THE LONG-TERM GOAL OF THIS PROJECT IS THE DEVELOPMENT OF A FULL-PAGE TACTILE DISPLAY TO CREATE AN EFFECTIVE INTERFACE BETWEEN MICROCOMPUTERS AND BLIND PEOPLE.

THE LONG-TERM GOAL OF THIS PROJECT IS THE DEVELOPMENT OF A FULL-PAGE TACTILE DISPLAY TO CREATE AN EFFECTIVE INTERFACE BETWEEN MICROCOMPUTERS AND BLIND PEOPLE. THIS CONNECTION WILL ENABLE BLIND PEOPLE TO BECOME MORE PRODUCTIVE AND INDEPENDENT BY PROVIDING ACCESS TO DATABASES, COMMUNICATIONSNETWORKS, EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS, AND THE FULL RANGE OF MICRO-COMPUTER SOFTWARE. THE IMMEDIATE GOAL IS TO MODEL THE SELECTED COMPOSITE MATERIAL FOR ITS PERFORMANCE DURING A PULSE OF ELECTRIC CURRENT. THE SIMULATION MODEL WILL RUN ONAN IBM PC-AT. THE MODELING WILL YIELD DESIGN INFORMATION ABOUT THE DENSITY AND THERMAL PROPERTIES OF THE MATERIAL. MEASUREMENTS WILL BE TAKEN BY A COMPUTER DATA-COLLECTION SYSTEM AND SENSORS. DURING PHASE II, THE DEVICE WILL BE OPTIMIZED FOR COMMERCIALIZATION. THIS PROJECT'S POTENTIAL FOR TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION LIES IN ITS DEVELOPMENT OF A NEW "THERMOKINETIC" MATERIAL AND USE OF THAT MATERIAL TO CONSTRUCT AN INEXPENSIVE TACTILE PAGE DISPLAY.