Touch Sight camera for the blind displays photos using Braille

Gadgets for the visually impaired are nothing new, but the Touch Sight camera is one of the most unique we've seen. Designed to be held against the forehead, the camera doesn't have an LCD, but instead displays a three-dimensional representation of the image on a built-in Braille screen and records three seconds of audio to assist users in locating and managing shots. Just a concept for now, but let's hope it makes it to market -- it seems like it'd be a fun toy for the sighted as well.

[PGP-Protector @ Aug 13th 2008 7:50PM]

I wonder what the resolution of this will be ?
I've seen 3D Prints of images before, so that the blind / visually impaired can "see" / Feel the images, and that worked ok, given they were using around 300 DPI by a 3D Printer.

[FoxDie @ Aug 13th 2008 7:52PM]

i want a braille video camera

[jupiterthunder @ Aug 13th 2008 9:34PM]

That would be interesting.

I wonder if this camera will have any way of relating depth, or if it will just relate rudimentary (not insignificant) details. Would I be able to tell that Jenny and Phil are standing in front of something or just that Jenny and Phil are beside each other.

[FoxDie @ Aug 13th 2008 7:52PM]

I want a braille video camera

[FoxDie @ Aug 13th 2008 7:53PM]

sorry for the double comment

[FoxDie @ Aug 13th 2008 7:53PM]

Low rank me if you must

[Flashpoint @ Aug 13th 2008 8:39PM]

they already did.

I don't see the point of the ranking system at all.
Its not fun anymore cause you can't get "Highest Ranked" - which also exposes the ridiculousness of ranking comments at all.

You make a mistake and double post...some jerk gets on behind you and automaticaly attacks your double post as if it was an intent to spam the site. But unlike the majority of blogs I've seen, there is no way to edit, or delete a comment which leaves you open to attacks based on grammar or other accidents. If engadget really cared, they'd let us edit.

I didn't downrate you BTW. The rest of "them" did...just like they are doing to me right now. WHATEVER.

[J-Rad @ Aug 13th 2008 9:04PM]

@whats-your-face thats above me

I cant see why anyone would get soooo worked up about a commenting system. Your life isn't if you get low ranked. Maybe it will make you more careful next time ;]

[Stevo @ Aug 13th 2008 9:08PM]

@ Flashpoint

My last post bashing you got a "Highest Ranked"

[J-Rad @ Aug 14th 2008 12:41AM]

Awe, no one got the hidden joke in my comment... "I cant SEE why you can get mad..."

Disappointing :\

[Shaun @ Aug 14th 2008 12:02PM]

@ J-Rad

We get it, why can't you SEE that it wasn't funny....

[Dan S. @ Aug 13th 2008 8:00PM]

Bump, bump, no bump, bump, three vertical bumps, four bumps in a square...

[jupiterthunder @ Aug 13th 2008 8:25PM]

3 comments that are even remotely meaningful so far. I wonder if that's because no one gets the concept or because engadget readers aren't sensitive to the needs of anyone not exactly like them.

[kyle allen @ Aug 13th 2008 8:29PM]

you havent been reading engadget comments verry long have you.

[kyle allen @ Aug 13th 2008 8:31PM]

yours is actually the least related comment so far

[Flashpoint @ Aug 13th 2008 8:52PM]

I sense a little bit of shame injected into the conversation????

[jupiterthunder @ Aug 13th 2008 9:31PM]

@Kyle Allen

Which makes yours even worse, right. We can go on, but I'm sure you are just as aware as I am that if I'm making a post pointing out how pointless the other posts are, mine has to be at least as pointless.

But I do appreciate the help.

[jupiterthunder @ Aug 13th 2008 9:42PM]

Shame? Not from me. I'll freely admit that I don't fully get the concept. The details that come "after the jump" aren't really details either. I hit another referring link on it as well. I'm just left with more questions than answers. For instance. I take the picture, then I download it (which is obviously going to be necessary b/c there would be only so much storage). How then do I "view" the picture again. Do I upload it or is there going to be some sort of reader that will display the picture using the same technology? If not, why would I (the blind person) desire to take the pictures? I suppose there is the benefit of being able to snap a photo and feeling what the environment was like at that joyous moment. I'm sure those are questions that can be considered and answered as development continues. This has to start somewhere if it's going to go anywhere.

I gotta go check the Apple fire post for new comments :)

[Toadlet @ Aug 13th 2008 8:27PM]

Touch Sight - Apply directly to the forehead.
Touch Sight - Apply directly to the forehead.

[will @ Aug 13th 2008 8:43PM]

How many fps w/ crysis can I get with this thing?

[hiko36 @ Aug 13th 2008 8:50PM]

None... it will explode in your face upon realization that you, sir, are an idiot...

[will @ Aug 13th 2008 8:54PM]

there's no need to be a hater, dude.

[Chris Macdonald @ Aug 13th 2008 9:12PM]

Yeah hiko it's funny, shut the fuck up!

[hiko36 @ Aug 13th 2008 9:41PM]

Really? Crysis jokes are funny? Hmm... guess I grew up on the wrong comedians...

