Blindness is a condition that occurs when there is complete loss of vision in both eyes. The person ceases to feel the light and see anything. Such a state can be caused by the loss of the ability to navigate in the environment (domestic blindness) and the inability to do one's work with the help of different people (professional).
The reasons
Impairment or loss of vision can be caused by various factors. The consequences of intrauterine diseases or fetal malformations lead to congenital blindness. Vision loss affects children under the age of ten and adults who have reached the age of fifty. This is due to the fact that the child either already has congenital blindness, or acquires it due to eye diseases or injuries. People of mature age go blind due to vascular diseases or the appearance of glaucoma. In the latter case, a corneal transplant operation can help restore vision.
Employment of the disabled
Despite physical limitations, blind people in Russia have the opportunity to prove themselves in various professions. They are employed by the Society of the Blind, which also conducts cultural, political and educational work among people with disabilities. The centers of their government are in Moscow and other major cities. Special books in braille and flat characters give blind people the opportunity to learn to read, write, and print.
Pedagogical process
In Russia, the education of blind and visually impaired children is mandatory. Schools accept students with vision from 0.05 to 0.2. To teach children in this category, magnifiers and other techniques that improve vision are used. In addition, a font with enlarged letters is used. Specialized schools take children who are completely blind and with vision up to 0.05. Training using different methods and visual aids focus on hearing and touch. Libraries for the blind have audio and regular editions, special plates with Braille. In for the blind (the largest institution of this type in our country) contains specialized manuals. This, in particular, is not only the publications mentioned above, but also a huge collection of relief-volumetric models that allow people with vision loss to recognize the types of different objects and feel them.
Use of computer electronic devices
Alternative replacement option print media are audiobooks. With their help, you can listen to dramatizations (with pauses, in sections) and performances on a digital player. Volunteers also make their contribution, who create audiobooks on special sites that are free to listen to and distribute. Various devices that replace vision are produced and developed. The model of visual-substituting devices (project "Tactile Vision") is a new patented means of coding and signal transmission. Publications that use Braille (Russian), keyboard and display help people with disabilities work with texts, creating and editing them. A special program based on a speech generator, with which information is read from the screen, also makes a great contribution to the full life of blind people.
Braille
This is a special system of teaching reading and writing for the blind. It was developed in 1824. The Frenchman Louis Braille, the son of a shoemaker, lost his sight at the age of three due to an inflamed eye after being wounded with an awl. At the age of fifteen, he creates a method for tracing and reading letters. Subsequently, it was named after the name of the creator.
The font for the blind Braille differed from the linear type of character design by Valentin Gayuy. To the creation of the boy pushed " night method", developed by artillery captain Charles Barbier (fr. Charles Barbier) for reading military reports at night. The disadvantage of the Barbier system was too big size characters, limiting the number of them on the page. Using Braille printing, blind people learn to write and read. This method promotes the development of grammar, punctuation, and spelling skills. In addition, with the help this method the blind or visually impaired can become familiar with graphs and complex diagrams.
Structure
What is Braille? How is writing and reading done? Letters in Braille are represented by six dots divided into exactly two columns. The text is read from right to left, and on the next page it already goes from left to right. However, there is a certain difficulty in the perception of this font. It lies in the fact that the text is read on the reverse page along the bulges from the marks pierced on the other side. The points are numbered from top to bottom in columns and are read first from the right, then from the left side. How does this happen? The upper right corner is the location of point 1. Below it is 2. The lower right corner is occupied by 3. Top left is position 4, then bottom is 5, and in the lower left corner is 6.
Some typhlopedagogues suggested swapping 1 and 3, but their proposal was not supported. Later, expanding Braille (Russian, in particular), they added 7 under 3 and 8 under 6. A cell without a puncture is a certain character. There are generally accepted norms for the size of points and the distances between them and columns. The minimum mark height sufficient for recognition is 0.5 mm. 2.5 is the gap between punctures; 3.75 mm horizontally, 5 mm vertically - this is the distance between the cells. This structure allows the blind to easily and quickly master reading skills, easily recognizing signs by touch.
Braille texts have different formats. But a sheet is considered traditional for Russia, which includes twenty-five lines of thirty and thirty-two characters each with a total size of twenty-three by thirty-one centimeters. For people with vision loss, braille is the only way to learn how to write and read. With these skills, people with disabilities not only become literate and independent, but also gain employment opportunities.
How is the system used?
The Braille font includes 63 informative characters and a space (64th). The extended system contains 255 characters. In it, as in the usual one, there is also a space. Because total number different combinations of points is limited, multicellular symbols are often used. They consist of several signs, which individually have their own functions. Additional characters (numbers, uppercase and lowercase letters of the alphabet) may also be used. Each sign combination has several meanings, the number of which can exceed a dozen.
