way.

Making smartphones even more intelligent — and more inclusive.

True

When braille was invented in the early-1800s, it was world-changing and life-altering.

Louis Braille was only 15 when he invented the world's first written language for the blind. Inspired by a language of raised dots used by French army officers to communicate silently at night on the battlefield, Braille envisioned a simple series of tactile raised dots to help translate the written word into something that could be read by the blind.

His innovation helped bring the worlds of blind and sighted people closer than ever before. Now whip-smart mobile phone developers are building off his work to keep our world connected and inclusive with helpful mobile apps that assist people with visual challenges in their daily life.

Downloading these apps and using them regularly is one small — but meaningful — way everyone can make the world more inclusive and accessible for people with vision challenges. Dozens of apps abound online, but here are 12 of our current favorites:

1. Contribute to a blind person's experience of a neighborhood with BlindWays.

BlindWays is a navigation app for iPhone that picks up where GPS navigation leaves off. Through information provided by sighted members of the community, the app guides blind travelers to the closest bus stop sign with easy-to-understand navigational cues. Best of all, it's user-powered and updated regularly — so the next time you're walking around the block to the store, take a few seconds to open the app and share some information that will help a blind person get around. It's only available in Boston right now, but they're hoping to expand to other areas.

2. Be My Eyes connects sighted and blind people for momentary acts of kindness.

Want to help a blind person navigate a quick challenge? Be My Eyes is the answer. This iPhone app connects blind or visually impaired users with sighted helpers through a live audio-video connection. Blind users can point their phone camera at an object or place they'd like assistance with — like installing batteries correctly or checking expiration dates on food — and sighted users can lend their eyes. For sighted users, it's a lovely way to be generous with a few minutes of your time.

3. Access braille and audio versions of 50,000 books with the BARD mobile app.

The next generation of braille is here (and on your phone). Image via iStock.

Have an Apple mobile device? Load it up with more than 50,000 books, magazines, and music scores courtesy of the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped and the Library of Congress. It works with Bluetooth-enabled braille keyboards too!

4. Listen to radio stations with content by and from blind and visually impaired people with Sero.

Finding community with people experiencing life in the same way you are is an important part of being blind or visually impaired. The Sero (formerly iBlink radio) app for iPhone collects radio stations, reading services, and podcasts of interest to blind people, their caregivers, and their friends. And every station is owned or operated by people with limited or no eyesight.

5. Ariadne GPS combines navigation and narration to help people find their way.

Raised crosswalk indicators are useful for finding intersections. Ariadne GPS takes navigating to the next level. Image via iStock.

This excellent talking map service was designed with the blind in mind. Users can navigate using their finger on the screen while Ariadne gives them verbal and tactile clues about the world around them. Crossing the street? The iPhone will vibrate. Need a bus or train stop? Ariadne will let users know.

6. Turn sunshine into sound with the Light Detector app.

Need to get changed and want to make sure the blinds are closed? The Light Detector app for iPhone and Android shows the source of light in a room by transforming it into a sound. Users simply point the camera at a light source (or where they expect one to be) and the app creates a sound that rises or falls in intensity depending on the brightness of the light.

7 & 8. Talking Goggles and the KNFB Reader help blind folks experience Google Glass (without the dorky hardware).

It's the Google Glass that Google Glass wishes it were! Image via iStock.

If there's text on something — a street sign, a poster, even a bottle of shampoo — text- reading apps like Talking Goggles and the KNFB reader can recognize it and read it out. Users can point the phone's camera at what they want to read, and the app does the rest. Even better? It works on both iPhone and Android, and it can read in different languages — with the correct accent.

9. Need to know what's in front of you right now? This iPhone app lets users Tap, Tap, and See.

What's in the pantry — a can of peaches or a can of baked beans? TapTapSee helps blind or visually-impaired users identify the objects around them with a quick click of their iPhone or Android device camera. Once a photo is taken, a voiceover will share what the object is. A useful app for blind and sighted folks!

10. Listen to music (and the rest of the world) with the Awareness! app.

It's every pedestrian's nightmare: You're walking outside, listening to Katy Perry roar, and you don't hear that oncoming train. Unsurprisingly, missing important auditory warnings is a very real concern for blind and visually-impaired people. Awareness! is a music-listening app for iPhone that helps users stay connected to the rest of the world while they rock out. Songs play like normal, but in the case of important sudden noises, Awareness! will silence the song and let the real world — and all its dog barks, car horns, and fire alarms — through.

11. Make sorting money easier with the LookTel Money Reader.

A woman going through her wallet. Image via iStock.

