Can you imagine a PDA without a touchscreen? With no screen at all? It is easier to imagine this when you take in consideration people who do not need any sort of imaging device - yes, blind people. It is hard for them to use modern gadgets, because they all require you to see the screen to operate, especially PDAs where all control is made using touchscreen. Unfortunately, no PDA manufacturer takes in consideration this fact when designing a new model - seems like no one really cares. But that's not true - there are manufacturers who care.GW Micro developed a unique PDA, VoiceSense for use especially by blind people. It does not have a screen, only buttons with Braille code, mic for voice commands and a loudspeaker. However, do not be fooled by its exterior, because it is an amazingly powerful device too! Intel PXA270 520MHz processor, 1GB of RAM, WiFi, two expansion slots for CF and SD cards, USB2.0 port, FM radio and much more!
With help of this gadget, blind people can listen to music, chat with MSN Messenger and browse the internet - very amusing feature considering absence of any display. It even reads books! All operations are done using voice commands and buttons – the control scheme was simplified to make controlling this PDA easier. The battery life is also a strong point of VoiceSense. 12 hours of work without recharging is amazing result for PDA – fair enough when taking in account absence of display.
Of course, this gadget is a true entertainment center for those, who unfortunately cannot see all the beauty that is around us. It is interesting to see how engineers found a way to manage the device without a screen or any other graphic method of information display. Moreover, this research is useful not only for blind - we all could benefit on improved voice recognition and voice synthesis, if it is used in a usual devices in future. The price of VoiceSense is high - 1895 dollars, which makes it hard to buy even for healthy people. We hope that charity organizations will look up to this interesting gadget and will help to deliver it to its true users.
