MIT students develop new 6dot braille labelmaker prototype

A group of students at MIT have just unveiled a new prototype of a braille labelmaker / printer, the 6dot. Though not the first, the MIT group's model is apparently more advanced, easier to use, and cheaper than currently available models. Designed with the blind and visually impaired in mind, the labelmaker features an around the neck strap, and six buttons (for each of the dots of a braille character), allowing quick production of accurate labels, including contractions. The internal processor of the device can store up to 16 characters, and "prints" the characters onto adhesive label paper, which the user can then affix for easy identification of household items, such as medications, canned goods, and so on. Though it's still in prototype phase, it's possible the device could cost as little as $200 when it does hit the market.

[Via Coolest Gadgets]

[B3astofthe3ast Posted Sep 26th 2009 4:47AM]

It would be soooo messed if someone switched around the labels on stuff...

[B3astofthe3ast Posted Sep 26th 2009 4:48AM]

messed up* god dammit.

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 26th 2009 8:47AM]

.: .. :: :.::: :.: .:::.: :.:::: .:::: ....:... :..::: .::: .:::::

[Smart People Play Tuba Posted Sep 26th 2009 8:59AM]

I'm sorry . . . could you speak up?

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 26th 2009 4:49AM]

Looks like the creepy bio-console from Cronenberg's "eXistenZ".

[Fox Dude Posted Sep 28th 2009 10:09AM]

First thing that came to my mind.

[MikeZ Posted Sep 26th 2009 5:45AM]

Seems more comfortable than similar devices.

Although they could beef it up to print a second row or regular letters as well.

[Ducman69 Posted Sep 26th 2009 5:50AM]

This is great if you don't have any teeth to spare.

[EI8HT Posted Sep 26th 2009 6:58AM]

of course she has teeth to spare...she uses sensodyne

[Smart People Play Tuba Posted Sep 26th 2009 9:00AM]

@ Ducman

I, ahem, SEE what you did there.

[spiky32kobe Posted Sep 26th 2009 6:26AM]

when i was younger my parents bought me a regular label maker and i decided to label some stuff for my bro(hes blind). i just asked him what he wanted labeled.. printed out a label... placed it on his braille machine and made him type out whatever he wanted labeled.. it worked! And all it really cost me was the $20 my parents spent on my label maker(which was pretty useless by the way lol) and my brothers machine of course... Im pretty sure anyone who really needs this already owns a regular braille machine, why not just use that instead?

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 26th 2009 7:28AM]

I lived with one of the girls who invented this last year and let me be the first to say, it's incredible. It's won thousands of dollars in countless competitions and really does fix a current problem.

You'll find that oftentimes blind people are very self-reliant and independent, wanting to do as many things as they can by themselves. With this labeler they can, faster and more efficiently than with other labelers (which are either hacked versions of Dymo labelers or labelers that can only be used by sighted people).

Last year we printed dozens of these labels and put them all over our dorm, it's a pretty robust tool and it's very useful. Congratulations guys!

[Godfather Posted Sep 26th 2009 7:44AM]

what is this blind tech contest? I might have a winning idea for next year.

[Bad Beaver Posted Sep 26th 2009 8:29AM]

Giving autonomy to disabled people = Great stuff!

[MikeZ Posted Sep 26th 2009 11:03AM]

Pretty much. Makes their daily life easier and saves them time.

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 26th 2009 9:05AM]

Cat got your Dymo?

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 27th 2009 12:45PM]

It has a 16-character buffer. It is designed to print in real-time, but the buffer allows you to type at your own pace, temporarily exceeding the capability of the mechanical printer. This is one of its key advantages over the current typewriter-like models, where you must input at a speed that is much slower and less comfortable.

The labeler can print any length label, but you can type as far as 16 characters ahead of where the printer is currently at.

[elangomatt Posted Sep 26th 2009 11:25AM]

This is a great idea and I am happy that it is going to be a relatively cheap device, but why can this thing only remember 16 characters? Maybe this is a mechanical device because I would think they could slap a little extra flash memory in there if it was a computer type device for not much more $$. I don't claim to know anything about adaptive products or anything though so sorry if I am completely off base.

[Special Agent Steve Posted Sep 26th 2009 12:51PM]

Ouch.

[edna Posted Sep 26th 2009 1:35PM]

Then that would be listening, not reading.

[bleep Posted Sep 26th 2009 1:53PM]

@Billy

Your parents must be so proud.

[(Unverified) Posted Oct 4th 2009 2:43AM]

Is everyone who doesn't instantly embrace any form of technology a Luddite in your eyes? I just want to confirm the form of Web Troll that you are.

[sberfield Posted Sep 26th 2009 2:21PM]

I have a friend who would love this.

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 26th 2009 3:03PM]

Has anyone thought about adding a robust barcode scanner to this and hooking it up to a UPC database? Print Braile labels automatically for anything with a UPC code on it...

[mynk Posted Sep 27th 2009 5:45PM]

how do blind people find the UPC code?

[Laeraren Posted Sep 27th 2009 7:25AM]

That shit looks like it was in eXistenZ

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 28th 2009 11:41AM]

The "dirty" secret is that only a very small number of blind people in the U.S. know how to read Braille. Something like 15 percent.
Yeah, Braille literacy is a problem.
Cool device, though.

[(Unverified) Posted Sep 29th 2009 2:48PM]

Dan -- see this quote from the 6dot website:
"As suggested by the parents and teachers whom we met at the CTEVH conference, the 6dot could have a significant impact on a child’s literary development. Teachers discussed their common practice of affixing Braille labels onto every item in a classroom to create a Braille-rich environment and facilitate learning."
This device could change that statistic!