Braille is applied to paper with the help of special written objects - a special device and a stylus. For this reason, any changes in the configuration, selection, size, shape of the letters are not possible. It is customary to highlight characters using special characters. They are placed before capital and small letters. In the presence of different types of fonts, these signs are set before and after the highlighted words or parts of the sentence. Mathematical root, superscript and subscript symbol are highlighted on both sides. To create text or part of it in italics, it is placed between special marks - conditional tags. Here we can note some similarities with the html system. It also uses tags.
Grammar Features
The Braille font has characteristic features in terms of its construction. They consist in changing some Therefore, a blind person who has learned to write thanks to this system ("Brailist") will begin to make certain mistakes when working on a normal computer that is not adapted for the disabled. Braille differs from regular braille in the following ways:
The capital letter is ignored;
There is no space after the comma and before the dash;
There is no space separating the number sign and the number;
The same designation is used for similar characters (dash and hyphen are the only punctuation marks in the system).
Such grammatical flaws are the norm for Braille writing. A blind person will allow them until they undergo special additional training.
System value
With help various combinations dots in one cell Braille reproduces alphabetic, numeric, musical symbols. The notation of this system is used to write foreign words and letters, computer and mathematical symbols, equations. Braille is an effective tool that develops grammar, punctuation and spelling skills for blind people. Also, this system simply and clearly describes graphs and diagrams that are very difficult to describe verbally.
Benefit
Having mastered Braille, a blind child can begin to get acquainted and work on a computer with a special display and on a special printer. The text is read with the index finger of one or both hands. Perceived by touch, it is quickly understood due to the lightness and compactness of the signs. This manual is designed to teach sighted people the braille system at home. This will make it possible to build communication with blind family members, write notes to them or leave a phone number. It is also important that sighted people will learn to read what someone who has been trained in Braille will write for them. It will be possible to communicate without the mediation of others. This guide can be successfully used by school teachers and rehabilitators.
Drawing method
As mentioned above, Braille invented a way of tactile reading for the blind and visually impaired people. This principle of obtaining information is based on a set of six marks (cell). They are arranged in two rows of three characters. Points that are in a different order within the cell form semantic units. The signs follow in a certain order: from the left 1, 2, 3 from top to bottom, and the right column is the same - 4, 5, 6.
So, in fact, Braille is formed. How to learn this method?
Technology
A Braille instrument, a stylus, and a typewriter are the instruments that are used to present writing for the blind. A sheet of paper inserted between two metal or plastic plates of the device is clamped by them. The upper part has rows of rectangular windows, and the lower part has a recess corresponding to each window. The plate cell is similar to the Braille cell. The sign is formed due to the pressure of the stylus on the paper. The recesses in the bottom plate, when squeezed, give out certain characters. Recordings are printed from right to left because the text to reproduce will be on the other side of the sheet. The column with the numbers 1, 2, 3 is located on the right side, and 4, 5, 6 - on the left. A Braille typewriter has six keys. They correspond to 6 points in a cell. In addition, the typewriter has a shaft handle for line feed, as well as "return back" and "space". The keys with which the sign is formed are pressed simultaneously. Thus, each pressure corresponds to a letter.
From the "space" on the right and left side are three keys. Let's see how the clicks are made. The index finger of the left hand should press the key next to the "space". It represents point 1. You need to press the key on the left. Point 2 is drawn with the middle finger of the same hand. To do this, press the center key. It follows after the one that corresponds to point 1. Nameless press the last key. It corresponds to point 3. Fingers right hand press the keys on the opposite side. The first, located directly next to the "space", corresponds to point 4. It is pressed with the index finger. The next one corresponds to point 5. You should press it with your middle finger. The last key corresponds to point 6. Click on it ring finger. Thus, both hands are involved in drawing. "Space" is placed thumb. Text typed on a typewriter can be read without turning the paper over.
Conclusion
Mastering the Braille system will require some effort. A mark inadvertently placed in the wrong place can change the numbers in the phone number, for example. But the energy expended in learning type for the blind will not be wasted. The main thing is to set a goal and strive to obtain high results.
Braille is a writing system that allows visually impaired people to recognize letters and symbols using the tactile sensitivity of their fingers.
Braille reading and writing skills allow blind and visually impaired people to be literate and independent, get a job, communicate online with friends and colleagues from other countries.
Reading system for blind people
ABC for the Blind in Braille French was invented in the first half of the 19th century by the Frenchman Louis Braille, who himself lost his sight at the age of three.
At a school for the blind in Paris, the boy was taught to read words printed in large embossed letters, feeling them with his fingers. The texts were just huge.
At the age of 15, he came up with other letters, consisting of raised dots.
The Braille alphabet contains 65 basic characters.
He took as a basis a cell of 6 points - two columns of 3 points each. Any point can be pierced - there are only 63 possible combinations. Then two more points were added, improving the font.
This was enough not only for all the letters of the French alphabet, punctuation marks and numbers, but also for frequently used words and letter combinations, mathematical symbols, symbols chemical elements and even notes.
