People use photos to document their experiences, expressions and emotions and share them with their friends, family and others over the Internet. However, visually impaired people have been excluded from this growing trend. 

Touch Sight bridges this gap by giving the visually impaired a way to ‘see’ images on an advanced Braille interface. The Samsung developed device displays images as embossed surfaces that the user can touch. It also records sound for three seconds after pressing the shutter button allowing the user to use the sound as a reference when reviewing and managing the photos.

“Touch sight is a revolutionary digital camera designed for people with visual impairments,” explained the designers. “Simple features make it easy to use.”

Touch Sight does not have a LCD display, but instead has a lightweight, flexible Braille sheet which displays a 3D image by embossing the surface, allowing the user to touch the photo. The sound file and the picture sheet combine to become a touchable photo that is saved in the device and can be uploaded to share with others and downloaded to other Touch Sight cameras.

“Touch Sight has an elegant, slim design that is very different from regular cameras. Its curved form makes the camera easy to grab, to place against the forehead and to point in the desired direction.”

Since people with visual impairments operate the camera by touch, Touch Sight has a very small lens to prevent accidental touching and scratching. A rubber lanyard passes through the device for better durability. In addition, the design of the lens and the camera’s form factor reduce the risk of damage if it is dropped.

“We have minimized and simplified the buttons to make the camera easier to operate. To avoid confusion, all feature buttons come with three-dimensional silicon icons that are easy to identify and operate.”

Designed by 
Jaehan Jin, Dan Hu, Ning Xu, Fengshun Jiang, Zhenhui Sun, Chueh Lee, Liqing Zhou, Saiyou Ma - China

Website
www.samsung.com