A new computer mouse for the visually impaired puts computer programs and graphics at their fingertips.
By Daniella Ashkenazy
The Virtual Touch System (VTS) is a computer mouse with three parallel touch pads, each of which is comprised of 32 tiny "pins" that can be raised or lowered to create tactile copies of text or images on the screen. The different heights of the pins signify color variations - white, light gray, dark gray, black.
The VTS rolls the cursor over the screen just like a sighted person's mouse. At the same time, it "mirrors" on the touch pads what it is moving over. When reading text, the VTS translates three letters at a time on the screen into raised letters on the touch pads. The letters can be either in the style of Braille, or an "imprint" of the actual written character of the alphabet, in a font that can be recognized by touch - a totally new capability among aids for the sight-impaired. The reading system is known as "Running Braille".
For graphic images, audiotaped instructions and machine-generated speech are activated, providing procedural instructions and explanations that give added information about the image the user has encountered. Pausing on any part of the image will automatically activate a short explanation. The benefit of access to a graphic-based computer environment not only opens a host of computer occupations to the blind, it also allows the sight-impaired to create works of art by interfacing with standard drawing programs.
In addition, eight buttons on the top and sides of the mouse allow the user to interact with the computer, to navigate the cursor to specific positions and to send commands. The "command center" in the palm of the users' hand thus eliminates the need to memorize countless keyboard-based commands, allowing a blind person to "point and click" just like sighted PC users.
The device is the fruit of four years research and development by two scientists: Dr. Roman Gouzman, a psychologist with over 25 years experience in visual perception, symbolic representation, cognitive modeling and education for persons with special needs; and Dr. Igor Krasin, a mathematician and computer scientist with 30 years experience in automation specializing in numerical methods, software development and image processing. Following a skiing accident that damaged the sight of his daughter, Dr. Gouzman became determined to design a tool to allow her to become a fully-fledged member of the computer generation. His idea was to create a device that would convert digital information displayed on a computer screen into mechanical information that can be felt by hand.
Developed by Jerusalem-based VirTouch Ltd., the VTS allows the blind and visually impaired access to multiple software applications: graphics, text, educational programs, map reading, and even to enjoy art and photography. During an evaluation test involving 26 blind and visually impaired participants, Meir (36), remarked: "This device opened my eyes. Never before had I realized that the lines drawn by Picasso in a picture of a young girl could be as emotionally moving as real physical beauty."
According to the company, some 800,000 persons under the age of 55 in the developed world are totally blind, and some 17 million persons are sight-impaired. Over half a million sight-impaired Americans and a similar number of Europeans are active computer users. However, VirTouch's primary market is not individual PC owners, but educational institutions such as libraries. Two pilot projects are already underway in Israel and Norway.
In addition to computer programs, action-oriented computer games using the VTS not only provide pleasure, but also assist the blind to broaden spatial awareness and motor skills, which are often compromised by lack of sight. Having evaluated the program, Simha (30) said: "I have been a football fan for twenty years, and now, for the first time, I can see the real picture of a football field and the positions of the players. I finally understand what the commentator means by "upfield" and "penalty box".