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blind posts

Silicon Touch: an iPhone case for the visually impaired

by Joseph L. Flatley posted Dec 1st 2008 @ 4:58PM

The iPhone has never seemed a likely contender as a smart phone for the blind (it's certainly not designed for touch typing), which makes this case by designer Bruno Fosi all the more impressive. The Silicon Touch covers the phone's screen and features a selection of bas-relief buttons that correspond to menu items in a custom app, allowing those with diminished sight access to all the phone's functions, including multi-touch and finger flick scrolling. Right now it's just a concept, but we're hoping to see this one become a reality sooner rather than later.

[Via Yanko Design]

Blind Turin residents to be guided by GPS

by Donald Melanson posted Dec 19th 2006 @ 10:17PM

According to Britain's Telegraph newspaper, a select few blind residents of Turin, Italy have been tagged with GPS receivers to help them find their way around more easily, with additional individuals set to join the trials in the coming months. Unlike some other GPS-based systems for the blind (like the one pictured here), the one being put to use in Turin, dubbed Easy Walk, doesn't allow individuals to be completely independent, instead requiring them to phone a call center on their cellphone for assistance. The operator then simply tracks the individual's location using the GPS receiver and guides them to their destination over the phone. On the upside, the system will be free to all users, with costs payed for by the government. Eventually, the program will include all 3,000 blind residents of the Piedmont region of Italy, although they won't just be confined to strolling around their hometown, with the system able to watch their back as they travel across all of Italy and France.

[Via Textually.org]

Braille via SMS: Samsung's Touch Messenger

by Chris Ziegler posted Jul 3rd 2006 @ 4:11PM

The Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA) has just announced their IDEA 2006 awards for excellence in design, and paddle-shaped phones appear to be all the rage this year -- Samsung has been tapped in the "Design Explorations" category with their oddball Touch Messenger device for the blind. Typically, SMS-capable devices for the blind have involved text to speech, which, as IDSA points out, is a bummer for privacy not to mention generally defeating the purpose of text messaging to begin with. No word on production prospects, but IDSA does mention that the Touch Messenger "gives blind users in China an affordable, user-friendly cell phone experience on par with sighted users," so it sounds like we can expect this or a similar device in the pipeline -- at least for China.

[Via Telecoms Korea]