Metabraille

- One minute read - 209 words

Metabraille is a mobile Braille keyboard. This keyboard can be used to remotely control iOS and Android smartphones as well as PCs via Bluetooth. The assembly is designed for people with visually impairements or blindness. Metabraille was developed in a participatory design thinking process as part of the Define project.

Metabraille and the Define project are described in German in a youtube video.

The keyboard housing of the Metabraille mobile Braille keyboard is red and made of plastic (125 x 95 x 25 mm). The housing is rectangular, with a flat, trapezoidal extension on the long side. The shape resembles a house with windows in the centre. The ten keys are white and rectangular. Eight keys are arranged in four rows and two columns on the flat front.

Metabraille front, CC BY-SA 4.0 BSVWNB

Key data

  • 8 buttons for entering Braille
  • 2 buttons for the thumbs, for entering spaces and for switching to different modes
  • Mobile use, no pad required for writing.
  • Dimensions 125 x 95 x 25 mm
  • Erich Schmid's 10 Keys Braille - based on German Computer Braille and the essential input options of a QWERTY PC keyboard
  • BLE Bluetooth Low Energy
  • BL-5C battery – known and widely used by Nokia phones
  • Assembly is optimised for people with blindness or visual impairments

Open source

The Metabraille blueprints are publicly available under the CERN Open-Hardware Licence Version 2 - strictly reciprocal and listed as certified open source hardware UID AT000009. The quality of the technical documentation has been confirmed by Open Source Ecology Germany e.V. in accordance with the first official standard for open source hardware DIN SPEC 3105.