COMPUTER-AIDED BRAILLE MUSIC TRANSCRIPTION SYSTEM

CURRENTLY, PRINTED MUSIC CAN BE TRANSCRIBED INTO BRAILLE MUSIC ONLY BY A SMALL NUMBER OF SPECIALLY TRAINED BRAILLE MUSIC TRANSCRIBERS USING A MANUAL PROCESS. THIS SEVERELY LIMITS THE ACCESS THAT BLIND MUSICIANS HAVE TO BRAILLE TRANSCRIPTIONS OF PRINTED MUSIC. RESEARCHERS ARE DEVELOPING A COMPUTER-AIDED BRAILLE MUSIC TRANSCRIPTION SYSTEM WHICH AUTOMATES THE TRANSCRIPTION PROCESS AND ALLOWS INDIVIDUALS WITH LITTLE OR NO TRAINING IN THE BRAILLE MUSIC CODE TO TRANSCRIBE PRINTED MUSIC INTO BRAILLE. USING A SCANNER, THE SYSTEM SCANS THE PRINTED SHEET MUSIC AND DISPLAYS THE SCANNED IMAGE ON THE SCREEN, WHICH THE USER THEN USES AS A TEMPLATE FOR ENTERING MUSICAL SYMBOLS INTO A GRAPHICAL MUSIC NOTATION EDITOR. A MUSIC-TO-BRAILLE TRANSLATOR AUTOMATICALLY TRANSLATES THE ENTERED MUSIC NOTATION INTO BRAILLE. A BRAILLE MUSIC EDITOR ALLOWS THE USER TO DISPLAY THE RESULTING BRAILLE CODE FOR ADDITIONAL EDITING OR PRINTOUT ON A BRAILLE EMBOSSER. A BRAILLE-TO-MUSIC TRANSLATOR TRANSLATES BRAILLE MUSIC CODE INTO GRAPHICAL MUSIC NOTATION FOR DISPLAY OR PRINTOUT AND FOR EASE OF COMPARISON WITH THE ORIGINAL MUSIC. THIS TRANSLATOR ALSO ALLOWS A BLIND MUSICIAN TO ENTER BRAILLE MUSIC CODE AND PRODUCE PRINTED SHEET MUSIC FOR USE BY SIGHTED MUSICIANS. THE SYSTEM RUNS IN A PC WINDOWS ENVIRONMENT.