[Reading device for the blind based on the transformation of the optical image into a vibrotactile one]. / Chitatel'noe ustroistvo dlia slepykh na osnove preobrazovaniia opticheskogo izobrazheniia v vibrotaktil'noe.

The article describes a device in which the printed text letters after their photo-transforming are presented as a matrix of bimorphous piezoelements in the vibrotactile form. The operation of a bimorph as an element of a tactile matrix has been studied experimentally and requirements to parameters of excitation signals were settled. Consideration is given to the phototactile transformation principle and to some circuits for its practical embodiment.

Headborne illuminator for the partially sighted.

An inexpensive, headborne device is described that provides a bright spot of light on reading material even when the material is brought within 1 or 2 cm of the viewing eye. This aid has been used with great success by one of the authors for about 2 yr. This illuminator, or modifications of it, should prove valuable to other partially sighted people.

Clip-on eyeglass loupe as a writing aid for low-vision patients.

To aid the partially sighted in writing on small areas, such as bank drafts, a clip-on eyeglass loupe (11 diopters, 3.5 inches, Bausch and Lomb) attached to a finepoint felt pen provides adequate vision.

[Reading machines for the blind]. / Chital'nye mashiny dlia slepykh

Direct conversion reading machines for the blind with tactile and acoustic information output were analyzed. It is shown that direct conversion machines are simple enough, inexpensive and may be recommended for individual use. But an effective use of them requires a protracted period of learning. The present state and future prospects for constructing reading machines with vocal information output (machines with letter-wise recognition and the ones capable of synthetizing the speech) are enquired into. These machines are shown to help reach a greater reading speed, but are of a more complex nature.

Reading devices for blind people.

An account is given of the social, economic, and technical factors surrounding the development of reading aids or devices for blind people. It is shown that these factors interact in such a way as to seriously constrain the approaches that can be made to device design. The progress being made in the research, development, and deployment of several types of reading devices is described to illustrate how the various constraints have affected the design goals and methods of deployment. Emphasis is laid on the development of reading machines with voice output because, ultimately, they are the most likely types of devices to be widely accepted by the blind. Looking ahead to full deployment of such devices before the end of this decade, the paper concludes with a summary of the research, development, and organizational needs that must be met.

[Low-vision aids in visually handicapped children (author's transl)]. / Verordnung von Sehhilfen bei sehbehinderten Kindern

It is reported on 71 visually handicapped pupils. The visual acuity of 48 of these children could be tested with low-vision aids and the electronic television reading apparatus (Reinecker). With telescopic glasses (Zeiss, Keeler) 31 children had an average improvement of their visual acuity of two lines on a test board for near vision (Birkhäuser). With the reading apparatus 43 children showed an improvement of the visual acuity of 5 more lines. Only 3 to 21 pupils, who had been offered a regular use of the telescopic glasses, decided to have one. Finally our own experiences are compared with those of other authors.

[A simple method to check alternating fixation in penalisation (author's transl)]. / Einfache Prüfung der alternierenden Fixation bei der Penalisation

In addition to his glasses worn for penalisation, the patient receives spectacles with a red and green glass. Asked to fix the lamp of the examinator, the patient sees the light either red or green, according to which eye is fixing on the light.