Inventions

New Delhi: Keyboard for blind

A Japanese firm unveiled a miniature portable keyboard that helps the blind take notes by listening to sounds of the characters they punch in.

The battery-operators keyboard, which weighs 500 gm and includes an MP3 player, keeps the data on memory so it can be transferred to a computer. Created by three researchers at the Yazaki electronics company, the keyboard differs from other devices as it does not rely on the Braille script and can be used without being attached to a computer. The user presses combinations of buttons to type in characters either in Japanese, Chinese of Roman script, which are spoken by the 50-by-10 cm machine.

Source: Firm builds keyboard for blind. Asian Age, Daily, New Delhi, 13 December 2006.