Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Reading aids for blind people—A survey of progress with the technological and human problems

  • Published:
Medical electronics and biological engineering Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

In 1786 Valentin Haüy began the development of a type which would emboss characters on paper and en-able blind people to read with their fingers. The year marked the starting point of a series of developments from which Moon type and Braille were evolved. Several factors which limit widespread use of these reading media among the blind are currently being studied by research workers. Other efforts are being directed towards the development of tape-recorded “talking book” libraries and to the design of personal devices which convert print directly into speech or into sounds that the blind person can “read” and understand. The paper proceeds further to give an account of the technical and psychological problems that are involved in this latter range of potential reading aids.

Sommaire

En 1786, Valentin Haüy entreprit l'étude d'une typographie en relief, permettant aux aveugles de lire avec les doigts. Cette année a marqué le point de départ d'une série d'idées nouvelles, développant le même sujet, qui aboutirent à l'élaboration des méthodes de Moon et de Braille. Certains facteurs empêchant une large diffusion de ces moyens de lecturesparmi les aveugles, sont actuellement étudiés par des chercheurs. Des efforts sont faits pour mettre au point un système de mise en service de bandes enregistrées en tant qu'éléments de base de bibliothèques pouvant fournir aux aveugles des moyens “d'écouter” la lecture. On étudie également les possibilités de mettre à la disposition de chaque aveugle des appareils capables de convertir directement un texte imprimé en langage parlé ou en sons pouvant être “lus” et compris par l'aveugle. Les problèmes techniques et psychologiques liés à la construction et à l'emploi d'un tel appareillage sont discutés.

Zusammenfassung

Im Jahre 1786 begann Valentin Haüy eine Blindenschrift zu entwickeln, bei der die Blinden auf Papier geprägte Schriftzeichen durch Abtasten mit den Fingern lesen sollten. Jenes Jahr war der Ausgangspunkt einer Reihe von Entwicklungen, aus denen die Moon- und Brailleschrift hervorging. Mehrer Faktoren, die der allgemeinen Verbreitung dieser Lesehilfen unter den Blinden entgegenwirken, werden laufend von Forschern untersucht. Weitere Bestrebungen gehen dahin, Tonband-Bibliotheken “Sprechender Bücher” aufzubauen und dem Einzelfall angepaßte Geräte zu entwickeln, die Gedrucktes unmittelbar in Gesprochenes oder in Laute verwandeln, die von dem Blinden “gelesen” oder verstanden werden können. Ferner nimmt der Artikel Stellung zu den technischen und psychologischen Problemen, die sich im Zusammenhang mit dieser neueren Art künftiger Lesehilfen ergeben.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Abma, J. S. (1961)The Auditory Encoding of Printed Characters. Battelle Memorial Institute, Columbus, Ohio.

    Google Scholar 

  • D'Albe, E. E., Fournier (1920) The Optophone: An instrument for reading by ear.Nature, Lond.,105, 295–296.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beddoes, M. P. (1963)Possible uses of a Printed Braille Reader with Spelted Speech Output. In Proc. Int. Congress on Tech. and Blindness. Ed.L. L. Clark. Vol. 1, pp. 325–342. A.F.B., New York, N.Y.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beurle, R. L. (1952)Electronic Aids for Blind People. London, St. Dunstan's.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bliss, J. C. andMassa, R. J. (1961) A visual and a kinesthetic-tactile experiment in pattern recognition.Quart. Rep. Electronics,61, 253–259.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bliss, J. C. (1963).Tactual-Kinesthetic Perception of Information. In Proc. Int. Congress on Tech. and Blindness. Ed.L. L. Clark. Vol. 1, pp. 309–323. A.F.B., New York, N.Y.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carter, B. andHaskell, M. R. (1961)The Development of Basic Research Materials and a Manual on the Use of Recorded Textbooks. (Final Report). Recording for the Blind Inc., New York, N.Y.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chief Medical Officer. Ministry of Health (1960) Part 11: On the State of the Public Health. Chap. XIV, p. 172. H.M.S.O. London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cleave, J.P. (1955) Braille transcription and mechanical translation.Mech. Transl.,2, 50–53.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clowes, M. B. (1960). A note on Reading Aids for the Blind. Nat. Phys. Labs. AUTO 5/015.