[Colin Potter @ Aug 14th 2008 1:26AM]

@ will

he's not your dude, guy.

[Chris Macdonald @ Aug 14th 2008 10:41AM]

@hiko

jokes about anything can be funny, you just saw the word crysis and auto-flamed

[hiko36 @ Aug 14th 2008 4:29PM]

No... I saw that he was using the same "Can it play Crysis hur dur" comment and changing the words...

[Flashpoint @ Aug 13th 2008 8:53PM]

MAXIMUM DIMPLES!

[PuBeLeSs @ Aug 13th 2008 9:07PM]

true dpi

[Tehcaek @ Aug 13th 2008 9:22PM]

umm... its cool that they can see the pic in braille, but how are they going to take the picture in the first place

[Zorque @ Aug 13th 2008 9:45PM]

I imagine it'd work like a digital camera, where the "display" will let them know what they're taking a picture of.

[Mike @ Aug 13th 2008 11:15PM]

Yeah, but how will they know that they are in a situation where they should take a pic, are facing the right direction, composition is even remotely correct, etc.

Also, life isn't black and white... So unless those bumps can display shades of gray...

Maybe I don't get it, but braille is like binary, there is a bump, or there isn't. So how will this work? Will it adjust to average contrast of the scene and everything darker is a bump, and everything lighter is not?

I thing that must be awfully confusing, especially on the forehead... What when there is a change in lighting and the bumps go crazy while they adjust to the new contrast?

Really though, it seems like a great product. All the parts are cheep. Low resolution b/w sensor with no AA filter or quality control to speak of. Cheep lens (probably plastic, PROBABLY a Holga lens). No zoom or focusing mech to speak of.

Basically, the only thing that will cost any money will be the screen. It MIGHT be VGA resolution B/W, so 256megs of storage will do it just awesome. Built in none-the-less, because there is no need to transfer the images. What would they print on? And do LCD's to Braille?

So, the parts that make the cheapest Chinese cameras look like luxury, and a super-duper-high-tech VGA braille screen. It will probably go for a thousand or more... Soooo... basically they are trying to sap all your money...

[Decoy @ Aug 13th 2008 11:13PM]

Are those playstation symbols?

[Andrew @ Aug 14th 2008 12:00AM]

yeah they have a braille-like camera. Except the screen is on your tongue, which would be a lot more sensitive than your forehead. I think it was featured in WIRED or the show the WIRED use to broadcast on PBS.

[Anunnaki @ Aug 14th 2008 3:09AM]

Wow, that's probably the stupidest thing I've ever seen. So instead of an LCD screen displaying an image, there's a "braille translator" that tries to display an image with a series of bumps that can be felt, so that a blind person, who may or may not have ever seen before, can try to imagine what it would look like.

Then, they don't even get to see the picture.

BECAUSE THEY'RE BLIND.

[macserv @ Aug 14th 2008 4:47PM]

Um, no, it does enable the blind to have a kind of vision.

This is actually old news, but the device was for the tongue. A camera on the forehead converted images to high-contrast greyscale and translated that to a grid of raised/lowered bumps on a device on the tongue.

With surprisingly little practice, the subject was able to "see" somewhat normally, as the brain reassigned vision functions to the input from those nerves. They could walk around, avoid obstacles, even throw a ball into a trash can with a lot of accuracy.

[Peter Meijer @ Aug 14th 2008 3:47AM]

As long as this device is not on the market, you might instead try The vOICe Android to *hear* live images on your new Google Android phone:

http://www.seeingwithsound.com/android.htm

[kal326 @ Aug 14th 2008 12:52PM]

"The sound file and picture document combine to become a touchable photo that is saved in the device and can be uploaded to share with others–and downloaded to other Touch Sight cameras.”

I sme....feel a new market for porn!

[dvheil @ Aug 14th 2008 7:22PM]

Oh that sounds just dandy...How will they know where to point the camera? ;)

[The Beef Machine (lala lala la) @ Aug 15th 2008 2:51AM]

I bet that camera would be fun to read in a strip club -- ZING!

[siostra-rana @ Aug 19th 2008 10:39AM]

Oh man!! If only they could see this....oh wait...

[Kalos @ Aug 19th 2008 11:37AM]

Actually, this concept has been around for a while. Another guy invented a video camera that hooked up to a chair that had thousands of small vibrating points in the backrest. The camera was hooked up to a computer that "translated" the different images into a map that was displayed using the vibrations. Stronger or weaker vibrations based on the reflection, brightness or other criteria and the vibrations can move from point to point throughout the backrest, therefore making moving video possible. The blind subject would sit in the chair and, after a few days of his body training itself to it, he could make out details in remarkable clarity. He could describe how a person was dressed, how a room was decorated, and would even react to movement, for example reflexively ducking his head when another person would toss a ball at the camera. The human body has the ability to take the sensory input from the nerves in the skin and interpret those signals in the visual cortex of the brain, which causes the person to actually see images. Fascinating stuff.