In 2018, smartphones may increasingly become the eyes of the blind.
After all, smartphones can read text, take voice commands, create text from voice for email, and give directions. New apps do things like read the denomination of money or restaurant bills.
On the other hand, technology is also providing electronic Braille readers that allow users to run their fingers over the surface, feeling the Braille dots.
Still, the number of Braille readers is dropping. According to NPR, just one in 10 blind people can now read Braille. That renders blind people effectively illiterate.
Nonetheless, Braille might make a comeback as people recognize the use of the system to quickly scan materials and read in silence. Coming years will tell the fate of this 200-year-old reading system.
Rick Good spent ten years in the newspaper business, including with The News & Observer (Raleigh, NC) and The Greenville News (Greenville, SC). He co-wrote, with Melinda Coleman, Rutledge to Riley: Governors of South Carolina, 1776–Present (Published by The Greenville News), and is the author of Mind Games Trivia #1 (Amazon). He has recently spent 15 years creating original trivia content through Sounds Good Mobile Entertainment and continues that with his new company, SGME Software. He edits The Smart Reader’s money, real estate, and business coverage.
