Intro Blog Post: Binging Braille!
Platon B -
Hello everyone!
My name is Tosha, and many of you may know me as a high-school senior at BASIS Ahwatukee. My project is about making an affordable and refreshable braille display. Now, those words can sound pretty confusing together, so I can explain it further. Braille is the language many millions of blind individuals use to communicate. It consists of (usually) 6 dots arranged in a 3×2 grid, and visually impaired individuals can use these bumps to read a text. I’m making a refreshable braille display, so, unlike a standard static braille book, it refreshes these dots. A good analogy would be a kindle; it’s like a book but the pages refresh. The final part is affordable, and this is one of the most important parts. As much as I love the idea, I wasn’t the first to think of a refreshable braille display. However, current ones on the market are grossly overpriced, ranging between 3 and 30 thousand dollars, a price many blind people cannot afford.
I first decided to pursue this when I stumbled on the braille section at the Tempe Library. The braille books were enormous, weighing in at 8 pounds! This seemed striking to me, as someone who simply wanted to read the Frozen story would have to trudge around such an object. My site placement is at Tempe Elementary School District, where I’m working with vision experts to create the most ergonomic and affordable device. By the end, I hope to make a fully-fledged prototype that works.
Thanks!