Prototype Implementation of Innovative Braille Translator for the Visually Impaired With Hearing Deficiency

1. Introduction

In 1821 a blind Frenchman Louis Braille invented a writing system to help blind people read and write (Choi et al., 2004; Fritz & Barner, 1999; Fukumoto & Tonomura, 1997), later nomenclature of his name. Now engineers invented many modern techniques in different wings of life, but blind peoples are still facing problems related to traditional lifestyle. They still use traditional Braille set-up for the purpose reading and understanding content of materials or books etc. As per Fig 1, (Wikipedia, n.d.a) Braille consists of a cell of six raised dots arranged in two columns of three dots, which the user can read by feeling using a finger (Fritz & Barner, 1999; Fukumoto & Tonomura, 1997), (Ng et al., 1999). The Braille system is used worldwide by blind people and has also been translated in other languages. Braille is a series of raised dots that can be read with the fingers by people who are blind or whose eyesight is not enough for reading printed material. General people who are not visually impaired ordinarily read Braille with their eyes (Choi et al., 2004), (Fukumoto & Tonomura, 1997), (Ng et al., 1999). In Fig 2, (Wikipedia, n.d.b) we have shown the different alphabets overview structure in Braille. The visually impaired people who can touch and feel objects around them to picture their surroundings their finger tactile receptors get exceptionally well developed. This allows them to be able to feel details sighted people barely notice. Braille is not a language, but it is a code by which other languages may be written and read device (Blenkhorn, 1995; Blenkhorn, 1997; Lahiri et al., 2005). The standard cells have one to six dots. The dots are arranged in two parallel columns of three positions each shows the representation of the English alphabet in Braille. This in turn makes the blind people independent and well educated. Blind people play a vital role in the development of the society and without consideration of the blind gross improvement of the community is not possible. There is a clear need for a device which can overcome these obstacles for the blind (Matsuda et al., 2007; Moore & Murray, 2001).

Figure 1.

Basic Braille Structure

Figure 2.

Different Alphabets and Numeric Special Character Overview in Braille Structure (Wikipedia, n.d.b)