A $500 Braille Tablet Was Built For Blind Users

Devices like tablets can be difficult to use for users with disabilities, but an upcoming model from Austrian manufacturer Blitab looks to tackle this problem head-on.

The bottom half of the eponymous Blitab device looks like a standard tablet, with a basic touchscreen display. However, the top half of the tablet is built with a sizable dedicated Braille display. According to the MIT Technology Review, the 14-row display can project up to 65 words at a time.

The startup’s online service converts text you see on the lower touch screen into Braille; pressing a button on the side of the Blitab prompts a micro-electromechanical actuator below each hole on the upper Braille display to push up an itty-bitty bubble. Pressing another button on the side of the device refreshes the Braille display with the next page of content.

Blitab plans to start shipping tablets by this year with an expected $500 price tag. The company has been showcasing a workable beta of the tablet which it announced in May 2016. The Blitab is also an offshoot of an earlier version for a Braille-based tablet from the company.

The affordable price tag is a notable move for the Blitab, as the accessible tablet market has usually been occupied by specialty manufacturers with products priced well above the range of most consumers. In addition, these devices traditionally need to be paired with a tablet or primary device via Bluetooth.