International Journal of Computer Trends and Technology Volume 68 Issue 3, 80-83, March 2020

ISSN: 2231-2803 / https://doi.org/10.14445/22312803/IJCTT-V68I3P116 © 2020 Seventh Sense Research Group®

Original Article

Design and Implementation of Digital Braille

System for the Visually Impaired
K V Shalini1, Keerthi B2, Manasa B3, Padmashree4, Ashritha K G5
1
Assistant Professor, Department of Computer Science and Engineering , K S School of Engineering and Management,
Bangalore, Karnataka
2345
Undergraduate scholars, Department of Computer Science and Engineering , K S School of Engineering and
Management, Bangalore, Karnataka

Received Date: 17 February 2020

Revised Date: 01 April 2020
Accepted Date: 05 April 2020

Abstract - According to World Health Organization Since the invention of smartphones and other internet-
(WHO), there are approximately 2.2 billion people who enabled devices, there has been a drastic change in how we
are visually impaired in the world (Oct 2019). Braille is a communicate with each other. The internet has certainly
tactile writing system used by people who are visually made many aspects of our lives easier, but for those with a
impaired and is typically written on embossed paper. disability, digital exclusion is still a real problem. One of
Reading is the most important form of learning. According the major problems is the accessibility of specialized
to Varao Sousa [11], reading reduces mind wandering and devices and resources. At present, companies mainly focus
increases understanding. For visually impaired people, on the most active users who usually have stronger
reading refers to braille reading through touch. In this purchasing power and a higher level of digital literacy.
digital age, where everything is done online, the visually Users with any type of disability are often overlooked in
impaired have a hard time trying to access digital content this market-driven and technology-oriented approach.
or read electronic documents. Digital braille or electronic Visually impaired people have a tough time finding good
braille is a way in which the visually impaired can access reading materials in accessible formats. Internet, the
information using electronic braille displays where the biggest repository of information and reading materials, is
digital content on the screen is converted into braille and mostly inaccessible for visually impaired people. Even
is made available for use. Many electronic braille systems though a visually impaired person can use screen reading
are printed onto paper, and this form of braille is software, it does not make the surfing experience very
susceptible to wear and tear. Most electronic braille smooth because the sites are not designed accordingly.
systems used are very expensive, especially in developing
countries such as India. Hence, we are proposing a digital Nowadays, screen reading software has revolutionised
braille system that is affordable and easy to use. The the way the visually impaired obtain computer skills.
digital braille system designed converts digital text from Software such as JAWS (Job Access with Speech) enables
documents to braille using python script. The system is the visually impaired to read text content displayed on
driven by electromagnetic push-pull solenoids connected computer screens by using a braille display or listening
to an Arduino Uno board. The vertical movements of the software. Screen readers help in improving computer
solenoids represent the braille characters. Each character literacy and allow greater access to the resources that are
is read, and the corresponding dots representing the available on the internet. Contrarily, this software is very
character in the braille alphabet is displayed. The system expensive due to the high cost of software licences, with
can also be a handy tool for teaching and training visually each JAWS licence costing upwards of Rs 28,000. Most
impaired people. visually impaired people in India come from rural and
poorly developed areas and have a hard time affording
Keywords - Digital braille, Solenoids, Arduino, Visually such technology. The obstructions faced by disabled
impaired, Braille, Teaching, Training, Digitalization. people is determined by environmental barriers in society,
so if we want to help sight-impaired users engage with the
I. INTRODUCTION world around them, digital care is vital. Hence, in this
Nearly 40 million people in India are visually paper, we propose a reliable Digital Braille System that
impaired, which is 20% of the world’s visually impaired can aid visually impaired people to read digital content
population. Braille is a form of reading and writing for easily and affordably.
visually impaired people that was developed in 1824 by
Louis Braille. Visually impaired people rely on their sense
of hearing and sense of touch to read and write. In this
information age where everything is done with a click of a
button, visually impaired people face many challenges.

