Introduction of a wireless Body-Braille device and a self-learning system

Abstract

Body-Braille is a mechanism for presenting one Braille cell using micro-vibrators on any part of the body. One application of Body-Braille is the Helen Keller Phone system which is a communication system for deaf-blind people. It is currently in the commercial stage. Since it is expected that users of Body-Braille will increase in number, a self-learning system for Body-Braille is required. Moreover, such a self-learning system must be easy for deaf-blind users to use. In this paper, we describe a wireless device which we have developed for this purpose and details of a self-learning system for Body-Braille. In order to test the system, we performed an experiment in which 14 subjects recognized Body-braille patterns in the first stage of self-learning. The recognition rate was 74.1%. However, post-experiment interviews revealed a keystroke issue that if corrected, would yield a 92.0% recognition rate.