System disadvantages:
- The highest reading speed on this system is almost 150 words per minute. This is two times lower than that of well-seeing people.
- Braille books are huge in size.
How to write in braille by hand
Method 1 - using a Braille device and a metal lead.
The device consists of a plate with extruded six dots and a cover with holes. Paper of greater density than usual is inserted between them. A stylus, similar to an awl, is pressed onto the paper through the holes in the cover and a Braille sign is obtained.
Read texts by turning the page. Therefore, they must be written in reverse order, from right to left.
2 way - using a Braille typewriter.
On her keyboard are:
- The space button is in the center.
- 3 buttons to the right and left of the space bar. They correspond to the dots of the Braille cell.
- Back button.
- Handle for rotating the row up and down.
When writing a letter, all the buttons-points of which it consists are pressed at once.
Text printed in this way does not need to be turned over to be read.
Braille alphabet in Russian
Russian Braille was created in 1881, it was corrected only once - in 1918, when the letters "i", "fita" and "yat" were canceled.
AT Russian Federation when working with braille texts, sheets of a regular size with increased density are used. By international standard the gap between the dots is 2.5 mm, and the number of lines on the sheet is no more than 25.
Braille alphabet: tablets
Signs, mnemonic diagrams and signs made in Braille and informing about the work schedule and the location of offices in the building have long been used in many countries:
- In education: colleges, universities, kindergartens, simple and sports schools, boarding schools.
- In medicine: polyclinics, private medical clinics, hospitals, rehabilitation centers, sanatoriums.
- Public institutions: municipalities, social and pension services, etc.
- Enterprises, shops in shopping centers, banks.
- Public transport: metro and buses.
- Libraries, theaters, exhibitions, museums, philharmonic societies.
A few years ago, the European Union passed a law making it mandatory for blind and visually impaired people to have inscriptions in passenger lifts and on the labeling of all manufactured pharmaceutical products.
The global importance of the Braille system
The braille reading method is used by all languages of the world, even Japanese and Chinese characters. AT last years it has also been applied to a number of languages in Paraguay, Bhutan, Rwanda and Burundi.
Braille system can reproduce:
- any alphabet;
- numbers;
- mathematical signs, equations;
- musical notes;
- computer symbols;
- complex charts and graphs.
Back in the twentieth century, one of the main shortcomings of the Brailler method was the inability to communicate, to talk "here and now", that is, in real time.
Currently, Braille allows blind people not only to read or write, but also to use the Internet.
They can enter text into a computer using a keyboard with embossed keys, and there are displays for the blind to read the answer, which is a narrow panel on which there are Brailler cells.
The text from the computer is converted into pulsed electrical signals that act on some of the rods in the cells and push them up. A blind person, passing his finger through all the cells, feels the extended rods as points and reads the words.
And you can print text for reading by blind people using a Braille printer.
January 13th, 2014
Today, blind people around the world use the Louis Braille dot system to read and write. In order to understand its uniqueness and significance, it is necessary to consider and consider the prehistory of its creation, all other attempts to create ways in which blind people could gain knowledge, learn to read and receive an education.
Since ancient times, mankind has been thinking about the invention of a font, with the help of which people deprived of sight could learn on an equal basis with sighted people. Among such discoverers, who were not alien to the needs of the blind, we can mention Arab-El Amid (1321), the Arab scientist, Francisco Lucas (1580) from Madrid, the Roman Rampasetto (late 16th century), the philosopher Garsderfer, who in In his writings, he describes how blind people can be taught to read and write with slate pencil on tablets covered with a layer of wax.
One cannot help but think of Francisco Lana (1631–1687), a Jesuit from Italy who invented the dotted font. The field of his sign was divided into nine parts, depending on which part and in what quantity the points were, the meaning of the sign was determined. But all attempts to teach the blind with the help of fonts by the aforementioned inventors, unfortunately, were isolated. Until Valentin Hayuy, a talented and authoritative scientist, typhlopedagogue, who stood at the origins of the theory and practice of teaching and educating the blind, did not offer his own version of the font.
Valentin Gayuy (1745-1822) was born into a family of weavers in France. Becoming an experienced linguist, and knowing several different languages He was one of the most educated people of his time.
Inspired by the ideas of Enlightenment humanism, the successes of Abbé de l'Epée in teaching the deaf and dumb. V. Gayuy decided to teach another category of people with disabilities - the blind. The name of V. Gajui is associated with the discovery of the first educational institution for the blind. In order to teach his blind students to read and write, V. Hayuy invented a relief-linear type, which in 1785 he presented to the commission of the Paris Academy of Sciences. The writing system of Valentin Hayuy was an ordinary font for the sighted - "uncial", that is, "equal to one ounce" (29.86 grams).
