STANFORD MEDIA X TEN INNOVATION TRENDS: ROBOTICS, AGING...
May 08, 2011 :: Posted by - maureen :: Category - Technology Science
Copyright (c) 2007 SharpBrains
The goal of Stanford University Media X is to foster collaborations between industry and academia. The 5th Annual Media X Conference on Research, Collaboration, Innovation and Productivity, which I was fortunate to attend, served its purpose well. Let me share the 10 Key Trends that every business executive and innovator should be paying attention to:
1) Personal Robotics is poised to explode soon (predicted by Paul Saffo). It usually takes 20 years science basic science exists until applications reach inflection point and take the world by storm-and we are about to see that happen. Some indicators: DARPA sponsored first robotics attempts in mid-80s, and now we have applications such as the Roomba vacuum-cleaner, and a fully automated racing car. Prof. Kenneth Salisbury showed how there are robots today with great motor skills-i.e., they can unload a dishwasher!
2) Brain Computer Interfaces. Prof. Krishna Shenoy explained how, for many people who can't move/ communicate well, new systems enable the translation of brain signals into control signals, by implanting electrodes in brain that measure signals and help predict behaviors based on response pattern recognition There are .. more» 


Introduction
Advances in technology have significantly influenced in the blind and low vision individuals. Over the past 20th year improvement in computer has allowed for readily access to VI. Today a large percentage of students with VI spend over 80% of their school days in general educational classroom. Student with very severe visual impairment may need to learn read and write using different methods. Braille is a coded system of dots embossed on paper, so that individuals can feel a page of text. Braille is use for different type of reading such as Maths, and Music. Now seen fewer people are using Braille as a reading method today. First reason is that Braille method is slow. According to Tuttle and Ferrell (1995) reported that good Braille reader achieve a rate of only 100 words per minutes. Nolan (1967) found that average high school students who is blind reads even fewer words per minutes.
Can you think of some other reason, Why Braille is less popular today? The first reason is that the teachers don't know how to use or teach the Braille and unavailability of the experts. Another