With or without a visual impairment, sorting through America's uniformly green bills can be a challenge when you're in a rush to pay. Fortunately, the LookTel Money Reader app for iPhone removes the chance of confusion. Turn on the app, point the camera at the bill, and LookTel will announce the denomination out loud.

12. Make sure your pants and shirt match with Color ID.

Searching for your lucky green tie? Want to know if the cat you're petting is a brown tabby or a silver one? Color ID can help. Like most of the apps on this list, all it takes is pointing the mobile phone camera at an object, and Color ID does the rest. Now you'll finally know if those pants your wife hates are khaki or just greenish-brown. It's available for iPhone and Android.

This is just a small sample of the mobile apps available to help make the world a little easier to navigate for blind and visually-impaired people — and there's more being developed all the time.

Here's to a digital world that makes the real world safer, more fun, and more inclusive for everyone!

From Your Site Articles

The blind 15-year-old who is playing starting quarterback ›

Heroes

They had 15 hours to come up with an idea that'd improve lives. They did it.

True

They had 15 hours to come up with an idea for a revolutionary device that would make people's lives better.

And they had to beat out hundreds of other teams that had some of the best student hackers in the world.

"Our first idea was a dancing robot that, like, danced with you if you’re lonely in a dance club," Charlene Xia said with a chuckle.

She and friends Chandani Doshi, Grace Li, Jialin Shi, Bonnie Wang, and Tania Yu were taking part in the MakeMIT hackathon — MIT's premier technology design competition. They and other students were tasked with coming up with a prototype for a new device.

(Left to right) Tania Yu, Charlene Xia, Bonnie Wang, Chandani Doshi, Jialin Shi, and Grace Li. All images via Team Tactile, used with permission.

Xia continued: "Then we moved to a braille watch that we saw a concept model of that somebody posted online. It got us thinking, 'Well, wait a second, is there a thing like a text-to-braille converter? Like it translates and scans images of text on a book and converts it to braille when you move up and down?' We kept googling and nothing came out."

The young inventors began to lay the foundation for Tactile, the world's first real-time text-to-braille converter.

It was a daunting challenge to say the least, but one that these young women, dubbed Team Tactile, were more than ready for.

"The good thing was that our team was very diverse," said Shi. "We have people who studied material science, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, and computer science."

Of course, as most projects go, hurdles inevitably popped up. From the hourlong lines at the 3D printer to their code not working properly, it was one heck of a photo finish.

"Basically, nothing came together until the last 15 minutes," added Shi. "That’s when we were finally able to take a picture of some text and finally translate that into some motor movement, which translated into a braille character. It was stressful, but it was definitely one of the highlights of our time here at MIT — that moment when something you make from scratch finally works and your concept is realized."

The current Tactile prototype.

Team Tactile ended up winning first place in the hackathon. But their journey was just getting started.

The team received incredible support and encouragement from the mentors involved with the hackathon — and one mentor, in particular, had a lasting effect.

Paul Parravano is the co-director of MIT's Government and Community Relations office. He's been blind since age 3. He told Team Tactile that their invention could have a huge impact on the visually impaired community, especially since they experience many pain points when it comes to access to information — no more than 5% of books are accessible to them.

Ultimately, providing someone who is visually impaired with the ability to read any book out in the world was too important not to pursue.

"The impact that we could potentially have in the future is really what drove us to continue working as a team," said Wang. "Just working it out despite our problem sets, all the exams, projects and everything, we still keep going and just try to take the prototype as far as we can."

There are already aids on the market, but what sets Tactile apart is its affordability, accuracy, and ability to improve braille literacy.

There are devices such as the B2G, which acts as a mini-laptop for blind people to access information. However, it costs a staggering $2,495. Tactile, on the other hand, could cost as little as $100.

There are other cheaper alternatives, but they're not necessarily as effective. "For instance, there’s an app that lets you take pictures of printed text and then it turns to audio," said Li. "As you can imagine, this is not applicable for every situation. It’s also less accurate."

But the ability to read instead of having something read back to you is where the biggest difference lies.The team noted that braille literacy is very low right now — in fact, less than 10% of the 1.3 million legally blind people in the U.S. are braille readers. Tactile could help change that.

A rendering of Team Tactile's vision for their revolutionary invention.

"An audio translator won't be able to translate all the mathematical signs and symbols," said Shi. "There’s also everyday life — something as simple as reading packaging labels and just knowing your surroundings. Not [having to ask] for help for every little thing."

There's nothing stopping these badasses.

Right now, the team is still working to refine Tactile to make sure it's as efficient and affordable as possible. After graduation, they plan to work on it full time, and they have their sights set on getting this invention into the hands of all those who truly need it — whether in the U.S. or in the developing world.

