T3 Platform: The Next Generation Tactile Tablet

This project develops the T3 Platform, a system for creating, distributing, and displaying interactive, audio-tactile maps, graphs, games, and braille lessons. Built on the successful but outdated Talking Tactile Tablet (TTT) paradigm, this new approach makes some images accessible to those who can’t see well enough to use standard print graphics. T3 Platform includes four components: T3 Tablet, T3 Cloud, T3 Trainer, and T3 Embosser. With T3 Platform, users place raised line and textured overlay sheets on a large Android tablet computer, and then tap and swipe with hands and fingers to trigger spoken descriptions and explanations of each element of the tactile image. As each new overlay sheet is placed on the tablet, its ID number is scanned from a sticker adhered to the back, and an app running on the tablet calls up data files that associate regions of the tactile image with pre-recorded audio or synthetic speech. This innovation eliminates the requirement that the user press three ID bars as each new overlay is put in place, creating a smoother, faster sheet change sequence, and eliminating miss-identifications that were the biggest source of frustration for users of the TTT.