A Braille computer notebook with Thai and English processing capability for visually impaired people Pichaya Tandayya, Suntorn Witosurapot, Chatchai Jantaraprim, Worraprot Chukumnird, Wiraman Niyompol* Department of Computer Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Prince of Songkla University, THAILAND Ratchasuda College, Mahidol University, THAILAND* pichaya@coe.psu.ac.th, wsuntorn@coe.psu.ac.th, cj@coe.psu.ac.th, chworrap@coe.psu.ac.th, frwny@mucc.mahidol.ac.th* Abstract This paper addresses the need of low-cost Braille computer notebooks with Thai and English processing capability as it would gain opportunities for visually impaired people in Thailand to work or to be employed in the field of Information Technology. In this regard, a prototype of an inexpensive product is being developed from the local-supplied parts and off-the shelf components, such as embedded PC and industrial Braille cells. By working in this manner, our developed system could potentially yield for high reliability, flexibility and compatibility with most commercial ones at ease. In this paper, we summize our design concept of this system (both hardware and software) and show how open-sourse softwares can be contributed to our system-under-development. Keywords Braille computer notebook, Thai and English processing, visually impaired, usage investigation, design and improvement 1 Introduction The widespread use of computers can be seen nowadays, but surprisingly not in the world of visually impaired people, where electronic-notetaker devices are more popular. As their processing power and memory are limited, these devices can offer users with features mainly for taking notes and simple utilities, and hence some tasks like web serving or computer programming are not usable. For supporting these sophisticated tasks, more powerful machines like Braille-capable notebook computers are required, but normally on the expense of high prices. This is why they are not popular among visually impaired people especially in Thailand, regarding its richness in features. To make feasible the lower price version of Braille notebook, our research is then set up and aimed in particular at Thai and English processing capabilities that are rarely found in imported (rather high-cost) systems [1-2]. We believe that our developed notebook will enable Thai visually impaired people to have a portable computer that has the functionality of general PCs so that the users can run normal applications, write or compile programs, and access the Internet at a much lower cost. It will also give an equal opportunity to the disabled and improve their quality of life and profession. The aim also is to reduce the cost of imported devices for visually imparied people and offer them the opportunity to use information technology. The outline of the paper is in the following. In the first section, we introduce our approach for the system design. Then, we give details of system architecture including hardware and software components. The first-year prototype is also shown. In the final section, we conclude our paper.