Patent ID: 9183759
Filing Date: 2015-11-10
Classification: G09B

Abstract:
1. A method for operating a refreshable Braille display comprising a touch-and-sense surface having a plurality of neighboring Braille cells which are suitable for displaying Braille characters, the method comprising: a) receiving a string of characters of a character encoding system, b) assigning the string of characters to a drive signal specifying an activation or deactivation of a tuple of dots which are raised through holes in the touch-and-sense surface upon activation and retracted upon deactivation, and c) driving the refreshable Braille display by communicating the drive signal for activating or deactivating the tuple of dots, which are arranged in at least one Braille cell of the Braille display, wherein the string of characters represents an emoticon, and the drive signal is configured to at least one of activate and deactivate the tuple of dots to generate a dynamic tactile display of said string of characters, a time gap between the activation or deactivation of the tuple of dots and at least one of activation and deactivation of a subsequent tuple of dots being defined by an emotion related to the emoticon represented by the string of characters, and a speed of motion of the dots during at least one of activation and deactivation within each tuple of dots being defined by an emotion related to the emoticon represented by the string of characters.