Picture something like an Etch-A-Sketch, lying in your lap. You place your hands on the screen and feel the "image"...in relief, as it moves.-- StreetLight, Jun 12 2001 (?) Non-Visual Visual Representation Research http://www.dinf.org...n_98/csun98_144.htmDates back to 1998 but should give people an idea of the way that research has taken. [Aristotle, Jun 12 2001, last modified Oct 17 2004] (?) The vOICe - seeing with sound http://ourworld.com...pages/Peter_Meijer/Converts still and moving images to sound patterns. Free software, will convert your windows desktop to sounds, and live TV too if you have a TV card for your PC. Very cool - the sounds are awful though. [imagicsp, Jun 12 2001, last modified Oct 17 2004] Archived copy of first link above https://web.archive...n_98/csun98_144.htm [notexactly, Jul 03 2019] New website for second link above https://www.seeingwithsound.com/ [notexactly, Jul 03 2019] I like it, yet it would have to be a relatively small screen. It would be impractical to move your hands to feel a moving image.-- Malakh, Jun 12 2001 I've seen Braille dumb terminals back in the 80s when I was a student. They had about three lines of Braille and appeared to be pretty effective.
Given that this is 2001 I suspect this is baked. I'll have a search ...-- Aristotle, Jun 12 2001 I think the use of the term "video monitor" has made people think of using this with computers. I think of this invention more in terms of TV watching. I'm not too sure anyone would want to use it to "see" what Windows looks like. I think I should have called it TV For The Blind.-- StreetLight, Jun 12 2001 Certainly be one giant leap forward for the porn industry. Kinda like Blinkin's introduction in "Robin Hood: Men in Tights."-- nick_n_uit, Jun 12 2001 A baked good that solves this same problem is called "Descriptive Video Service". Basically, on the Second Audio Program (SAP) of the signal, an extra narrator fills in anything a blind person is missing by speaking it. In the U.S. it is most common on non-fiction programs, particularly on the Public Broadcasting Service.-- krelnik, Dec 17 2002 The idea will only work for people who HAVE had some time in their life where they could see. IF they were blind from birth, a moving bas relief would'nt translate into anything "visual" (they would'nt have any point of reference if they have never "seen" anything in their lives). But if it were like a braille marquee- then good. I still voted FOR.-- mailtosalonga, Apr 01 2004 Well, it could injure someone. For instance, a car crash on TV could pinch the hands (hands stuck between virtual cars). It has to have some sort of safety thing.-- -----, Apr 16 2005 random, halfbakery