Bringing Braille into the digital world

BraiBook is the first e-Reader for visually impaired people. This portable device stores and instantly translates any digital books or documents into braille, making it possible to read on the go.

Currently, the number of books available in braille are scarce, expensive and difficult to access for those who need it. The lack of braille literature means visually impaired people are excluded from a variety of daily activities including education, entertainment and culture. More than 80% of blind people are illiterate, since they unable to read or write, and 8 out of 10 blind children are not in school due to lack of adapted material.

The aim of BraiBook is to double the number of Braille users and increase the schooling of children with visual impairment. For the cost of one braille book, our eReader offers up to 4,000 texts - making it easily accessible for all. 

Funding would enable us to…

Launch the device at an affordable price for those who really need it. We’re keen to give access to as many people as possible, including children. We would also invest in research and development to keep improving the device, and we aim to start a campaign to educate schools and foundations on the benefits of the product for their visually impaired students, using feedback to meet their cultural and educational needs.

A bus ride inspired me…

One day I was on a bus journey enjoying a book with an eReader. A blind person entered and I could not help but wonder; How do they do what we do, read anytime and anywhere? What difficulties do they encounter? Given my engineering background, I started to think about the technical possibilities and solutions. I met with associations and people with visual disabilities to get an idea of what was already available to them in the market and what inconveniences these products had. Based on that we started BraiBook.