Initially, the font was mobile, like a typographic one. They typed it in lines, inserting it into the nests made in the board. After mastering the letters, the blind man arranged them sequentially in a special type-setting box in the same way as typesetters do in a printing house. But such a font could not be read without the help of sighted people who helped the blind cope with such heavy equipment. In this regard, V. Hayuy decided to print in relief on paper, which greatly facilitated the reading procedure. When printing books, embossed type was forced out on one side of the damp paper, then the sheets were glued together with clean sides, stapled and bound into a book. With the help of the “uncial”, in addition to letters, it was also possible to depict numbers and notes. The font was at least 15 mm high (subsequently, the height of the letters varies) and is quite accessible to the touch, and the relief was well preserved after reading. The letters had the same outline as in writing for sighted people, they were decorated with various curls and had an italic form, which, of course, made it difficult to perceive them by touch.
The first book printed in uncial was published in 1786. It was a treatise by Valentin Gayuy "On the Education of Blind Children". "Uncial" Guyuy not found practical application in schools, despite the fact that at the Paris Institute of the Blind, which he founded, books printed in relief-linear type were used for teaching. Guyuy's students learned the alphabet using letters carved from copper, reproducing them on paper with a pencil.
V. Gayuy's system served as an impetus for further research problems of writing and reading of the blind with the help of relief. So, François Lesueur (1767-1827)– the first blind student of Gayuya, who before meeting with the teacher was engaged in begging, continues the work of his teacher. François turned out to be a talented student and quickly acquired knowledge. V. Hayuy taught the boy to read using wooden letters, Francois also mastered the score, playing the piano. Subsequently, Valentin Hayuy seeks an invitation to demonstrate the success of his ward at Versailles, and then at the Academy of Sciences.
The monarch and the members of the academy duly appreciated the successes of V. Hayuy and his student Lezuer. The idea of the possibility and necessity of teaching the blind was brought to life. Under the patronage of the king in 1784. The first school for the blind opened in Paris. Lesueur becomes Valentin Guyuy's assistant in teaching blind children and tries to modify his font. This is how Lesueur's direct Latin script appeared. Lesuer's font, like the Haüy font, was relief-linear and was not suitable for independent relief writing, and printed matter could also be published only by typographic method. The advantage of François Lesueur's font was that he removed all the decorations and straightened the letters, which greatly facilitated the tactile perception of the text. However, the font still required further simplification or modification, as it did not fully correspond to the tactile capabilities of the blind. Such attempts were later made mainly by typhlopedagogues of various European countries.
Improvement of relief fonts for the blind proceeded along the line of displacement of the relief line by a raised dot, the most convenient for the tactile perception of the blind. This is precisely the conclusion that the Austrian typhlopedagogue, director of the Vienna Institute for the Blind, came to. Johann Wilhelm Klein (1756-1848). Johann Klein makes a huge contribution to the development of typhlopedagogy, enriches the theory and practice of teaching the blind with a variety of techniques and teaching methods. In addition to the fact that he first described the idea of training guide dogs in his "Manual for the Blind", Klein invented his "needle" relief system for reading and writing for the blind. In the process of designing the font, Klein drew on the existing practical experience of Gajuy. The signs of the "needle" font repeated the outlines of the letters of the Latin alphabet, i.e., they retained the form of the "uncial" of Haüy, but were depicted with a dotted line. Each letter was a large number points. In this regard, some researchers believe that Klein's invention is a transitional stage from a relief-linear typeface to a relief-dotted one.
Klein's books were printed in the same way as the books of Haüy and Lesueur. However, this font did not fully satisfy the needs of people with profound visual impairments.
No less interesting is the font of the French military Nicolas Marie Charles Barbier de la Serre (1767–1841). Barbier was far from the needs of the blind, he studied cryptography while working in the military department. In 1808 Charles de la Serre, using the achievements of the Jesuit Francisco Lana, invented his own cipher system for the preservation of military secrets and for reading secret reports at night. Therefore, the Barbier font was called "writing in the dark." His sign consisted of twelve dots arranged in two columns, six in each. A table was also developed, consisting of 36 sounds and sound combinations. The table had six lines, on each of which it was possible to write down six sounds, letters. The first column, by the number of dots, denoted the ordinal line, the second - the ordinal sound in the line.
For writing, Barbier offered his own device - a wooden ruler with grooves along the entire length, on which the sheet was superimposed, and a movable metal bracket fastened on top of the sheet and ruler. With the help of a punch, convex dots were made in the paper and relief-dot letters were created. However, Barbier's invention was not useful to the military, and in 1821 he presented his invention to the students of the Royal Institute for the Blind, among whom was twelve-year-old Louis Braille. In 1821-1822. this system was introduced at the Paris Institute of the Blind and was studied in parallel with the systems of Hauy and Lesueur. The main disadvantage of the Barbier system was that it was phonetic, i.e. words were written as they were pronounced, there were no punctuation marks, notes and mathematical signs could not be recorded. The font was complex and cumbersome. The sign consisted of a large number of dots and did not completely fall under the pad of the tactile finger, so the reading speed of such a font was low, even compared to the reading speed of a relief-linear font. Despite the existing shortcomings, the Barbier system is used in the practice of teaching the blind. The special significance of this writing system lies in the fact that Barbier's invention prompted the young Louis Braille to create his own unique embossed dotted font and a writing device, the prototype of which was the Barbier device.
