BrailleTouch App Enables Eye-Free Typing On Smartphone, Tablets

Ever wondered how a #-Link-Snipped-# person will use mobile phone? Georgia Institute of Technology researchers have found the answer in Braille script! The researchers will demonstrate their latest app BrailleTouch at #-Link-Snipped-# till 19 Feb. The app enables you to type on your Smartphone without conventional #-Link-Snipped-#. BrailleTouch with its six finger feature is similar to the Braille script, familiar to the visually challenged.

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Until now anyone who thought about employing the #-Link-Snipped-# in a digital device essentially thought about proprietary Braille keyboard. However not everyone could afford it given its high cost ranging to thousands of Dollars. In a study by Georgia Tech, when users were subjected to eyes-free texting with prototype BrailleTouch app, they could type 32 words per minute with 92% efficiency. The figures are actually 6 times the normal Braille typing speed. In other words, the app was proved to be a success to make users pick up Braille script faster.

Mario Romero, the principle investigator of the project and his team has developed #-Link-Snipped-# and #-Link-Snipped-# versions of the app. They expect to develop an #-Link-Snipped-# version of BrailleTouch soon. The app primarily tries to address, the limitations posed by physical and soft keyboards. The soft keyboards are not known for tactile feedback. On the other hand, physical keyboards are notorious for their small and many fixed buttons. The easy to use six finger combination of Braille typing is designed for the ease of visually challenged.

With BrailleTouch we can hope to see handicap using #-Link-Snipped-# and #-Link-Snipped-#. Check out the video with Mario Romero explaining the BrailleTouch app -