A team of students from MIT are making the lives of the visually impaired easier with a project inspired by their course work last fall. The battery-operated 6dot Braille Labeler uses standard Dymo label tape and hopes to provide those in need of the product with a cheaper, portable alternative to other more costly options.
The 6dot’s developers aim to improve upon the everyday frustrations of those who are visually impaired by making the identification of “seemingly similar” household items such as DVD’s, CD’s and canned foods easier.
Photo Courtesy of Patrick Gillooly, MIT News.
According to a press release issued by MIT, “Blind people really wanted to see this product on the market,” Karina Pikhart, Class of 2009, said.
Development of the 6dot escalated after students from MIT’s Product Engineering Processes course won a $7,500 cash prize at last spring’s IDEAS competition.
“We worked really closely with blind people” in developing it, she says, because “you really can’t develop a product without being in close touch with the people you’re developing it for.”
According to MIT, the company created by the students involved in the project does not plan on manufacturing the device but will continue to improve the system while waiting to get the 6dot licensed within the next two years.
“The goal is to get it into the hands of as many people as possible,” Pikhart said. “We’re … looking for a manufacturer who would take this on for the long haul. We want to keep improving it.”
