Tactile Phone for the Blind or Visually Impaired

It’s not always easy for blind or visually impaired people to use mobile phones, but designer Nikko van Stolk has come up with a concept phone that might be able to solve the problem, dubbed the Tactile.  The Tactile uses digital texture to allow the visually impaired to access a variety of features that are offered by modern multi-touch phones.  This is achieved by using an array of conductive pins under the multi-touch display, sending digital information as pulses of electricity to the user’s fingertips to simulate texture.  Sounds pretty fancy, but it’ll be a shame if it doesn’t become a reality- the Tactile would probably be really useful to folks who are visually impaired.

“As cell phones have become an increasingly conspicuous part of everyday life, they have also become more and more powerful, equipped with computer operating systems and more features being added with every new model. Web browsers, e-mail, multimedia messaging, voice dialing, phone books, word processors, multi-color displays, and cameras are some of the features available on today’s cell phones, but there are concerns among the blind and visually impaired community as to whether or not these and other cell phone features will be accessible.” – American Foundation for the Blind 

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