Patents on the soles of your shoes...: Oh, patents! Oh, Polly!

Polly is part of a fairly recent winning streak in breakthrough inventions for the blind. A winning streak that includes the Dot Pad, the Dot SmartWatch, and Dot Translate, using refreshable braille, and most recently Lego® Braille Bricks.

Recipient of a Time Magazine Best 200 Inventions Award in 2022, Polly is a braille learning system developed by the American Printing House (APH) for the Blind, in collaboration with a firm in India called Thinkerbell Labs. The APH is the largest braille publishing house in the United States. Braille is a tactile language, enabling the blind and visually impaired to read and write.

Braille was named after Louis Braille, who became blind as a young boy in France, and went on to develop this eponymous tactile language, at the beginning of the 19th century. Braille consists of a certain number of cells, each containing different combinations of 3x2 raised dots, corresponding to the letters of the alphabet, punctuation marks, and contractions. Early braille reading and writing materials were embossed on thick cardboard sheets, using manual or automated braillers. A means of producing braille reading and writing mterials that limited both the variety and quantity of materials available, and by the same token access to literacy and employment for the blind.

Scrolling fast forward, Polly was developed not only to incorporate the latest digital combination of audio and refreshable braille technology into braille learning systems, but also to develop a state-of-the-art digitized curriculum for the blind. A digitized curriculum for the blind and visually impaired that fills the void for on-demand learning content and collaborative classroom activity, and that includes instant feedback or live monitoring, step-wise progression, and analytics on learning outcomes. A curriculum for the blind and visually impaired that also includes games and fun learning materials. Especially, materials that might be used without the assistance of a teacher, considering the shortage of special education teachers, and the increased need for assisting blind or visually impaired students on their path to braille literacy.

The Polly invention thus responds to two apsects of a problematic situation in braille education. First, the invention responds to shortcomings in the application of the latest electronic dot and audio technologies for the blind. Secondly, the invention responds to the need for catching up on the development of digitized methodologies for teaching and learning braille literacy, on a par with digital learning and teaching methodlogies for the sighted.

Polly is a patented invention. The following family of five patents protect the invention. The patents were granted by the United Nations World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), Intellectual Property Australia (IP Australia), the European Patent Office (EPO), and the Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) :

WO2019162848A1 - A smart interactive system for Braille learning.
US11514817B2 - A smart interactive system for Braille learning.
AU2022218635A1 - A smart interactive system for learning braille.
EP3756179A4 - A smart interactive system for learning braille.
CA3091579A1- A smart interactive system for learning braille.

The US utility patent US11514817B2 discloses a smart interactive electronic braille learning device, for audio-tactile inputting and outputting of braille content. The invention is further designed to make braille learning easy, fun, and possible, even without the help of a teacher. The braille device is a connected device. The device is part of a system that includes a digitized braille pedagogy, followed across the globe via cloud servers, which users can access via the audio-tactile input and output interface.

The input interface includes a 6-key Perkins braille keyboard and a digitized version of the traditional “braille slate” for use with a stylus. The 6-key braille Perkins keyboard is for learning how to type in braille. The digitized “slate” for use with a stylus facilitates learning how to write in braille, eliminating the need for thick cardboard paper where students used to emboss dots using a stylus. The output interface includes enlarged braille cells for beginning braille readers, and standard-size braille cells for learners who have already mastered braille reading with the enlarged cells.

Below, the patent Figures 2a, 2b and 2c, showing top (2a), left side (2b) and right side (2c) views of an embodiment of the Polly invention device for learning braille. The top view 2a of the device depicts a large twin-cell refreshable braille display 110 for beginning readers, and a standard 6-cell refreshable braille display 108 for more advanced braille readers. Between the large twin-cell 110 and standard 108 6-cell refreshable braille displays, a speaker system 113, intended to assist with reading and to provide instructions. Below the refreshable braille reading cells (110 and 108) and speaker system 113, a standard Perkins 6-key keyboard 117 for typing braille, plus a backspace key, a new line key, and a space bar. Beneath the Perkins keyboard 117, a digital braille slate 116, for practicing “stylus & slate” braille writing skills. Beneath the digital slate 116, there are navigation keys (left and right arrows, plus a spacebar) used to navigate across stored content and the different operational modes of the system.

The left side 2b of the device depicts the power supply input plug 102, the on/off rocker switch 103, and a touch sensor 120. The touch sensor vibrates upon a single tap, to indicate that the device is ON to a visually impaired person. A double tap controls the repetition of the last audio instruction. Vibration is otherwise also used to provide feedback, such as for an incorrect answer or to acknowledge input. The left side 2b of the device also displays two un-indexed USB ports, and a LAN port for modem connection. The device is otherwise WIFI and Bluetooth-enabled. The right side of the device 2c depicts the audio jack 114, and the volume control knob 115.

The Polly braille learning system is connected to the Helios Educational Platform for storage of, and access to, a wide variety of multilingual content, structured into lessons of increasing difficulty. To sign up, and set up an account, go to: https://polly-helios.thinkerbelllabs.com/

Below, an indexed image of the marketed Polly braille learning device. Below the image, the abstract of the invention, extracted from the US utility patent US11514817B2.

The present invention discloses completely digitized, smart, interactive and connected system (100) for braille learning. The invention also provides platform for consuming coupled audio-braille tactile lessons that include voice and braille data input or output serving as educational tool for visually challenged. The smart interactive system comprises a braille keyboard (117), a digital braille 10 slate (116), a proximity touch sensor (120) for input, a large braille display (110) and standard braille display (108), a vibration motor (119) and a speaker (113) for haptic and audio data output. The digital braille slate (116) gives both mechanical tactile feedback and audio feedback via speaker (115) as each braille dots are pressed using the stylus (306). The system (100) is connected to the internet 15 allowing for remote software and content updates and upload of data on usage metrics. [Abstract US11514817B2]