Microsoft patented a braille-displaying controller accessory for the blind

Those rows of dots would display in-game text as finger-readable braille dots.



Last year, Microsoft released its highly customizable Adaptive Controller as a way to further engage with gamers facing a variety of 'limited mobility' disabilities. But a newly surfaced patent first filed in 2017 shows that the company was also looking into a braille-compatible controller aimed at visually impaired gamers.
Microsoft's patent for a 'braille chording accessory for a game controller' describes a device that would attach to the back of what looks in diagrams to be a standard Xbox One controller, adding 'a plurality of paddles arranged as a braille cell on the housing, and a control circuit to translate a touch force applied to at least a portion of the plurality of paddles into individual braille characters.'
As described and shown, the device would contain a 3×3 grid of standardized braille dots that rise and fall to represent letters and numbers by touch. Thus, the accessory would 'output a braille representation of any game text or any game audio occurring during the course of game play,' the patent suggests.
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