Luxury puts up a good fight, but necessity is still the true mother of invention. Innovations in assistive technology, such as Bluetooth hearing aids and Braille-input PDAs, are helping the physically and mentally disabled and impaired keep pace with our increasingly tech-dependent world–at least, for those who can afford them! Here’s a look at some of the latest tech products for people with visual disabilities.
GW Micro makes a portable notetaker called the Braille Sense Plus, pictured above, that lets users input text using a Perkins keyboard–six keys that correspond to the six Braille dots, plus Space, Backspace, and Line Space keys. The device can then output messages via synthesized speech or its 32-cell Braille pad; the dots move up and down to produce scrolling lines of text.
With these features, even those with total blindness have access to email, MSN Messenger, word processing (with formatting), an address manager, a media player, and more. The 2-pound device goes for $5,995 (street). The Voice Sense, a smaller PDA without the Braille pad, weighs just over half a pound and costs $2,395.
More after the jump.
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Second Place — Mark Fletcher
Third Place — Joey Del Real
