Research and first sketch of my design

I thoroughly researched into current concepts and designs for mobile phones for partially sighted and blind people which had already been made available to the public via the outlet of the internet where people have posted their own ideas for devices and companies that have devised possible designed and even released models for blind and partially sighted people.

The first design I came across was the Samsung Touch messenger mobile phone.

(See post posted on July 16, 2006 at Samsung hub http://www.samsunghub.com/2006/07/16/touch-messenger-mobile-phone-for-blind/)

I found this design to be directly aimed at people who read braille only. It had limited functionality and no real visual interface even though the design was aesthetically pleasing. According to Samsung hub;




"Samsung has developed a mobile phone for visually impaired users. Named as the Touch Messenger, it allows a blind user to read messages with the help of Braille display screen. The phone also features 12 Braille buttons which enables the user to even write a message. This design will surely help blind people as they would be able to read and write messages without anyone’s help."

As the above states it is very message orientated, even though it tackles the issue of blind people being able to send messages easily it has no functionality that blind or partially sighted users could enjoy. I did not want the design which me and Thomas Lett were brainstorming to be aiming towards one problematic which could be overcome. We wanted to tackle a number of issues that blind and partially sighted people had come across, braile can be used, yes, but what about voice activated functions and screen readers and also a touch screen? These additions could also have to be considered.


For more information on the above Samsung touch messenger phone see the following links: -

http://www.samsunghub.com/2006/07/16/touch-messenger-mobile-phone-for-blind/

http://news.soft32.com/samsungs-phone-for-blind-people_1751.html

http://www.mobilenest.com/images/samsung_braille.jpg

http://technabob.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/braille-phone-1.jpg

http://technabob.com/blog/2009/08/28/samsung-braille-phone-touchscreen/

http://technabob.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/braille-phone-2.jpg

http://www.newlaunches.com/archives/braille_phone_is_a_dream_come_true_for_the_visually_impaired.php

The next idea I came across whilst researching was a concept put forward by the company Toshiba. The concept is called the Toshiba Tactility phone.


(See post posted September 15, 2009 http://www.designlaunches.com/gadgets/the_toshiba_tactility_phone_a_concept_mobile_phone_for_the_blind.php)


I found this concepts again aimed towards people who are totally blind and that can read braille. This again separates those who can read braille and cannot read braille. There are people out there who are fully blind who would not be able to use this concept / idea as it is too braille orientated.



It again seemed elegant in its design with finely crafted edges and glow lights at the sides. These aesthetics do not sadly make up for its lack in functionality.

According to design launches.com;

"The Toshiba Tactility concept phone is a clever phone designed for the blind. Designed by designer Siwei Liu, this concept phone has a simple 3D Braille face and functionality and boasts of technology which is used today. Thus, the chances of this phone turning into a reality have become extremely strong. The sleek phone even has a hole at the bottom that allows you to loop a tie through it and hang the phone around your lanyard or belt.

A great design, the simple design and technology make this phone are what make this phone stand out. Truly a class apart, his phone needs to get manufactured soon."

The information above does not give much away in terms of its functions or problems it solves ither than that braille readers can use it. This again is not something I want our design to focus upon.

For more on the Toshiba Tactility see the following links -

http://www.designlaunches.com/gadgets/the_toshiba_tactility_phone_a_concept_mobile_phone_for_the_blind.php

http://www.mobile-t-mobile.com/Mobile-news/toshiba-tactility.html

http://www.touchuserinterface.com/2009/10/toshiba-tactility-mobile-phone-concept.html

http://m.yankodesign.com/2009/09/14/blind-phone-with-fashion/

http://www.luxuo.com/gadgets/toshiba-siwei-liu-mobile.html

After looking into these researched concepts and designed I then decided to sketch some ideas of my own. The following images where the sketches of my initial first design for prototype 1.

You can see with the sketches situated in the middle and the bottom right hand corner that I was starting to bring together an idea.





From a brief chat with a friend of mine who is partially sighted he informed me that he would like a better grip on the phone so I started to play around with a few ideas, had a brainstorming session by myslef and thought of the use of a gun handle grip as it is not widely used on really anything else other than D.I.Y tools and types of guns.



As you can also see I started to visualise the layout of the keypad I wanted for the device. I also started to visualise the design with a high colour screen, a touch pad, and a speaker device. Ialso wanted there to be a stylus installed into the handle grip so the user could perform actions with the stylus on the touchpad that would make the user able to navigate the phones functions easier.


I then put this into Photoshop and I drafted this initial design: -































I wanted the size of this phone to be around 5 inches in height 3 inches in width and around 1.5 cm thick.

In my next blog post you will see some more of my research into devices for the partially sighted and blind and also some images from the shaping of the hands on start to the construction phase to prototype 1 of the above.