Conversion of web texts into Braille characters for real time reading through arrays of electromechanical actuators

Issue title: Selected Papers from the 14th International Symposium on Applied Electromagnetics and Mechanics (ISEM 2009), Part I

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Tronco, Mário Luiz^{a; *} | Machado, José Márcio^a

Affiliations: [a] São Paulo State University, Rua Cristóvão Colombo, 2265 – São José do Rio Preto, SP 15054-000, Brazil

Correspondence: [*] Corresponding author: Mário Luiz Tronco, São Paulo State University, Rua Cristóvão Colombo, 2265, Jardim Nazareth São José do Rio Preto-SP 15054-000 Brazil. E-mail: mariot@ibilce.unesp.br

Abstract: This paper describes an electronic device conceived to convert common web texts into sequences of corresponding Braille signals, which are immediately reproduced onto an array (keyboard) of electromechanical actuators. These actuators are reconfigurable in real time, displaying the Braille characters as matrices of points composed by small stems which can be lowered or raised according to the Braille code. The device, together with its conversion software package, can provide direct access to web texts in any personal computer, thus avoiding the use of complicated Braille printers.

Keywords: Braille characters, web texts, electromechanical actuators

DOI: 10.3233/JAE-2010-1158

Journal: International Journal of Applied Electromagnetics and Mechanics, vol. 33, no. 1-2, pp. 559-564, 2010