Systematics and MGPPU: Tactile hand

2019: Completion of development

The group of MGPPU developers with active participation of specialists of GKS develops the convenient, compact device "Tactile Hand" opening for the people deprived of visual and acoustical sensation an opportunity quickly and to comfortably receive text and voice messages from the smartphone, using tactile feelings. On March 20, 2019 reported about it in GKS company.

According to the published data in Russia about 218 thousand citizens have disability on visual impairment, and 103 thousand people from them absolutely blind. Development of technologies allows to make life of physically disabled people more comfortable, safe and active. The developed MGPPU together with GKS the Tactile Hand device allows visually impaired and blind people to reside in touch and to communicate with the outside world.

"The tactile hand" transforms using specially developed mobile application text information from the smartphone to the mechanical influences felt by the user on a hand. The transferred text can come to the smartphone as through the SMS message or e-mail and also to be entered using voice set.

As noted in GKS, information is transferred by inclusion for a short time in a certain sequence of 6 vibromotors placed in the cup which is put on one forearm above a hand. Coding of a signal is performed on the basis of six-point representation of characters of Braille (Braille's font — the relief and point tactile font intended for the letter and reading by blind persons and badly seeing people. It is developed in 1824 by Frenchman Louis Braille).

Using the Tactile Hand device the people deprived of sight will be able quickly to receive SMS messages and e-mail from the family, to communicate in chats, to use mobile applications for navigation in the city – to lead more active and complete life. Information transfer by a tactile method allows blind people to protect hearing which at them suffers from an overload, and gives the chance to receive messages in noisy premises or on the street, claim in GKS.

"A social initiative of the company - the Tactile Hand device is not held for sale and will be provided to users free of charge. To us was it was important to find optimal at cost, simple in use and the reliable solution which would allow users with visual impairment and hearing to be in touch with relatives, friends and the rest of the world using modern mobile technologies. The development team paid special attention to characteristics of compactness, autonomy and convenience of the device to active daily use". Leonid Shikanovich Goldenberg, president of GKS

"Many students with different visual impairment study at faculty of information technologies of the Moscow state psychology and pedagogical university. With blind and visually impaired students within educational process and colleagues from industrial practice laboratory of training aids of people with visual impairment understanding of scale, importance and complexity of a problem of development and deployment of new assistivny technologies give permanent interaction". Lev Semyonovich Kuravsky, dean of faculty of information technologies of the Moscow state psychology and pedagogical university, Doctor of Engineering, professor

According to information for March, 2019 the batch of devices "Tactile Hand" for carrying out together with a number of charitable foundations of tests of the device in focus groups is released. Completion of the device and mobile application based on tests and also addition of the device with input functions of information that users could respond to the received messages will be a problem of the next stage, send SMS, dial the "disturbing" phone number in case of contingencies. Also works on creation of the version of mobile application for iOS are planned.

2018

At the beginning of 2018 was the first batch of devices taking into account all notes received in the course of the 1st test stage is released.

2016

In 2016 the positive solution on registration of model in Rospatent was received. In the middle of 2016 laboratory tests of several prototypes of the device and the first version of software began. Then the Tactile Hand device was tested with participation of focus group based on the Polygon project created by Soyedineniye fund.

2015

In June, 2015 the first prototype of the device was ready and works on technical design began. The application was in parallel submitted to ROSPATENT.

2014

Works on the device were begun in 2014 under the leadership of the head of the laboratory of mathematical psychology of MGPPU Candidate of Physics and Mathematics Grigory Aleksandrovich Yuryev.