An interactive and multi-functional refreshable Braille device for the visually impaired

Although visually impaired people are generally considered to be dependent and helpless people, they actually share the same characteristics as other people. Thanks to the Braille alphabet, which has been developed to reduce inequality of opportunity to minimum, their lives become a little bit easier. Besides Braille alphabet, there are many devices and software developed for visually impaired people. In this study, a readable, vocalized and refreshable Braille device, which can ease the lives of visually impaired people, has been developed. The results of the tests on this device with 20 visually-impaired people whose ages ranged between 5 and 15 and who do not know the Braille alphabet indicated the usability rate of this device to be 81.8%. The usability rate of the device was found to be 97.16% in the tests with 30 visually-impaired people whose ages ranged between 10 and 33 and who know the Braille alphabet. The durability test of the device indicated that Braille cells worked with 100% efficiency in the trials from 50 characters to 4000 characters. The device was superior both in terms of features and 35% cheaper compared to the ones available on the market. Besides, it was determined that USB connection transmitted data faster compared to the Bluetooth connection. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.