Blind people are unable to dial on the touchscreen of a smartphone. But Google engineers T.V. Raman (who is blind) and Charles Chen (sighted) have made it possible, created an application that allows the blind to dial on the touchscreen, which would likely be incorporated into the future models of Android smartphones.
This software app works based on relative position, it is simple but smart enough to find the finger of the user. It interprets any place where the user first touches the screen as a 5, the center of a regular telephone dial pad. To dial any other number, the user just need to slide his finger in its direction — up and to the left for 1, down and to the right for 9, and so on. If the user makes a mistake, he/she can erase a digit simply by shaking the phone, which can detect motion.
The video clip attached below shows how the app works, you need to skip to about 2 minutes for the actual demo. Google has also initiated a project that will make Android phones accessible to those who can’t see the touchscreen. Read more about the Eyes-Free Android project.
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