Added Wang, "Ideally ... one day, every visually impaired person will have a Tactile device — something that they carry around with them every day and use on a daily basis to access the information around them."

Team Tactile's invention is so promising that they were selected to be a part of Microsoft's #MakeWhatsNext Patent Program.

The program focuses on two things: helping young female inventors navigate the legal hurdles that come with securing patents and empowering young women to bridge the gender gap in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics).

"They really helped us take the stress away from the patent process and allowed us to focus on the technology — the part that we're passionate about developing," said Wang.

Tactile is a great example of the type of life-changing innovation that can come from technology, and Microsoft is committed to ensuring that everyone — especially young girls — has access to computer science education resources so they, too, can unlock the power to create with technology.

"Why is that the case when you think of patents, you don't think of women inventors?" wondered Xia. "Right now, there's a movement towards building this community of women engineers and inventors, and we're really happy and honored to be part of this movement and contribute as much as we can to make sure this movement continues and grows."

How do people who are blind learn to read braille? Here's a cool new way.

Braille Bricks may be the key to helping raise literacy among those who are blind.

As a baby, Anny struggled to meet her mother's eyes as she breastfed — the first sign that something was amiss.

Janete, Anny's mother, came to learn that her daughter had a very strong nystagmus, a condition which results in uncontrolled movement of the eye. As a result, Anny would spend her life struggling to see, functionally blind.

"When Anny was first brought to be breastfed, I noticed her eyes wouldn't fix on mine." All images and GIFs via Braille Bricks.

Janete did all she could for Anny, even sending her to school with a braille typewriter. Unfortunately for both of them, Anny's teachers simply didn't know how to use it and therefore couldn't teach her how to teach to read.

"When she went to school, I told the teacher she would bring the braille typewriter."

According to the National Federation of the Blind, just 10% of blind children in the U.S. are learning braille.

Most of the time, as was the case for Anny, it's an issue of teachers not having the skills or resources to teach children with visual impairments to read. As the NFB writes, "America would never accept a 10% literacy rate among sighted children." So why is that rate acceptable for children with visual challenges?

There needs to be a better way to teach children to learn braille — and now there is. They're called Braille Bricks.

And at their core, Braille Bricks are basically modified Legos. Letters in the braille alphabet are represented in a series of dots across a 2x3 area, making the 2x3 Lego brick the perfect canvas for this project. The idea came from a Brazilian nonprofit called the Dorina Nowill Foundation for the Blind.

"Small modifications to toy building bricks found at any kids store and voila: we have a full braille alphabet."

As you can see, it's simply a matter of which dots of the bricks are left raised that determine the letter:

"A, B, C, D... ." You get the idea.

It's pretty simple, right? See, here's how you'd write "Upworthy" using Braille Bricks:

You can make your own saying over at the Braille Bricks website.

The best part is that Braille Bricks are not only educational — they're fun, too.

Whether students are blind or have low vision or not, Braille Bricks serve as an educational toy all children can have fun playing with...

Children play with Braille Bricks.

...which is why teacher Camila Ferreria describes the impact these bricks have had on her students like this:

"It helps not only with braille literacy, but also aids in integration with the other kids."

So no longer do students who are blind need to be separated from their classmates; it can be an inclusive learning experience for all.

As for Anny, she loves her Braille Bricks, and in a world so seemingly eager to ignore her needs, they are definitely a welcome development.

Finding new ways to accommodate individuals with disabilities is so important. Having empathy for others is such a key element in life, and this is just one example of how thinking creatively can produce simple, effective solutions that bring people with different life experiences and opportunities together through compassion.

"The experience was great for me, because having another way to learn braille is much better."

Currently, Braille Bricks are available on a very small scale, with somewhere around 300 students having access to them.

That's why the Dorina Nowill Foundation for the Blind is asking for help. Their hope is that someone in the toy industry will take interest in their project and produce these learning tools on a mass scale. (Hello, Lego?) What they're asking of people around the world is to raise awareness of the product by using the hashtag #BrailleBricksForAll.

Will it work? Only time will tell. But does this seem like a cool, fun, and simple solution to encouraging literacy and inclusion among blind students and their sighted friends? Absolutely.

It's awesome that Braille Bricks are working out for Anny and other students at the Dorina Nowill Foundation for the Blind. Here's hoping that the helpers of the world continue to develop new ways to make our world a more accessible place.

For more information about Braille Bricks, check out this video below:

From Your Site Articles

34-year-old teaches himself to read on TikTok - Upworthy ›

Heroes

This incredible smartwatch converts texts and emails into braille.

