# Multimedia Vision for the Visually Impaired through 2D Multiarray Braille Display
## 1 Introduction  
In 2015, among the global population of 7.33 billion people, 36 million were classified as legally blind, about 217 million had moderate to severe visual impairment, and 188 million had mild vision impairment. Statistically, the number of people who lose sight increases proportionally with increase in either population or the age of the people [1]. According to the US Census Bureau, the population of the United States is increasing every year [2] and, as it grows older, the number of diseases affecting vision increases [3]. Figure 1 shows that age is correlated with vision disorders [1]. It shows that, as aged populations grow, there is a growing number of vision disorders. To address the difficulties faced by the visually impaired (VI) people, there have been many studies on providing suitable alternatives. Usually, there are several devices, such as walking canes, which help the blind to navigate and there are aids that magnify the size of letters for people with low vision who do not require braille for reading. Generally, the younger among the VI people who have a communication-focused lifestyle, e.g., students and the employed, learn and use braille. For such individuals, information is usually sent and received using braille printing or braille displays (i.e., braille devices). Typically, smart canes are operative devices that are attached to canes for the VI to assist them in detecting obstacles, to provide navigational guidance, etc. There are also methodologies using cameras that contribute to vision sensing, text reading, guidance, navigation, and obstacle detection. To telepresent information such as 3D shapes and 2D edges, haptic devices are used, which can depict 3D/2D objects. Furthermore, braille displays or reading materials have been investigated for a long time for interpreting written content (e.g., news, eBooks, and documents) efficiently; and most studies have employed actuators that use electrotactile braille pins, vibration, and auditory feedback to alert the VI with information such as obstacles and direction. These studies are typically based on wireless sensors such as Bluetooth, global positioning system (GPS), radio-frequency identification (RFID), and Wi-Fi [4]. This paper proposes a braille display methodology that transforms visual contents (e.g., text, photographs, and paintings) with audio feedback for multimedia information delivery to the VI. Although there have been several studies on braille display, most of them simply provide long text contents within single-lined braille cells. Such devices, however, cannot display paintings, pictures, and videos that are used in multimedia as well as in eBooks. This paper addresses such limitations and proposes improved multimedia and eBook accessibilities for the VI. Therefore, the paper introduces several considerations for displaying contents using a standalone braille display with multiarray braille cells. It also introduces an eBook reader application for the presented braille device. This paper discusses the following considerations: (i) interaction between the braille display and the smartphone via Bluetooth [5]; (ii) extraction and translation of eBooks from DAISY and EPUB formats, and displaying large amounts of text from eBooks on multiarray braille cells; and (iii) displaying visual elements using multiarray braille display. A conceptual diagram representing the application proposed in this paper is shown in Figure 2. The proposed application comprises a tablet for displaying braille and a smartphone that processes the information. Through Bluetooth communication, braille and the manipulation data can be exchanged remotely. Additionally, in real time, the VI and the non-disabled can share their media information. In this paper, we introduce some related works that have been using tactile methods, along with the details of the proposed method. Section 2 explores research that can help the VI through diverse approaches.