The Cadence Braille Display

In this episode of Double Tap, Steven Scott and Shaun Preece speak with Brian Clark and Wunji Lau, the Director of Marketing, from Tactile Engineering about the groundbreaking Cadence Braille Display. This innovative device combines a refreshable Braille display with tactile graphics, allowing blind users to access both text and dynamic images. Designed with the dimensions of a large smartphone and weighing just half a pound, the Cadence boasts long battery life thanks to its energy-efficient latching dot technology.

The discussion highlights unique features such as animation capabilities, which allow users to feel moving objects or events like fireworks and eclipses, and modular design for easy repair and scalability. The Cadence is particularly impactful in education, with applications for teaching Braille, advanced mathematics, and science. Teachers can remotely monitor students’ progress through touch-sensitive feedback, making it a powerful tool for TVIs (Teachers of the Visually Impaired).

The device has even been tested in extreme conditions, including a high-altitude balloon launch that reached over 80,000 feet, demonstrating its durability and potential for use in space-related projects. Students at the Indiana School for the Blind are already benefiting from the Cadence, with the goal of ensuring that no blind student has to pay for their own educational accommodations.

For more information, visit Tactile Engineering or check out Tactile Engineering’s YouTube channel.