[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBGMp_BGY5E[/youtube]
Thimble is a revolutionary accessory that will make life easier for visually impaired people because it incorporates a whole series of facilities that would not normally be available to these people. Thimble is a prototype of a futuristic device equipped with an optical scanner that is able to read Braille text as well as normal text, text that is then spoken to the user through headphones. The accessory can provide information about the user's location so that he will avoid any kind of accidents.
Thimble is designed in the form of a "finger" that incorporates these technologies and is the result of the collaboration between the University of Washington and the Artefact company. Although at the moment Thimble is only in the project stage, such an accessory would prove extremely useful in real situations for people with visual impairments. More interesting is the way an iDevice can be used to interact with this device and provide the user with such important information.
My opinion is that a similar accessory will be available in the near future and will definitely be successful!
