Stanford summer course yields touchscreen Braille writer From: Stanford University News - 10/07/2011 By: Andrew Myers In a two-month summer course on high-performance computing, promising undergrads compete to create innovative applications. This summer's winner developed a touchscreen Braille writer that stands to revolutionize how the blind negotiate an unseen world by replacing devices costing up to 10 times more. Read the entire article and view a video at: http://news.stanford.edu/news/2011/october/touchscreen-braille-writer-100711.html Links: Touchscreen Braille Writer Lets the Blind Type on a Tablet http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2011/10/touchscreen-braille-writer/ Student spends summer turning a tablet into a Braille writer http://www.engadget.com/2011/10/10/student-spends-summer-turning-a-tablet-into-a-braille-writer-sa/ Adrian Lew http://mc.stanford.edu/Adrian_Lew Office of Accessible Education http://studentaffairs.stanford.edu/oae --- Stanford Summer Course Yields Touchscreen Braille Writer Stanford University's Army High-Performance Computing Research Center (AHPCRC) has developed a Braille writer that is simpler and less expensive than previous models. AHPCRC's model, designed by New Mexico State University undergraduate student Adam Duran, Stanford doctoral candidate Sohan Dharmaraja, and Stanford professor Adrian Lew, features a touchscreen with keys that orient themselves to the user's fingertips. The model accommodates "users whose fingers are small or large, those who type with fingers close together or far apart, even to allow a user to type on a tablet hanging around the neck with hands opposed as if playing a clarinet," Dharmaraja says. The Braille writer, which was developed during a two-month summer course at Stanford on high-performance computing, could replace devices that cost 10 times as much. "AHPCRC is an excellent model for outreach, which not only trains undergraduate students in computational sciences but also exposes students to real-world research applications," says AHPCRC's Raju Namburu. --- Sohan Dharmaraja sohan@stanford.edu Adam Duran http://wwwdev.nmsu.edu/accounts/phonebook/email?id=1598508115 Adrian Lew lewa@stanford.edu