Blind people can already use Braille to learn words, and also use voice-assisted software such as screen readers to communicate through voice. However, there is very limited tool to help the blinds learn and understand graphical information (Such as: geometric knowledge in mathematics, circuit knowledge in physics, and meridian distribution in medical knowledge). This research reviewed sense of touch and tactile displays, studied tactile cognition for blind people, and analyzed the mechanism of blind people's spatial tactile cognition. Then a graphical tactile display was designed and developed, followed by a set of user study to prove its usability. The device adopts an innovative structural design to achieve good tactile cognitive experience with low-cost integration. It not only can dynamically generate Braille and rich tactile graphical information, but also can be used as an effective learning tool.

visually impaired people  /  tactile graphics  /  graphical tactile cognition  /  graphical tactile display