Dot Inc. is making giant leaps in braille technology and accessibility.

There hasn't really been a true innovation in technology for the blind in 15 years. Until now.

When Eric Ju Yoon Kim was in college at the University of Washington, he saw something that he thought should change.

A blind student entered a group meeting Kim was attending with a massive heavy book. It was the bible translated into braille — and the massive book was just one of the 23 volumes necessary to read the whole text.

There should be a device, Kim thought, that lets people with visual impairments read whenever and wherever they want without having to lug giant books around with them. A digital reading device perhaps, like a braille iPad. Surely someone had thought of that.

To Kim's surprise, such a device didn't exist.

He saw a need and set out to fill it.

Eric Ju Yoon Kim (center) and the rest of the Dot team. Photo from dotincorp.com, used with permission.

Kim put together a team of specialists in hardware, software ,and design and is now the CEO of Dot Inc.

The company specializes in tech innovations for the blind and visually impaired. Its mission is to increase braille accessibility and literacy and to "reduce the invisible discrimination against people living with blindness."

Their latest product, the Dot Watch, is a sleek and stylish smartwatch that converts texts, emails, notifications, and even e-books, into braille.

Sleek, stylish, and innovative. Photo courtesy of Doo Hyuk Chang and Dot Inc.

"While talking with visually impaired people themselves, there were many who said that the current watches made for [them] have their own flaws." Doo Hyuk Chang, Dot's Head of Media Relations, told Upworthy.

Previous watches for the visually impaired tended to rely on sound to relay information.

"Feedback by sound is absolutely fine," Chang said, "But what about in public places or during meetings? There are many situations where sound feedback is not the best way."

The Dot Watch. Photo courtesy of Doo Hyuk Chang and Dot Inc

When a Dot Watch wearer gets a text message, the watch vibrates and small pins on its surface rise and fall to produce 4 braille characters at a time. So maybe it's not the best way to read a novel, but it's an amazing development nonetheless.

When the Dot Watch isn't translating text notifications, like any other smart watch, it displays the time.

As touch screens become ubiquitous, technology becomes understandably limited for the visually impaired who navigate the world by touch and feel.

Dot's goal is to make the technology that many of us take for granted every day accessible to everyone.

"We are also thinking of a module that will be installed in public areas such as bus stops, metro stations, airports, and other locations," Chang told Upworthy of the company's road map. "For example, it could display the bus number, station name, time left for next transport to arrive."

But Dot's braille innovations mean little if the braille literacy rate remains where it is.

The National Federation of the Blind reports that only 10% of blind students in the U.S. are being taught braille in school.

That's the other problem Dot wants to solve.

"Through our devices," says Chang "not only the Dot Watch but also products in our future road map, we want to make the education of braille easier and accessible."

Users of the watch will have access to an app that can pronounce, out loud, a letter on your phone while displaying it on the watch in braille, providing an easy and convenient way for people to learn braille on their own.

Dot also wants to improve literacy with the upcoming Dot Pad, the device that fulfills Eric Ju Yoon Kim's vision of a braille iPad.

A preview of the Dot Pad, still in development. Photo from dotincorp.com used with permission.

According to Doo Hyuk Chang, the Dot Pad "will be the first braille device that can display in several lines, and not, all in one line like the products out in the market right now."

It will also be the first device to display graphs, functions, and other mathematical content that will make learning immeasurably easier for the visually impaired.

"This pad will make the education of braille easier, and education of studies in braille easier," Chang explains.

The company's use of simple magnets and materials also means their products are affordable.

Currently, the Dot Watch is only $300 for pre-order.

If that doesn't sound affordable, it's important to note that braille reading machines can cost thousands of dollars, which is a lot to ask of the estimated 10 million people in the U.S. who are blind or visually impaired.

Dot's vision of a world with more innovations for the blind is inspiring. And as their company grows, so does their mission.

"Our goal in the end is to have total independence [for] visually impaired people," explains Chang. "Visually impaired people walking on the streets alone without canes or guide dogs is what we are going to make possible one day, and technology is the key to this process."

When compassion intersects with technology, amazing things can happen.

It's often the most simple ideas that make the world a better place for everyone.

The Dot Watch is currently available for early pre-order on their website.

braille

You may have heard: There's a total solar eclipse coming!

NASA recently announced a guidebook that helps the visually impaired experience this and other eclipses.

Over 5,000 copies of the book have been sent around the country, to schools, libraries, museums, and science centers.

As a baby, Anny struggled to meet her mother's eyes as she breastfed — the first sign that something was amiss.

