Royal National College For The Blind - Assistive Technology

Assistive Technology

The college is actively involved in the development and use of assistive technology to aid visually impaired people in their everyday lives. For example, working with a United States based software engineer, RNC produced the T3 (Talking Tactile Tablet), a touch sensitive device for interpreting tactile images such as diagrams, charts and maps. The device is connected to a computer and run with a programme CD, and has a tactile surface which produces touchable icons that provide audio feedback when they are pressed. The device was originally developed for educational purposes but can be adapted for other uses. In 2005 Hereford Museum and Art Gallery became the first in the United Kingdom to invest in the technology. The T3 was later marketed internationally with the help of the UK Trade & Investment's passport initiative – a scheme which gives new exporters the training, planning and support they need to succeed in overseas markets.

The Mountbatten, an electronic Braille writing machine and embosser, was pioneered and developed at the college by Ernest Bate. Work began on the project following a bequest in the will of the late Lord Louis Mountbatten for the development of a modern, low cost, portable brailler. It has been available since 1991, and is manufactured by Quantum Technology, a company based in Australia. In the early 1990s two RNC lecturers, Clive Ellis and Tony Larkin, invented the Hoople, a hoop-shaped mobility aid for blind people which performs a similar role to a white cane, but is designed for use in a rural environment and on rough terrain. RNC lecturer Nigel Berry designed the Fingerprints Braille course, which was first published in 1993 and is now widely used to teach adult beginners to touch-read and write grade 2 Braille.

RNC is involved in the RoboBraille project which allows visually impaired Internet users to have text translated into Braille and MP3 audio format via email. The system, developed in Denmark, was launched in June 2006 and won a British Computer Society Social Contribution Project Award in 2007. ClearText, which enables visually impaired users to browse the web more easily by making text easier for them to read, was developed in conjunction with the college. In 2009 RNC lecturer Tony Sales developed Vinux, an accessible version of the Linux operating system for the visually impaired.