Smart phone for the blind

2011 TED Fellow Sumit Dagar is
developing the world's first
smarphone for visually impaired
people
The phone's screen contains pins
which move to form Braille
characters when an SMS or email
is received
It uses Shape Memory Alloy
technology which ensures pins
contract back to their original
position
The phone will retail for about $
185, and the team hopes to
release it by the end of 2013

(CNN) -- For all of their advantages,
smartphones still fall a little short for
some — specifically, for those living
with visual impairment.
While apps like Siri and SayText do
offer a good deal of assistance, 2011
TED Fellow Sumit Dagar had an idea
for a more effective solution: a
smartphone that's specifically
designed for people who have
trouble seeing.

The phone, which has yet to be
officially named, has a screen
comprised of a grid of pins, which
move up and down to form into
Braille shapes and characters
whenever an SMS message or email is
received. It uses what's called Shape
Memory Alloy technology, so as each
pin expands, it remembers and
contracts back to its original flat
shape.
In an interview with the Times of
India , Dagar describes the phone as
"[the] world's first Braille
smartphone ... a companion more
than a phone."
Dagar, an interaction design graduate
of the National Institute of Design
(NID), came up with the idea for the
phone three years ago. He's
collaborating with IIT Delhi on the
prototype, which is being tested at the
LV Prasad Eye Institute. The team
hopes to release the phone by the
end of 2013, for a about $185.

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