Due to the proliferation of the touch screen devices, about 400 million people worldwide do not have the ability to communicate through common texting methods. Have in mind that more than 6.1 trillion messages have been sent during 2010 (World Health Organization). Braille Messenger reinvents the communications, and bridges the gap between visually impaired people and the global mobile community.

1. Braille Messenger
www.braillemessenger.com

2. Braille Messenger
1st place on 2012 Microsoft’s ImagineCup local finals
Participates on ImagineCup finals on July 2012, Sydney
Braille Messenger founders
Vasileios Mitrousis
Aristodemos Paphitis

3. Motivation
The facts
Texting is dominating telecommunications worldwide
3.8 billion cellular subscriptions in developing nations
On the other side
284 million visually impaired in 2011 (WHO)
39% are totally blind

4. The problem
Touch screen devices expand rapidly in smartphone
markets
Touch screen displays make visually impaired truly blind
So, how can they communicate with existing methods?

5. Our goal
Connect visually impaired to the global mobile
community
Eyes-free message composition
Eyes-free message reading

6. Braille Code
A 3x2 binary matrix, up to 63 combinations
Supports over 130 languages
Hardware exists since 1939

7. Evolving text composition
Traditional method in a new way
Precise, fast
No training needs
Same layout as in
braille typewriters

8. Why this is different
Bluetooth braille keyboards
Very expensive
Limited mobility
Speech to text
Language/accent restrictions
Difficulty in noisy environments
Privacy

9. Innovation in reading
“See no evil, hear no evil”
It uses nothing but touch
Phone provides vibrations
User percepts position of dots
UNIQUE solution for deaf blindness

10. What’s next
Prototypes are already functional
Braille Messenger will be available for
Windows Phone 7
iPhone
Android
Scheduled release at the end of July
Future development includes social media and email

11. Thank you!
I will be happy to answer any question