Electronic Braille Document Reader

This paper presents an investigation into developing a portable Braille device which would allow visually impaired individuals to read electronic documents by actuating Braille text on a finger. Braille books tend to be bulky in size due to the minimum size requirements for each Braille cell. E-books can be read in Braille using refreshable Braille displays connected to a computer. However, the refreshable Braille displays are expensive, bulky and are not portable. These factors restrict blind and visually impaired individuals from accessing much of the literature which is not available in Braille.
The proposed device overcomes the problem of carrying bulky Braille books by allowing multiple E-books to be saved in a portable memory device. Translating text to Braille pattern gives the blind access to non-Braille literature. The single Braille cell design reduces the bulk of the device allowing it to be portable and reducing the cost.
A prototype was developed to prove Braille could be read by actuating Braille characters on a finger. The device read text from an SD card, translated it into Braille characters and actuated the Braille pattern which blind volunteers were able to read.
The investigation confirmed the feasibility of the Electronic Braille document reader. It also proved the theory that Braille could be read from a single Braille cell by the patterns actuating on a finger instead of the finger sliding across an already formed Braille pattern.