More options that were in history.
The creator of modern writing for the blind was a French teacher Louis Braille, founded the first specialized educational institution for blind children. He was born into a shoemaker's family in January 1809, and at the age of three he completely lost his sight. However, with the help of parents school age he could do a lot. Louis Braille's parents, when the boy was 11 years old, sent him to study at the Institute for Blind Children, which was located in Paris. When Braille tested the Barbier code, he felt how complicated it was, but the boy had an idea to simplify this code and create a new one using the possibilities of human perception by touch.
Louis Braille, when he was 15 years old, developed his own code, where characters were indicated by a maximum of six dots, and came up with combinations for all letters, punctuation marks, numbers, and even notes without exception.
For letter designations The braille used six dots arranged in two columns and three rows. Taking into account the order of letters in the Latin alphabet, the first letters were indicated by upper and middle dots, lower dots were added to designate the following letters, first twice on the left, then twice on the right. The presence or absence of a dot gave a certain character. One of the features of using Braille is that the text is written from right to left, and then the letter is turned over and the writing is read from left to right.
In 1837, the first book was published, which was printed in Braille. This was the history of France, but unfortunately it did not receive recognition, because not all people understood the possibilities of using the Braille alphabet. Braille began to be widely used much later, after the death of the author, and at his institute this system began to be used 2 years after his death, because the teachers at the institute were not very progressive and preferred the old, cumbersome Gaui type.
Outside of France, the legendary invention of a teacher without sight came out only in 1854. It should be noted that Braille versions are developed for different languages of the world, the basis of which is not based on the Latin alphabet.
In 1869, with the use of the Braille alphabet, the first novel was printed, which was called The Antiquities Shop by the author Charles Dickens. In 1990, the Washington catalog covered all the writing systems for the blind in the world. And in 2002, on the banknotes of the European Union, the figure, which means the denomination of the bill, is written in Braille.
Currently using Braille blind people have the opportunity not only to read or write, but also to use the Internet. Now they have come up with a device for a computer that turns plain text into text written in Braille.
Using Braille, you can write not only letters, but also mathematical signs, technical symbols, notes, etc. Therefore, it is this font, in contrast to Moon's font and other fonts used in teaching practice, that is used to teach children and the daily needs of adults with profound visual impairments. At the heart of the relief - dot Braille system is six dots. 6 relief dots are arranged in three horizontal rows of two dots each. In the original version, Braille used strokes, but then abandoned them. Braille also proposed a device for writing according to his system, which is still used today. When working on his font, Louis Braille took into account the developments of Charles Barbier, who had already used the “dot” for his font “writing in the dark” before him. The hemispherical dots in braille six dots are arranged as follows: top left is dot 1, middle left is -2, bottom left is 3, top right is 4, middle right is 5, and finally bottom right is dot 6. Standard the six-dot has parameters suitable for perception by the fingertip.
The Braille device, with which you can write in relief, is distinguished by genius and simplicity, it is used almost unchanged today by the blind all over the world. The system of Louis Braille is recognized only after his death. Many typhlopedagogues, on the one hand, criticized the ingenious invention of Braille, on the other hand, made attempts to improve the Braille writing system. Thus, the American William Waite tried to change the Braille system by saving time and space. His system was also dotted and resembled the Braille system, but differed in the horizontal arrangement of dots (in two rows) and their number - 4 dots in a row (::::)
In 1873, in Boston, D. Smith created the so-called "Modernized Braille of Smith." At the same time, the basics of the system were preserved, and only the values of specific combinations of points changed. This method of modification is called "frequent" (partial change) of the system. Subsequently appears a large number of frequencies. In an effort to achieve the greatest uniformity among national variants of Braille, the 1950 International Conference on the Unification of Braille in Paris condemned the principle of frequency. So, in 1929. there is a unification of the recording of notes, and in 1932 - the creation of a single English Braille alphabet.
The first attempt to create the Braille alphabet in Russia belongs to Prince Denis Mikhailovich Obolensky (1844-1918). D.M. Obolensky, when creating Russian braille, was guided by the German alphabet.
In 1877, the trustee of the Institute for the Blind of the Imperial Humanitarian Society, A. V. Polezhaev, offered his own alphabet for use. He also, like Obolensky, used
braille six dots. However, Polezhaev did not consider it necessary to observe the similarity with the French and German Braille alphabets, believing that the blind from different countries, due to their poverty, will not be able to communicate with each other. Essential for Polezhaev was only the simplicity of learning the alphabet. The most important principle of his alphabet was the use of signs consisting of a small number of dots for frequently occurring letters.
