BrailleTouch App Helps the Visually Impaired

[Maura]

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[FONT=&amp]GigaOM has a really interesting article today about a new prototype app called BrailleTouch that has been designed by the Georgia Tech College of Computing for the purpose of aiding the visually impaired to type on their iPhone. The app works by having the user hold their iPhone with the screen facing away from them in landscape mode. Once the user is ready, six dots will appear on the screen; the dots will auto-rotate, meaning that you don’t have to hold your phone a particular way. The user then taps the dots using the traditional Braille method, according to GigaOM, to “type” out letters and words. The app will also say the letters that you type out loud to help increase accuracy. GigaOM says that as BrailleTouch is a free, open source app, even with the cost of an iPhone thrown in, it is still much cheaper to use than a traditional Braille machine. [/FONT]

[FONT=&amp]Source: iPhone app lets visually impaired type and text — Mobile Technology News[/FONT]