There needs to be a better way to teach children to learn braille — and now there is. They're called Braille Bricks.

The best part is that Braille Bricks are not only educational — they're fun, too.

As for Anny, she loves her Braille Bricks, and in a world so seemingly eager to ignore her needs, they are definitely a welcome development.

Currently, Braille Bricks are available on a very small scale, with somewhere around 300 students having access to them.

For more information about Braille Bricks, check out this video below:

Stevie Wonder just got the entire Grammy audience to applaud for Braille.

It was a really awesome, off-the-cuff moment, especially for an awards show where stilted banter is the norm.

"We need to make every single thing accessible to every single person with a disability." — Stevie Wonder

It may seem like a small thing that the Grammys printed Stevie's envelope in Braille, but it showed just how simple and easy accessibility can be.

There hasn't really been a true innovation in technology for the blind in 15 years. Until now.

Their latest product, the Dot Watch, is a sleek and stylish smartwatch that converts texts, emails, notifications, and even e-books, into braille.

As touch screens become ubiquitous, technology becomes understandably limited for the visually impaired who navigate the world by touch and feel.

But Dot's braille innovations mean little if the braille literacy rate remains where it is.

The company's use of simple magnets and materials also means their products are affordable.

When compassion intersects with technology, amazing things can happen.

braille

You may have heard: There's a total solar eclipse coming!

NASA recently announced a guidebook that helps the visually impaired experience this and other eclipses.

Over 5,000 copies of the book have been sent around the country, to schools, libraries, museums, and science centers.

Making smartphones even more intelligent — and more inclusive.

When braille was invented in the early-1800s, it was world-changing and life-altering.

1. Contribute to a blind person's experience of a neighborhood with BlindWays.

2. Be My Eyes connects sighted and blind people for momentary acts of kindness.

3. Access braille and audio versions of 50,000 books with the BARD mobile app.

4. Listen to radio stations with content by and from blind and visually impaired people with Sero.

5. Ariadne GPS combines navigation and narration to help people find their way.

6. Turn sunshine into sound with the Light Detector app.

7 & 8. Talking Goggles and the KNFB Reader help blind folks experience Google Glass (without the dorky hardware).

9. Need to know what's in front of you right now? This iPhone app lets users Tap, Tap, and See.

10. Listen to music (and the rest of the world) with the Awareness! app.

11. Make sorting money easier with the LookTel Money Reader.

12. Make sure your pants and shirt match with Color ID.

This is just a small sample of the mobile apps available to help make the world a little easier to navigate for blind and visually-impaired people — and there's more being developed all the time.

They had 15 hours to come up with an idea for a revolutionary device that would make people's lives better.

The young inventors began to lay the foundation for Tactile, the world's first real-time text-to-braille converter.

Team Tactile ended up winning first place in the hackathon. But their journey was just getting started.

There are already aids on the market, but what sets Tactile apart is its affordability, accuracy, and ability to improve braille literacy.

Team Tactile's invention is so promising that they were selected to be a part of Microsoft's #MakeWhatsNext Patent Program.

Braille Bricks may be the key to helping raise literacy among those who are blind.

As a baby, Anny struggled to meet her mother's eyes as she breastfed — the first sign that something was amiss.

There needs to be a better way to teach children to learn braille — and now there is. They're called Braille Bricks.

The best part is that Braille Bricks are not only educational — they're fun, too.

As for Anny, she loves her Braille Bricks, and in a world so seemingly eager to ignore her needs, they are definitely a welcome development.

Currently, Braille Bricks are available on a very small scale, with somewhere around 300 students having access to them.

For more information about Braille Bricks, check out this video below:

'We need to make every single thing accessible to every single person with a disability.'

Stevie Wonder just got the entire Grammy audience to applaud for Braille.

It was a really awesome, off-the-cuff moment, especially for an awards show where stilted banter is the norm.

"We need to make every single thing accessible to every single person with a disability." — Stevie Wonder

It may seem like a small thing that the Grammys printed Stevie's envelope in Braille, but it showed just how simple and easy accessibility can be.

Dot Inc. is making giant leaps in braille technology and accessibility.

There hasn't really been a true innovation in technology for the blind in 15 years. Until now.

Their latest product, the Dot Watch, is a sleek and stylish smartwatch that converts texts, emails, notifications, and even e-books, into braille.

As touch screens become ubiquitous, technology becomes understandably limited for the visually impaired who navigate the world by touch and feel.

But Dot's braille innovations mean little if the braille literacy rate remains where it is.

The company's use of simple magnets and materials also means their products are affordable.

When compassion intersects with technology, amazing things can happen.