Abstract: A system enables interactive real-time refreshable tactile graphics and braille together enabling blind or visually impaired users to experience and interact with graphics and visual events live and in three dimensions. The tactile graphic display can set each pin in an array of pins to different intermediate heights, enabling users to experience topographical maps and other graphical elements such as shades and color represented as varying heights of pins. The system can simultaneously display high quality of tactile graphics and braille while allowing direct interaction with all digital media—providing real-time refreshable graphics and text in braille. The touch capability of the system enable users to point to any text on the graphic display and have it be instantly rendered in braille on the braille display, thus creating completely new paradigms for reading and creating content.

Abstract: A tactile graphic display for providing a display representation of a graph or image generated by a graphic device for visually impaired users or other users who wish to access tactile information. The display includes one or more frame assemblies including hollow actuator chambers and hollow shaft chambers, the hollow shaft chambers extending perpendicular to the hollow actuator members. Actuators are received within the plurality of hollow actuator chambers and drive shafts are received with the hollow shaft members. Cams operably connect the actuators to the drive shafts. Each actuator rotates each cam about an axis of the actuator in a first direction from a down position to an up position thereby extending each drive shaft upwardly, and each actuator operably rotates each cam about the axis of the actuator in a second direction opposite to the first direction to the down position thereby retracting each drive shaft downwardly.

Abstract: A tactile graphic display for providing a display representation of a graph or image generated by a graphic device for visually impaired users or other users who wish to access tactile information. The display includes one or more frame assemblies including hollow actuator chambers and hollow shaft chambers, the hollow shaft chambers extending perpendicular to the hollow actuator members. Actuators are received within the plurality of hollow actuator chambers and drive shafts are received with the hollow shaft members. Cams operably connect the actuators to the drive shafts. Each actuator rotates each cam about an axis of the actuator in a first direction from a down position to an up position thereby extending each drive shaft upwardly, and each actuator operably rotates each cam about the axis of the actuator in a second direction opposite to the first direction to the down position thereby retracting each drive shaft downwardly.

Abstract: A tactile graphic display for providing a display representation of a graph or image generated by a graphic device for visually impaired users or other users who wish to access tactile information. The display includes one or more frame assemblies including hollow actuator chambers and hollow shaft chambers, the hollow shaft chambers extending perpendicular to the hollow actuator members. Actuators are received within the plurality of hollow actuator chambers and drive shafts are received with the hollow shaft members. Cams operably connect the actuators to the drive shafts. Each actuator rotates each cam about an axis of the actuator in a first direction from a down position to an up position thereby extending each drive shaft upwardly, and each actuator operably rotates each cam about the axis of the actuator in a second direction opposite to the first direction to the down position thereby retracting each drive shaft downwardly.

Abstract: A tactile graphic display for providing a display representation of a graph or image generated by a graphic device for visually impaired users or other users who wish to access tactile information. The tactile graphic display includes a control and interface module in communication with a dot matrix, which is associated with pin nut assemblies including caps that serve as dots in the dot matrix. The control and interface module provides motor drive signals that raise selected dots above the top surface of a top panel to form the dot matrix display. Proximity sensors in or associated with the top panel sense touching of one or more dots and/or proximate presence of a finger or hand near the top surface of the top panel. The proximity sensors provide dot matrix engagement signals to the control and interface module for processing.

Abstract: A tactile graphic display for providing a display representation of a graph or image generated by a graphic device for visually impaired users or other users who wish to access tactile information. The tactile graphic display includes a control and interface module in communication with a dot matrix, which is associated with pin nut assemblies including caps that serve as dots in the dot matrix. The control and interface module provides motor drive signals that raise selected dots above the top surface of a top panel to form the dot matrix display. Proximity sensors in or associated with the top panel sense touching of one or more dots and/or proximate presence of a finger or hand near the top surface of the top panel. The proximity sensors provide dot matrix engagement signals to the control and interface module for processing.

Abstract: In a mobile wireless device, a camera module can be connected directly to a digital baseband processor that does not have a special interface, without the need for an external coprocessor. The data interface of the camera module is directly connected to pins of a general purpose input/output port on the digital baseband processor to enable the baseband processor to capture the synchronous parallel data stream from the camera module. A clock signal from the camera module can be used to trigger DMA transfers of the image data captured by the general purpose input/output port of the baseband processor.