Modern devices such as Android, iPhone, & iPod Touch are powerful, portable, and innovative.These devices are open platforms that support an application store with hundreds of thousands of apps at low prices. But these devices are largely unusable by the blind because the devices have flat touchscreens with hardly any raised keys for tactile interaction and are primarily vision-based. Any audio interaction is limited to a few apps and does to extend to the overall usability of the device. As our world moves further towards touchscreen devices, the blind are increasingly disadvantaged.

As the blind cannot use mainstream devices, they are tied to a number of costly niche devices such as currency recognizers, portable audio computer, and barcode scanners; these devices are usable because the applications are accessible through audio and buttons but cost anywhere from hundreds of dollars to thousands each while supporting at most a few applications.

So the social problem we have been working on during the past three years is: how do we enable the blind to move away from these costly niche devices & adopt mainstream touchscreen devices?

Our company @Fingertips has found a solution! 

Our first product is a device that can be attached to the iPhone enabling the blind to access apps using rotary dials and buttons while listening to audio & speech.