PC-based braille reading system

This study aims to aid the visually-impaired people by creating a system that is an alternative to braille translated books. The system is capable of translating text from a captured image to braille. The image, which is captured by a self-triggering camera but can also be operated manually, will be sent to the PC through a USB cable. An open-source Optical Character Recognition (OCR) is obtained to extract text from the image. The OCR is integrated in a GUI. The translated text will be sent to a PIC microcontroller through USB to UART. The PIC microcontroller will drive the braille reading device by converting the text to braille equivalent characters. This braille reading system is a reliable alternative to braille translated books for it has an option where the reader can choose between word-per-word mode or continuous mode of reading. Also, the system achieved an overall accuracy around 90%. With this technology, the visually impaired people will be given a chance to widen their knowledge and explore further on what the world has to offer

Development of a text to braille interpreter for printed documents through optical image processing

This paper presents the development of an optical text to braille converter device for aiding visually impaired individuals to read printed materials. This is a solution for the lag or even failure of translating or printing the braille version of everyday reading materials. The system utilized optical character recognition engine in which an image of the text to be translated into braille is captured. The digitized texts are then transferred electronically in a braille haptic device. This device are piezoelectric based haptic system which is composed of several haptic pins arranged in a way to resemble the braille writing system. Several experiments were conducted to determine the performance of the system. The overall system reliability obtained was 95.68%. The system is also capable of processing speed of 1 word in 2 seconds. The system performs at its best with a letter sized page reading material within the range of 15 to 20 cm from the camera, with the camera positioned at 0 degrees. © 2017 IEEE