Multimedia Vision for the Visually Impaired through 2D Multiarray Braille Display

Seondae Kim,Eun-Soo Park,Eun-Seok Ryu

doi:10.3390/app9050878

Abstract

Visual impairments cause very limited and low vision, leading to difficulties in processing information such as obstacles, objects, multimedia contents (e.g., video, photographs, and paintings), and reading in outdoor and indoor environments. Therefore, there are assistive devices and aids for visually impaired (VI) people. In general, such devices provide guidance or some supportive information that can be used along with guide dogs, walking canes, and braille devices. However, these devices have functional limitations; for example, they cannot help in the processing of multimedia contents such as images and videos. Additionally, most of the available braille displays for the VI represent the text as a single line with several braille cells. Although these devices are sufficient to read and understand text, they have difficulty in converting multimedia contents or massive text contents to braille. This paper describes a methodology to effectively convert multimedia contents to braille using 2D braille display. Furthermore, this research also proposes the transformation of Digital Accessible Information SYstem (DAISY) and electronic publication (EPUB) formats into 2D braille display. In addition, it introduces interesting research considering efficient communication for the VI. Thus, this study proposes an eBook reader application for DAISY and EPUB formats, which can correctly render and display text, images, audios, and videos on a 2D multiarray braille display. This approach is expected to provide better braille service for the VI when implemented and verified in real-time.

Highlights

In 2015, among the global population of 7.33 billion people, 36 million were classified as legally blind, about 217 million had moderate to severe visual impairment, and 188 million had mild vision impairment
This study developed an efficient 2D multiarray braille display that can replace heavy and inefficient devices and express the content and clearly for the visually impaired (VI) users
This study proposes a 2D multiarray braille display device for the VI

Summary

Introduction

In 2015, among the global population of 7.33 billion people, 36 million were classified as legally blind, about 217 million had moderate to severe visual impairment, and 188 million had mild vision impairment. The number of people who lose sight increases proportionally with increase in either population or the age of the people [1]. According to the US Census Bureau, the population of the United States is increasing every year [2] and, as it grows older, the number of diseases affecting vision increases [3]. It shows that, as aged populations grow, there is a growing number of vision disorders.

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