This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

 K V Shalini et al. / IJCTT, 68(3), 80-83, 2020

refreshable Braille display developed had been designed

for multiple Braille cells. The system used Arduino that
was pre-programmed with English and Devanagari text to
actuate braille cells consisting of 6 light-emitting diodes.
The use of LEDs was inefficient and impractical for the
visually impaired. The system implemented was not
portable due to the use of many components. Awang
Damit in [8] developed an education tool for the visually
impaired where the input was taken from the user, and the
corresponding braille code in either English or Arabic was
conveyed using solenoid pins. The system had three main
components—input unit, control unit and output unit.
Microcontroller PIC16F877A was used as the control unit.
The output unit consisted of 6 pin solenoids and Liquid
Crystal Display (LCD). The model implemented did not
take large inputs at once and was incapable of mapping the
Fig. 1 An example of braille cell characters to braille at a convenient pace. The use of
PIC16F877A microcontroller is expensive and
Braille cells are built as rectangular cell blocks inconvenient when compared to Arduino microcontrollers
containing six dots. The braille cells have raised dots that which are easy to use and program. The proposed system
represent the corresponding braille alphabet. The digital in [9] was based on the concept of one Braille cell since
braille system implemented in this paper can be used to Braille reading is done character by character. Marcelo
convert text from documents into braille. The braille cells Bernart Schmidt developed a system with integrated
are constructed using six electromagnetic push-pull hardware and software to provide digital access to braille
solenoids representing the braille alphabet. These for visually impaired people. The Braille cell was formed
solenoids are connected to an Arduino Uno board which is by six PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) servos with six
the microcontroller for the system. This device can also be steel needles at its axes. Servos were actuated by an
used as a trainer kit in the education sector to teach Braille
to visually impaired people. Arduino based platform that receives the characters to
be represented on the cell through the serial port of a
computer. The single braille cell was big, which is not
portable. The system was customized for each user, which
was expensive. The braille display developed in [12]
consisted of six piezoelectric linear motors, a cover frame,
a body frame, and a circuit frame. The actuator used in this
was piezoelectric linear motors. The braille display system
consisted of the user interface including the input device,
the braille control board that converted the input
information into the control signal to the braille cells, and
the braille display unit providing tactile information.
Actuation of piezoelectric linear motor requires a PWM
signal of 60V supplied to the piezoelectric material. Such a
high voltage is likely to cause an increase in the size and
cost of the controller.

Fig. 2 The braille representation of english alphabet III. DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION
In this section, the working of the proposed digital
II. LITERATURE SURVEY braille system is explained. The system has three main
The refreshable braille display model developed in [3] modules— text analysis module, python scripting module
used rotary actuators and stepper motors. The braille cell and Arduino character mapping module, as shown in fig. 4.
consisted of eight pins. Four stepper motors were used to The text file from a user is fed as input. The text analysis
control the pins. Each stepper motor was provided with its module compares the text given as input from the file to its
own driver IC. An 8051 microcontroller was used to equivalent English alphabet and numbers. The built-in
control the four stepper motors. The stepper motors used to libraries and file handling functions provided in python
draw a very high amount of current. The microcontroller programming are used to convert files into braille patterns.
cannot provide or handle this amount of current; hence the The programmed python script analyses the text, converts
driver IC is used. However, these are highly complicated it into simple, readable text and feeds the text letter by
and intense. The model proposed in [5] implemented a letter to the Arduino board. The Arduino microcontroller
refreshable Braille display controller that utilized Arduino maps the letters into corresponding braille characters. This
because it is easily programmable. The controller for the is called Arduino character mapping. The signals

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representing the braille alphabet is sent from the Arduino an input file is fed from the computer to the Arduino, it
to the respective solenoid pins. The braille script is converts the input file to individual braille characters and
displayed by the braille cell formed by the solenoids. Then gives an electric signal to the digital output pins. This
these patterns formed on braille cells are sensed by the electric signal switches on the MOSFET, which amplifies
fingertips of the visually impaired users. the current and allows electricity to pass through the
solenoids, causing them to move vertically up and down.
This changes the position of the dots forming the desired
patterns, which is then read by the user. An LCD is used to
display the characters being converted so that the device
can be used as a teaching tool for learning braille.

IV. CONCLUSION
The digital braille system achieved converts electronic
documents and other digital content into braille and helps
visually impaired people to read and access them easily. A
fully functional Digital Braille is successfully designed and
Fig. 3 Architecture of digital braille system
implemented using an Arduino board and push-pull
solenoids. The final prototype met all of the major design
specifications. The solenoids use less force which is
convenient for tactile reading. And also, Arduino is a
microcontroller-based platform that is easily
programmable and is a standalone system allowing for
portability. So, the system implemented with these
components is capable of reading text. The text that is read
is then actuated in braille form. The research done proved
the theory that Braille can be read from the braille cell
simply by placing the fingers due to the patterns actuating
Fig. 4 Modules of the digital braille system rather than sliding the fingers across the already formed
braille patterns. The digital braille system developed
The digital braille system has been designed using allows visually impaired people to access any electronic
electromagnetic push-pull solenoids and an Arduino UNO text easily and read on the move. This innovative
microcontroller board. The vertical movements of the prototype demonstrates that it is possible to create a digital
solenoids represent the braille characters. Solenoids are braille module at a reasonable price and improve the daily
used as actuators because of their quick operation and life of the visually impaired. The digital braille system
these useless forces, which is convenient for tactile reading. helps visually impaired people gain computer literacy. The
Solenoids are the most suitable actuators in terms of size, benefits gained would transform reading for the blind and
cost, simplified installation and ease of use. The six encourage digital consumption among the young.
solenoids were placed together in 3 parallel rows with 2
solenoids in each row to form a Braille cell. The one end V. FUTURE ENHANCEMENTS
of each solenoid is connected to the positive terminal of Further development would be required to implement
the 5volt battery, and the other end of each solenoid is greater usability functions. There are many possibilities for
connected to the drain of individual Nchannel MOSFETS. the development of digital braille in the future from all the
An LCD is connected to Arduino to display the characters. research conducted for the project. The functionality for
adjusting the speed of reading would also be crucial to the
usability of the device. The digital braille system could be
modified to be implemented along with speech software.
The use of audio together with the Braille system could be
an effective learning tool.

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