I bet you have never imagined how your world would be without being able to see. Even the most common activities seem impossible to perform, leaving aside modern entertainment. But scientists are not immune to the blind community's needs and have created over the years lots of amazing tools that bring their daily existence closer to a normal one.

So, in case you didn't know, the blind can even use computers and read this short article. How? By simply installing hardware or software that simulates the human voice and reads the texts on the computer screen out loud. They can even have the web pages printed in Braille, which I'm sure all of you have heard about, but don't know much about.

But now a device that converts web content to Braille offers a new web experience to the sightless. SmartBraille is an electronic Braille reader created by a Japanese company called Askk, and its main achievement is that it is the first Braille display that rotates, allowing its user to continuously read the text displayed. This is a true innovation in the world of computers, giving the blind a better opportunity to explore the online universe. More info is available here.

The Braille system was invented in 1821 by Louis Braille, a blind man himself, and is a method widely used that allows sightless people to read and write. The reading is made by passing the fingers over characters made up from an arrangement of one to six embossed points. The system was based on a method originally developed for Napoleon's soldiers in order for them to communicate silently and without light by night, but was never adopted because it was simply too complicated for them to learn it. But when Braille discovered it, he understood its amazing utility and simplified it to the system used nowadays.


We are just a few, but there are many of you, Softpedia users, out there. That's why we thought it would be a good idea to create an email address for you to help us a little in finding gadgets we missed. Interesting links are bound to be posted with recognition going mainly to those who submit. The address is .