A great merit in the creation of the Russian Braille alphabet belongs to K.K. Grot, who led the Alexander-Mariinsky Guardianship for the Blind in St. Petersburg. In 1880, the chairman of the Kyiv Department of Guardianship A.F. Andriashev sent Grot his own version of the alphabet for the blind. In it, vowels were depicted mainly by dots, and consonants by lines, circles were also used.
But K.K. Grot insisted on the introduction of the Braille system and sent teacher E.R. Trumberg to Germany to get acquainted with foreign experience in teaching the blind. It was Trumberg, with the assistance of the director of the Dresden Institute for the Blind, Bütner, who compiled the alphabet approved by Groth, who put it into circulation in 1881. For some time, Trumberg's font competed with Polezhaev's, but later replaced it. Since then, the Russian Braille alphabet has changed only once - in connection with the spelling reform of 1917-1918, which consisted in changing a number of Russian spelling rules, when the signs for the letters "i", "yat" and "fita" were abolished.
What now?
Modern displays for the blind operate as follows. Braille cells are arranged in a row. The text is converted into signals, some rods in the cells are extended, a person runs his finger through all the cells and reads the words. These displays weigh more than a kilogram and cost more than $2,000. The question arises - have the devices reached their peak of development or can new solutions be found?
The main disadvantages when working with Braille fonts are the slow reading speed of the text and the inability to communicate in real time. Progress in creating more and more perfect ways of communication goes along the path of increasing the speed of letter recognition. At first there were relief-linear fonts (Hauie's raised letters). They were replaced by embossed dot fonts (Braille). Possible next step: one dot - one character.
Reflecting and experimenting, the author noticed one interesting feature human perception. If 6 points are placed on each phalanx of a person’s fingers, then when pressing on individual points with, say, the tip of a pencil, a person will be able to say exactly where this happened. And this means that by placing 6 pressing elements (for example, micro-solenoids) on each of the 4 fingers (the big one does not count for one important reason), you can get a total of 72 elements, and the layout of the keys can correspond to the location of the QWERTY keyboard (standard layout of a computer or typewriter keyboard). Elements can be placed on a glove or in fingertips, and instead of pressure elements, thermal elements or weak electrical discharges can be used.
Input Output
Of course, using a glove just to get information is not profitable. Pressing elements can also be used as buttons. Then with the same glove it will be possible to enter information into the computer by pressing the corresponding buttons with the thumb. Moreover, we get an adaptive keyboard, where the buttons themselves, located on the fingers, move towards thumb. This will reduce the range of motion of the fingers. This, in turn, will reduce the keystroke time, as both fingers will move in a coordinated manner towards each other.
And by equipping gloves with a simple speech synthesizer or display, you can solve the problem of communication for the dumb and deaf. Unlike standard devices, the glove is small, easy to use and can be connected to various I/O devices.
Converted Braille
Another idea is to stay with the familiar Blind Braille, but make the letters "run". Using the "glove" technology, it is possible to make a fingertip consisting of a Braille matrix, and sequentially submit letter by letter. Thus, reading will be carried out. You can also place 2 Braille elements on 4 fingers. Advantages of the proposed information input-output device:
- small weight and dimensions;
– ease of use;
– adaptability;
– the ability to work in a variety of postures (ergonomics).
What's next?
The possibilities of connecting television cameras directly to the terminations are being explored. optic nerves. First positive results, but this technology is only in the testing stage and can be applied to a limited number of people, so tactile apparatus is indispensable. Scientists in their research go further. For example, the Krishnakutti Satya group from Emory University studied the brain function of the blind when they read texts printed in Braille. By scanning the brains of the subjects, the scientists found that when you feel the letters with your fingers, the visual centers of the brain work - and in exactly the same way as in people who read the text with their eyes. A magnetic resonance scan of their brains at that moment showed that the visual centers were working just as actively as the tactile ones. What this means is not yet clear, but the fact is very interesting.
A condition that occurs due to complete loss of vision in both eyes is called. A person ceases not only to see, but also to feel the light. This leads to the loss of the ability to navigate in the surrounding space (domestic blindness) and the inability to perform work even with the help of optical instruments (professional blindness).
Causes of blindness
Violation or complete loss of vision, as a rule, is caused by various factors. These include intrauterine diseases and fetal malformations that lead to congenital blindness of newborns. Loss of vision in children and adults under 50 years of age is usually caused by diseases and. In older people, blindness is often due to vascular pathologies organ of vision, occurrence. In the latter case, the return of vision can be helped by a surgical transplant.
Training and employment of disabled people
Even with physical limitations, blind people in Russia have the opportunity to learn different professions and prove themselves in different positions. Their employment is the responsibility of the Society of the Blind, which, among other things, conducts mass cultural and educational work among people with visual impairments. The administrative centers of the Society of the Blind are located in all major cities of the country. They are also entrusted with the duty of training and career guidance for blind and visually impaired citizens.
Obtaining secondary education for visually impaired and blind children is mandatory in Russia. At the same time, ordinary general education schools accept students with residual vision. For their education, magnifiers and magnifying devices are used, as well as other techniques that enable the child to learn educational material.