  • Clowes, M. B. (1963)Some Design Criteria for a Blind Reading Aid. In Proc. Int. Congress on Tech. and Blindness. Ed.L. L. Clark. Vol. 1, pp. 205–214. A.F.B., New York, N.Y.

    Google Scholar 

  • Coffey, J. L. (1963)The Development and Evaluation of the Battelle Aural Reading Device. In Proc. Int. Congress on Tech. and Blindness. Ed.L. L. Clark. Vol. 1, pp. 343–360, A.F.B., New York, N.Y.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cooper, F. S. (1950)Research on Reading Machines for the Blind. In Blindness: Modern Approaches to the Unseen Environment. Ed.P. A. Zahl. p. 512. Princeton Univ. Press. [Reprint (1963). Hafner Publishing Co., New York.]

  • Cooper, F. S., Liberman, A. M. andBorst, J. M. (1951) The interconversion of audible and visible patterns as a basis for research in the perception of speech.Proc. nat. Acad. Sci., Wash.,37, 318–325.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cooper, F. S. (1963)Reading Machines, Sect. II. Review and Summary. In Proc. Int. Congress on Tech. and Blindness. Ed.L. L. Clark, Vol. 1, pp. 381–392. A.F.B., New York, N.Y.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ellis, K. (1963) Some experiments on reading aids for the blind.J. Brit. Inst. Radio Engngrs.,25, 188–190.

    Google Scholar 

  • Emanuel, A. F. andMauch, H. A. (1958)Final Report on: The Development and Evaluation of a Personal Type Reading Aid for the Blind. Mauch Labs. Inc., Dayton, Ohio.

    Google Scholar 

  • Emanuel, A. F. andMauch, H. A. (1959)Summary Report on: The Development of a Reading Machine for the Blind. Mauch Labs. Inc., Dayton, Ohio.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fairbanks, G., Guttman, N. andMiron, M. S. (1957) Effects of time compression upon the comprehension of connected speech.J. Speech Dis.,22, 10–19.

    Google Scholar 

  • Freiberger, H. andMurphy, E. F. (1961) Reading machines for the blind.I.R.E. Trans. Prof. Group Human Factors in Electron., HFE-2, 8–19.

    Google Scholar 

  • Freiberger, H. (1963)Summary Report of Developments in the Veterans Administration Research Program on Aids for the Blind. Veterans Administration M/R 630901, September 1, 1963.

  • Garner, W. R. (1953) An informational analysis of absolute judgements of loudness.J. exp. Psychol.,46, 373–380.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • House, A. S., Stevens, K. N., Sandel, T. T. andArnold, J. B. (1962) On the learning of speechlike vocabularies.J. verb. Learn. verb. Behav.,1, 133–143.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kamentsky, L. A. andLiu, C. N. (1963) Computer-automated design of multi-fount print recognition logic.I.B.M.J.,7, 2–13.

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  • Kazmierczak, H. (1963)Stage of Development of Automatic Character Recognition and Complex Reading Machines for the Blind in Europe. In Proc. Int. Congress on Tech. and Blindness. Ed.L. L. Clark. Vol. 1, pp. 261–278. A.F.B., New York, N.Y.

    Google Scholar 

  • Leonard, J. A. (1963) Mobility and the blind: A survey.Med. Electron. Biol. Eng.,1, 465–481.

    Google Scholar 

  • Liberman, A. M., Ingeman, F., Lisker, L., Delattre, P. andCooper, F. S. (1959) Minimal rules for synthesising speech.J. acoust. Soc. Amer.,31, 1490–1499.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mann, R. W. (1963)Enhancing the Availability of Braille. In Proc. Int. Congress on Tech. and Blindness. Ed.L. L. Clark. Vol. 1, pp. 409–426. A.F.B., New York, N.Y.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mauch, H. A. (1960)Summary Report on: The Development of a Reading Machine for the Blind. Mauch Labs. Inc., Dayton, Ohio.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mauch, H. A. (1963)Review of the Major Functional Concepts of Reading Machines. In Proc. Int. Congress On Tech. and Blindness. Ed.L. L. Clark. Vol. 1, pp. 215–226. A.F.B., New York, N.Y.

    Google Scholar 

  • Metfessel, M. andLovell, C. (1961)Spelled-Speech as an Output for an Automatic Reader. Communications Lab., University of Southern California.

