If you're reading this, it's been a while, and you're blind, you may be using a Tactile Pro Braille tablet from PCT.
Awarded for Innovation at CES2020, this elegant tablet for the blind allows people with visual impairments to use technology in a way never before possible. Essentially, the device is a braille keyboard and display that interfaces via Bluetooth with smart devices. Help visually impaired people access information like anyone else would.
It was created by PCT, a company that has been researching and developing braille technology for years. In 2008, the company created its first low-resolution prototype of the device. After spending a decade researching, writing code, developing algorithms, and finally creating an entirely new tool, the Tactile Pro tablet is here.
Take a look at the presentation video to better understand how it works.
The technology behind Tactile Pro
The blind tablet uses multilevel tactile output with a response rate of just 0,3 seconds. This essentially means that the loading time of a web page is equivalent to one third of a second.
The system runs on an Android operating system that can generate page information in voice, braille, and even braille images. If you are browsing with your tablet and come across an image, the tablet recreates the image in low-resolution braille.
PCT created both Tactile Pro and Tactile Edu. The Edu version was created specifically for learning braille. It's a tablet that makes learning braille easier than ever.
The tablet works in various languages, all obviously translated into Braille. The user also has the option to type in braille and have the content automatically translated into a corresponding language.
Through the use of the Tactile Pro blind tablet, users can browse the Internet, edit documents, play games or send instant messages.
The device has an integrated memory capable of holding up to over 100.000 Braille books, so it can essentially also be used as an e-reader.
Another very interesting touch display was recently presented, but Tactile Pro is the first mass device to integrate this technology.