Children with a vision of less than 0.05 and completely blind are taken to specialized schools, where teaching takes place using visual aids and teaching methods that focus on the child's hearing and touch. Libraries for the visually impaired and the blind are equipped with audio and regular editions, special plates with Braille. Thus, in the largest educational institution of this type, the Russian State Library for the Blind, specialized manuals are collected. These include not only the aforementioned publications, but also a large collection of special relief-volumetric models that allow people with visual impairments to receive tactile information about various objects by touching them.
Application of computer electronic devices
Audiobooks have become an alternative to printed publications for the visually impaired. They help to learn about the works of famous authors, listen to their performances and even performances. A special contribution to the creation of audiobooks is made by volunteers who create these audiobooks on special sites and distribute them to the general public. Today, a lot of electronic devices are being developed and produced to help in the absence of vision. Thus, the model of visual-substituting devices of the Tactile Vision project became a new, patented means of encoding and signal transmission.
Special devices for electronic devices help the visually impaired to work with texts - a Braille keyboard and a display with a human speech generator that helps read information from the screen. All this makes the life of blind people more full and rich, helps to adapt in society.
Braille
Braille is a special system for teaching the blind to read and write. It was designed by the Frenchman Louis Braille in 1824.
As the son of a shoemaker, Braille lost his sight at the age of three after being wounded with an awl. At fifteen, he created a method for writing letters and reading them for blind people, which was later named after him. To develop it, the boy was prompted by his acquaintance with the "night method" - a method of encrypting military reports, the author of which was artillery captain Charles Barbier.
Braille had significant differences from the type of linear writing of characters created by Valentin Gayuy. Studying it helps blind people learn to write and read. This method, also develops spelling, grammar, punctuation skills. Allows the blind and visually impaired to understand graphs and complex diagrams.
Font structure
Braille characters are represented by six dots divided into two columns. Read the text from right to left, and vice versa from left to right on the next page. There is a certain difficulty in understanding Braille. It consists in reading the text on the reverse side of the sheet using the bulges of the pierced marks. The points are numbered from top to bottom in columns and are read first from the right, then from the left.
How does this happen? Point 1 is placed in the upper right corner. 2 is placed under it. 3 is located in the lower right corner. 4 is located at the top left, 5 below it, and 6 in the lower left corner. 3, however, their proposal was not supported. Later, expanding the Russian Braille, numbers were added: 7 under 3, as well as 8 under 6. At the same time, a cell without a puncture also represents a certain character.
Since ancient times, there have been certain norms for the size of points, the distances between them, the distances between columns. The minimum mark height sufficient for recognition is 0.5 mm, the gaps between the punctures are 2.5 mm. The distance between the cells horizontally is 5 mm, vertically - 3.75 mm. Such a structure makes it possible to quickly and easily master reading skills, recognizing signs by touch. Braille print sheets can come in a variety of formats. However, traditional for Russia, it is considered to be a sheet that includes twenty-five lines, with thirty and thirty-two characters each. The total size of the sheet, in this case, is 23x31 centimeters.
For blind people, braille braille is the only way to learn to read and write, get a decent education and further employment.
How the system works
The Braille font consists of 63 informative characters and 64 spaces. The extended system contains 255 characters. In addition, as in the usual one, there is a space in it. Due to the fact that the total number of dot combinations is limited, multicellular symbols are often used, consisting of several characters, with various functions. Additional characters can also be used - uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers. Each character combination can have up to ten meanings or more.
There are certain tools for applying Braille to paper. For this reason, any changes in the configuration, size, shape and emphasis of the letters are not possible. To highlight characters, it is customary to use special characters that are placed in front of capital or uppercase letters. If applicable different types fonts, such signs are set before and after the words and parts of the sentence that need to be highlighted.
To write the text or part of it in italics, they are placed between certain marks - conditional tags. At the same time, there is a certain similarity with the html system, where tags are also used.
Grammar Features
In terms of sentence construction, Braille also has characteristics- change of some grammatical norms. In this regard, a blind person who has learned to write according to this system (“Brailist”) will begin to make mistakes while working on regular computer. So Braille is different from regular Braille in the following ways:
- The capital letter is ignored;
- There is no space before the dash and after the comma;
- There is no gap separating the sign of the number from the number;
- For similar characters, one designation is used (dash and hyphen - one punctuation mark).
Such grammatical "blunders" for writing Braille are the norm. And a blind person will allow them if he does not undergo additional training.
Meaning of symbols
Various combinations of dots in a cell reproduce various alphabetic, numeric and musical symbols in Braille writing. They can be used to write foreign letters and words, computer or mathematical symbols and equations. Braille is effective tool to develop grammar, punctuation and spelling skills in blind people. With this system, it is easy to describe graphs and diagrams that are difficult to describe verbally.
