TEXTURE – BASED ILLUSTRATION

FOR BRAILLE EBOOK READER

- Mili Eugine

PDP 301 DE

ABSTRACT

For my course project, I have decided to attempt to improve an EBook Reader for the blind,

known commonly as the Braille EBook. The existing design of the EBook consists of a

tablet (much like an iPad) which contains plastic pegs that eject out of the interface’s screen,

portraying Braille characters. Other designs are centered around piezoelectricity, which uses

electricity generated by pressure, or electroactive polymers, which are materials that change

shape when brought into contact with electricity. I would like to add to this device one more

feature – that of illustration, combined with the feeling of texture. Unlike existing Braille

illustrations, however, my idea proposes to use sketches and paintings in relief, using the

same interface.

I have chosen to investigate this field of interaction as I am a person who loves to read. I

could never compromise reading for an audio book, and as research shows, there are many

visually impaired people who share the same ideology. My research for my semester project,

Storybook Labs, has also helped me realize the importance of reading, especially for children,

and I could not imagine denying anyone the opportunity to embark on this great adventure.

The design would explore haptic technology which would provide tactile feedback to the end

user. Hypothetically, it should allow a visually disabled child to “see” illustrations on a book,

by feeling the relief and projections created by the interface, along with also feeling the

texture of each picture. For example, in a book about dogs, the child would feel the fur of

different breeds of dogs, or a book on materials would cover steel, cotton, wool etc.

PREVIOUS RESEARCH

There have already been many design concepts and prototypes for the design of a Braille

EBook, although none have ventured into the concept of illustration yet. One of the recent

endeavours was that made by the four member team including Seon-Keun Park, Byung-Min

Woo, Sun-Hye Woo and Jin-Sun Park in 2009. The team proposed an EBook that worked not

on plastic pegs, but using electoactive polymers, which when charged through electricity, can

change the shape of parts of the screen. Thus, Braille letters were portrayed on the screen.

Another team from the University of Illinois, which consisted of Nick Rosenwinkel, Heajin

Hur and Sungjin Park, designed a Braille EBook reader in the fall of 2011. They used plastic

kegs in their device, as well as an antenna and signal processing circuit that would allow

users to download books. A microcontroller was programmed for users to read the titles of

the books from memory and display them one at a time so they can search through and select

books. It also gave audio alerts when a download was complete and when the battery was

running low.

DESIGN PROPOSAL

Haptic Technology

The term Haptic is derived from the Greek "haptesthai," meaning to touch. Haptic is the

science and physiology of the sense of touch. It explores tactile feedback and produces

responses based on the sense of touch. One of the earliest uses of this technology was in

aircraft simulations. It is also used in video games, the simplest of which produces vibrations

during a car crash game.

Electroactive Polymers

A polymer is a large molecule composed of repeating structural units. Electroactive

polymers are polymers that exhibit a change in size or shape when stimulated by an electric

field. These polymers were used for “refreshable Braille displays”, which uses an EAP

(ElectroActive Polymer) actuator arranged in an array form. Rows of electrodes on one side

of an EAP film and columns on the other activate individual elements in the array. Each

element is mounted with a Braille dot and is lowered by applying a voltage across the

thickness of the selected element, causing local thickness reduction. Under computer control,

dots would be activated to create tactile patterns of highs and lows representing the

information to be read.

Electrovibration

Vibrations used by mobile phones are produced by mechanical actuators. Electrovibration is

an alternative method to this form of tactile feedback, as it does not vibrate using mechanical

actuators, but by controlling electrostatic friction between an instrumented touch surface and

the user’s fingers. This electrovibration actually deforms the skin of the user’s fingers to

stimulate the feel of friction, which in turn gives the user a more realistic interpretation of the

virtual material. Unlike other forms of touch technology, electrovibration does not require

intermediate elements, but creates the tactile sensation by directly actuating the fingers. This

technology uses a transparent electrode, placed over a glass plate coated by an insulator, on

which the fingers move. The transparent electrode is excited with a periodic electrical signal

V(t) applied to connectors. When an input signal of sufficient amplitude is provided, an

electrically induced attractive force fe develops between a sliding finger and the underlying

electrode, increasing the dynamic friction fr between the finger and the panel surface. Because

the amplitude of fe varies with the signal amplitude, changes in friction fr will also be

periodic, resulting in periodic skin deformations as the finger slides on the panel. These

deformations are perceived as vibration or friction and can be controlled by modulating the

amplitude and frequency of the applied signal. However, only fingers in motion perceive this

effect. The lower the frequency applied to the stimuli, the rougher it is perceived. Therefore,

smooth interfaces, like silk would require high frequencies. Companies such as TeslaTouch

and Senseg use this technology.

Braille EBook Design

My Braille EBook aims to use a combination of these technologies. It will use EAPs

(ElectroActive Polymers) for the Braille display. The EAP actuator is arranged in an array

form. Electrodes on rows and columns on either side of the EAP film activate individual

elements in the tray. Each element is mounted with a Braille dot, which is lowered by

applying voltage to it, which causes thickness reduction. Using computer software, a series of

highs and lows would be created in order to write out the complete text in Braille.

The EBook will use the same function of the EAPs for illustration. Using the individual

elements mounted with Braille dots, it will pass voltage to a combined set of elements close

to each other, to create a protruding outline of the illustration. Thus, if a plank of wood were

to be displayed, the outline of the plank would be projected in relief on the EBook, thus

allowing the visually challenged person to trace the shape of the plank using his fingers, by

merely following the highs and lows created by the EAPs.

The illustration will also contain another feature – texture. This will use the electrovibration

technology. The main screen of the EBook will have a stretchable, transparent electrode sheet

placed over it. When the EAP actuators provide the protruding outline of the illustration, say,

the plank, a low frequency will be passed to the electrode sheet, which will deform the skin

on the user’s moving fingers, causing the user to feel the hard, rough texture of the wooden

plank, thus, essentially, allowing him to “see” it.

Block Diagram

Power Supply

Haptic Sensor

Main Controller

Braille Interface

Electrode Sheet

Memory Wireless Receiver

Conclusion

The new design proposal for the Braille EBook provides visually challenged individuals with

a new form of reading and private entertainment that has been denied them over the years. As

Tiri, a 12-year old, partially sighted girl in the United Kingdom mentioned, blind people felt

more “normal” when they could sit with an EBook in their hand and quietly read through it;

they “just wanted to do what other people could do”. With this EBook, they do not require

the use of a monotonous, robotic voice to read stories out to them, but can enjoy books in

private. With this is the added advantage of illustration as well, which aids their imagination

in producing images and scenes of the story. The addition of texture also will allow them to

explore the illustrations more clearly. This is especially true for young readers of Braille, to

teach them the language through a haptic medium, as well as to bring awareness to them

about the world at large. Tiri ends by saying, “[Reading] is something everyone should be

able to do”.

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