The keyboard, normally an input device, is enhanced to serve both input and output functions. Pointing and page location information is provided by moving the Braille keyboard in x and y directions so that rows and columns of text are accessed utilizing the same arm motions employed in reading embossed paper Braille. Keyboard motion translates a cursor and the proprioceptive sense enables the user to sense movement from place to place over a virtual page. We will explore an alternate method in which a thumb-operated device is used to simulate motion within rows and columns. A hardware design combining row and column scanning with eight-finger tactile stimulation are being integrated with a Braille keyboard for input and output of textual information to and from a host computer.
Several vendors provide single-line mechanical Braille systems.
The user must interrupt reading to move the window of text from line to line. This gives the reader a means of reading text on a page while providing a sense of where useful information is found. Given the increasing complexity of computer information and the increasing use of spreadsheets, this is a critical capability which is lacking in existing devices. A special kind of single-character display is used. A unique virtual refreshable Braille cell is moved by the user's hands so that rows and columns of text are accessed.