Virtual Reality for Visual Disability

The Teletouch system is a new type of software developed in the United Kingdom that translates computer words and graphics into
tactile textures and shapes. Adapted by British Telecom, this novel project allows computer users who are blind to gain their information through touch rather than sight.

In the Teletouch system, Virtual Reality Modelling Language (VRML) is used to model textures and hardness, feeding the results to a joystick. As the user moves the joystick to the edge or the face of a virtual surface, a motor produces resistance to create the impression of an actual surface.

British Telecom is considering adapting the system to provide tactile maps so that people who are blind can explore the layout of an area prior to travel.

More can be learned from Stephen Furner at British Telecom Laboratories in Suffolk, tel.: (44) 1473-606450.