BWT + Smartphone

BWT

The Braille Writing Tutor, or BWT, is a device that allows visually impaired students to learn how to write Braille. It contains 6 buttons as well as a number of "cells" that the students can write on using a standard Braille stylus. Formerly, the device needed to be connected to a computer to run.

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Smartphone

In underserved communities computers are expensive, internet access is unreliable, and power outages are frequent. Smartphones are cheap, portable, and can power USB devices like the BWT. Choosing to connect the BWT to Android lifted restrictions and released a world of potential.

Mobility

Connecting the device to an Android-powered smartphone allowed it to break free of the restrictions imposed by a computer. Portable, less power dependent and easy to purchase, the smartphone was the ideal technology to connect to the BWT.

Usability

We designed with the visually imapired at the center of our project. Through careful research and user testing we developed a fully-accessible interface on the Android device.

Extendability

With smartphone technology at our disposal we added content customization and sound file recording. We forsee the BWT+Smartphone being taken even further with progress report tracking, easy game programming and more network driven features.