SBIR-STTR Award

This project develops the T3 Platform, a system for creating, distributing, and displaying interactive, audio-tactile maps, graphs, games, and braille lessons. Built on the successful but outdated Talking Tactile Tablet (TTT) paradigm, this new approach makes some images accessible to those who can’t see well enough to use standard print graphics. T3 Platform includes four components: T3 Tablet, T3 Cloud, T3 Trainer, and T3 Embosser. With T3 Platform, users place raised line and textured overlay sheets on a large Android tablet computer, and then tap and swipe with hands and fingers to trigger spoken descriptions and explanations of each element of the tactile image. As each new overlay sheet is placed on the tablet, its ID number is scanned from a sticker adhered to the back, and an app running on the tablet calls up data files that associate regions of the tactile image with pre-recorded audio or synthetic speech. This innovation eliminates the requirement that the user press three ID bars as each new overlay is put in place, creating a smoother, faster sheet change sequence, and eliminating miss-identifications that were the biggest source of frustration for users of the TTT.

This project introduces T3, a system for creating, distributing, and consuming touch-responsive, audio-embedded tactile graphic maps, games, puzzles, and interactive lessons. Based on the successful but outdated Talking Tactile Tablet (TTT) paradigm, this new approach solves several shortcomings of earlier products, and seeks to reach new markets beyond the original target of students who are blind or visually impaired. The T3 Platform allows users to drop a tactile overlay sheet onto a large Android tablet computer fitted with a plastic T3 Frame, then explore tactile figures and Braille with both hands, tapping and swiping to trigger spoken descriptions and explanations of content. Phase II research addresses issues with overlay sheet identification eliminating the requirement that the user finds and presses five different locations each time a new overlay is put in place and allows the application to query the cloud server for data on the currently-mounted sheet in an automatic process that is transparent to the user. The result is a smoother, faster sheet change sequence, and no more sheet mis-identifications that were the biggest source of frustration for users of the TTT. T3 adds on the option to use voice commands, providing a more efficient user experience that allows users to maintain contact with both hands on the Braille or tactile content on which they are focused in lieu of finding and pressing tactile buttons to control the system.