Automated Image Simplification and Braille Placement in Tactile Graphics Images
by
Satria Krisnandi
Tactile graphic conversion is a process of translating visual images into
tactile format such that a blind person can understand the information
within the image. Currently, the conversion is a meticulous and
time-consuming manual process. The Tactile Graphics Project's goal is to
automate this conversion process and reduce the time it takes to produce
the tactile graphic. One of the challenges in automating this process is
image simplification. A majority of images in textbooks have high
resolution, intricate details, and multiple colors. While these features
might be visually appealing, they complicate a blind person's
perception. To resolve these issues, the images must be modified for
tactile format. We use steps like removing colors, replacing colors with
texture, and edge detection to simplify the image for a blind
person. Another challenge is translating text into Braille. Unlike regular
fonts, Braille is significantly larger and fixed in width. Thus, simply
replacing the fonts with Braille would not suffice; some modifications to
the text are needed to avoid overlapping of text with image and other
text. To take into account the larger Braille size, we have to enlarge the
image. Then, for each text label, we have to find its alignment, i.e. find
whether it is left, center, or right justified. By doing this, we can
determine the placement of the Braille text so that they don't overlap with
the image or other text.
Advised by Richard Ladner
CSE 403
Wednesday
APRIL 20, 2005
4:30 - 5:20 pm