  • Miller, G. A. (1956) The magic number seven, plus-orminus two: Some limits on our capacity for processing information. Psychol. Rev.,63, 81–96.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Muratov, R. C., Alekseev, O. L., Verbuk, M. A. andMostchennikov, N. V. (1963)Typhological Systems for the Use of the Blind and the Visually Impaired in Education. In Proc. Int. Congress on Tech. and Blindness. Ed.L. L. Clark. Vol 3, 189–200. A.F.B., New York, N.Y.

    Google Scholar 

  • Naumberg, R. E. (1931) A bookprint reader for the blind.Sci. Amer.,145, 113.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nemeth, A. (1961) InMinutes of Conference on: Automatic Data Processing and the Various Braille Codes. M.I.T. Res. Labs. of Electronics.

  • Nye, P. W. (1962) Aural recognition time for multidimensional signals.Nature, Lond.,196, 1282–1283.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nye, P. W. (1963)Psychological Factors Limiting the Rate of Acceptance of Audio Stimuli. In Proc. Int. Congress on Tech. and Blindness. Ed.L. L. Clark. Vol. 2, pp. 99–109. A.F.B., New York, N.Y.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pollack, I. (1953) The information of elementary auditory displays.J. acoust. Soc. Amer.,25, 765–769.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pollack, I. andFicks, L. (1954) Information of elementary multi-dimensional displays.J. acoust. Soc. Amer.,26, 155–158.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schack, A. S. andMertz, R. T. (1961) Braille Translation System for the I.B.M. 704. Available from Library Services Dept., I.B.M. Data Proc. Div., New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Selfridge, O. G. (1963)Visual Pattern Recognition: The Problems and Promise. In Proc. Int. Congress on Tech. and Blindness, Ed.L. L. Clark, Vol. 1, pp. 279–287. A.F.B., New York, N.Y.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shannon, C. E. andWeaver, W. (1949)The Mathematical Theory of Communication. Urbana; University of Illinois Press.

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  • Sharples, A. R. (1940) Audible Reading Apparatus. U.S. Patent 2,228,782, patented Jan. 1941, filed June 1940.

  • Staak, G. F. (1962)A Study of Braille Code Revisions. Research Bulletin No. 2., American Foundation for the Blind, 21–37.

  • Studdert-Kennedy, M. andLiberman, A. M. (1963)Psychological Considerations in the Design of Auditory Displays for Reading Machines. In Proc. Int. Congress on Tech. and Blindness. Ed.L. L. Clark. Vol. 1, pp. 289–304. A.F.B., New York, N.Y.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tauschek, G. (1929) Reading Machine. U.S. Patent 2,026,329, patented Dec. 1935, filed May 1929.

  • Troxel, D. E. (1962) Comparison of tactile and visual reading rates.Quart. Rep. Electronics,67, 267–272.

    Google Scholar 

  • Turine, V. de (1902). Photophonic books for the blind.Eclair. élect.,31, 16–19.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tyurin, V. A. (1902)On Apparatus Enabling the Blind to Read Ordinary Print and Manuscript. Proc. Second All-Russian Electrical Engineering Congress, Vol. 3, pp. 64–80.

    Google Scholar 

  • West, J. C. (1955)Review of Research on Morse Code Learning. Res. Repts. Air Force Personnel and Training Res. Center-IN-55-52.

  • White, B. W. (1961)What is an Appropriate Output for a Reading Machine? M.I.T. Lincoln Labs. Report 58 G-0023.

  • Yngve, V. H. (1963)Automatic Machine Translation: Potentialities for Braille Encoding. In Proc. Int. Congress on Tech. and Blindness. Ed.L. L. Clark. Vol. 1, pp. 393–402. A.F.B., New York, N.Y.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zahl, P. A. andCooper, F. S. (1947)Report on: Research on Reading Machines for the Blind. Feb. 1944-June 1947. Haskins Laboratories, New York City.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Autonomics Division, National Physical Laboratory, Teddington, Middlesex

    P. W. Nye

Authors
  1. P. W. Nye
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Additional information

The Russian translation of the abstract to this paper will be printed in a loose-leaf insert to be distributed with the next issue of the Journal.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Nye, P.W. Reading aids for blind people—A survey of progress with the technological and human problems. Med. Electron. Biol. Engng 2, 247–264 (1964). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02474622

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02474622

Keywords

Search

Navigation