Way of writing
As mentioned above, Braille invented a way of tactile reading for blind people. This principle of obtaining information is built on a set of 6 marks (cells). They are arranged in two rows and have three characters in each row. Points arranged in a different order inside the cell form semantic units. The signs follow in a special order: 1, 2, 3 - from the left and from top to bottom, 4, 5, 6 - in the right column in the same way. 1 * * 4 2 * * 5 3 * * 6 - Braille is formed according to this principle.
Writing learning technology
A braille instrument, a stylus or a typewriter are the basic elements needed when writing for the blind. Between two metal or plastic plates of the device, a sheet of paper is inserted and clamped by them. On the upper part of the plate there are rows of rectangular windows, the lower part has a recess corresponding to each window. Cells of plates are similar to Braille cells.
Signs are formed under the pressure of the stylus on the paper. When pressed, depressions bottom plate produce certain characters. The text is written from right to left, as its reproduction will be on the reverse side of the sheet.
The Braille typewriter has six keys corresponding to the six dots in a cell. There is also a shaft handle, which translates lines, makes a “return back” or “space”. If the sign is formed using several keys, they are pressed simultaneously. Each pressure thus corresponds to a letter. On the left and right sides from the "space" there are three keys - these are numbers. How is the letter done?
In accordance with the technique of writing, the index finger of the left hand presses the key next to the "space" on the left. This is point - 1. With the middle finger of this hand, you can write point 2, for which you simply press the center key following the point 1 key.
By pressing the last key with the ring finger, we get point 3. On the opposite side, the corresponding keys "4", "5", "6" should be pressed by the fingers of the right hand. "Space" is put with the thumb. Thus, both hands are involved in writing. The text printed on a typewriter can be read without turning over the paper sheet.
Conclusion
Of course, mastering the Braille system requires some effort. For example, a mark placed in the wrong place due to inattention can change the numbers of the phone number, etc. However, the forces will not be wasted. Braille will help in achieving high results of adaptation in society.
(fr. Louis Braille), the son of a shoemaker, who in age three lost his eyesight after being injured by an awl. At the age of 15, he changed the "night font" of artillery captain Charles Barbier (fr. Charles Barbier), which he developed for reading in the dark.
Petr Minin. "Louis Braille: A touch of genius." (www.pchela.ru)
The most ancient is pictographic (pictorial), the roots of which go back to the depths of centuries - somewhere to the rock paintings of primitive people.
The next stage in the development of writing is ideographic (or hieroglyphic) writing. The appearance of hieroglyphs dates back to the III millennium BC.
Phonetic writing appears even later - at the very end of the 2nd millennium BC. All alphabets differ in the style and name of the letters, but are built according to the same alpha-sound principle.
In 1821, retired artillery captain Charles-Marie Barbier de la Serre introduced blind students to his "sound" or "night" writing system, which he had developed to enable soldiers to write and read reports at night.
Louis was not even 16 years old when, at the end of 1824, a brilliant idea dawned on him - to create a conditional alphabet from various combinations of six relief dots arranged in two columns of three.
There are a total of 63 permutations possible in this system. The distance between two points of Braille is 2-2.5 mm, and to read the text, the "reader" runs his fingertips along the extruded lines.
Braille interpreter (inf.by/library/)
Yanko Design has developed an electronic interpreter braille letters. This device, according to its idea, translates dots-bulges on paper, called Braille writing, into an audio analogue transmitted via Bluetooth to the headset.
For blind and visually impaired people, the ability to read and write Braille is the key to literacy, successful employment, and independence.
Learning the Braille system will enable a blind child to move on to working on a computer with a Braille display and on a Braille printer.
Braille is readable by touch index finger one or both hands.
Braille: hand reading (www.popmech.ru)
The chain of events that led to the emergence of Braille began during the Crusades of the French King Louis IX.
Modern displays for the blind operate as follows. Braille cells are arranged in a row. The text is converted into signals, some rods in the cells are extended, a person runs his finger through all the cells and reads the words. These displays weigh more than a kilogram and cost more than $2,000. The question arises - have the devices reached their peak of development or can new solutions be found?
The main disadvantages when working with Braille fonts are the slow reading speed of the text and the inability to communicate in real time. Progress in creating more and more perfect ways of communication goes along the path of increasing the speed of letter recognition. At first there were relief-linear fonts (Hauie's raised letters). They were replaced by embossed dot fonts (Braille). Possible next step: one dot - one character.
Tactile scripts on Igor Garshin's website. Braille alphabet. knot letter
Louis Braille: The Blinding Splendor of Eternal Hope (www.dislife.ru)
In 1852, the Braille method was used mainly within the walls of the Royal Institute for the Blind and a few enthusiasts outside it. But already in 1854, the Braille method was officially recognized in France and began to spread in European countries. And in 1878, at the World Congress in Rome, the Braille method was approved as the most suitable method of reading and writing for blind people.
100 years after the death of Louis Braille, his body was transferred to the French Pantheon and buried along with other prominent people of France.
