THE TACTOBOOK: A PORTABLE ELECTRONIC TACTILE READING DEVICE FOR THE BLIND

This paper introduces a novel concept on reading assistive technologies for the blind/visually impaired: the TactoBook, a system that is able to translate entire text books to Braille code and to reproduce them in portable electronic touch stimulation devices. The TactoBook consists of a computer-based system that translates fast and automatically any text book into Braille. The Braille version of the book is then stored in a USB memory drive which is later inserted and reproduced in a compact, lightweight and highly-portable tactile display. The user freely explores the information displayed and is able to read comfortably the book without carrying the burdensome tactile print one.