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A research team made up of Stanford graduate students presented a project that enables the blind or visually impaired to perform visual tasks without assistance during the International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (SIGACCESS). While researching how to display 3D information such as CAD and modeling programs, he developed a 2.5D display that realizes a kind of tactile pixel while moving a pin up and down.
Basically, this product has a structure in which 12×24 columns are arranged in a matrix shape. The top of each column is rounded. Each of the pillars can be individually elongated while protruding about 2.54cm. Through this, the shape of 3D objects is displayed fast enough to be called near real time.
The research team explains that this will open up the possibilities for the visually impaired, and that the 3D modeling environment can be used to create the tools they want or need.
The reason why it is called 2.5D is that it cannot represent a state in which the entire entity is floating in the air. But for someone who can’t see the screen, the shape that’s displayed here is easier to understand. Of course, the resolution is limited, but it is also a common drawback of all tactile displays. It is also worth considering that tactile displays themselves are rare and most of them are expensive.
To understand a 3D object intuitively, you usually rotate or slide the object. However, it is difficult to express this movement without relying on sight. Nevertheless, such a real-time tactile display can quickly and smoothly change the display shape. Accordingly, it is possible to express a more complex shape than displaying while moving the cross-sectional position.
The 2.5D display is not a commercial project yet, and the product in the video is a working prototype. The research team plans to increase the display resolution by further reducing the pin size. Related information can be found here .
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