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In France, helping the disabled to become more self-sufficient
is a top priority.
Fabien has been blind since he was 2 years old.
Thanks to this small revolutionary device that he has been one of
the early users, he can read.
This is unbelievable! Sitting at a restaurant table with his mother,
he browses the menu without any difficulty
- Lemon tart, chocolate mousse, Tiramisu…
- He made me notice that there is ice cream on the menu.
Despite saying no, he told me that the menu does have some ice creams,
you missed out!
Here is the inventor of this incredible reading device
named Top braille, Raoul Parienti, sometimes called "Mr. thousand ideas".
This former math teacher has registered no less than 142 patents.
Including the integrated rolling suitcase or the portable scooter...
- Usually, around 4am at night, ideas appear clearer. I guess,
perceive and clearly visualize my next inventions.
And his most brillant invention so far is the Top braille.
It has been awarded first prize at the prestigious Concours LĂ©pine 2010.
Thanks to this device, any printed text is transformed into Braille,
or pronounced by a prerecorded voice.
- Here you can find the motherboard with the microprocessor,
that's artificial intelligence. This is the human machine interface
since visually handicapped people read Braille.
As you can see, the dots appear in relief to correspond to the various
letters recognised by the device.
Reading is achieved in several stages.
First step, the device decodes the character. Thereby, it surrounds each
letter by a rectangle. According to its contact points
the letter is recognized, no matter what size or font it is.
Second step, the transcription. The microprocessor converts letters
into Braille. It generates small electronic pulses
that make the dots appear.
Concerning the sound, it is simpler. The recorded voice pronounces
each letters.
Overall, 10 years of development have been required.
Last but not least, this product quite similar to a computer mouse,
is as effective in reading letters as in colour recognition.
- Red, yellow, blue,
dark-green.
- Actually, the device transmits basic colours through LEDs.
According to the chromatic reflection, it specifies what's
the colour of the support.
This is the physics of colours.
On a red surface, green and blue spectrum are absorbed.
Contrary to the red spectrum that is reflected.
For this reason, we can see this red surface.
This physical principle is applied in Top-Braille.
This device, by its highly technical nature, makes its inventor proud.
- I'm very proud, even prouder when I see visually-impaired people that
are delighted to use it.
Indeed, just look at Fabien, walking across the shelves of a bookstore.
We see how this invention has dramatically changed his life.
Top-braille enables him to read any book, not only the ones
in Braille.
- When I see Fabien grabbing a book, I'm overwhelmed with happiness.
It was his own will. He told me "if I had the opportunity,
I would have invented it!"