Finger Braille Recognition System

The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare of Japan estimates that there are nearly 22,000 deafblind people in Japan (2006). Communication is one of their largest barriers to independent living and participation. Deafblind people use many different communication media, depending on the age of onset of deafness and blindness and the available resources. “Yubi-Tenji” (Finger Braille) is one of the tactual communication media utilized by deafblind individuals (see Fig. 1). In two-handed Finger Braille, the sender’s index finger, middle finger and ring finger of both hands function like the keys of a Braille typewriter. The sender dots Braille code on the fingers of the receiver. The receiver is assumed to recognize the Braille code. In one-handed Finger Braille, the sender dots the left part of Braille code on the distal interphalangeal (DIP) joints of the three fingers of the receiver, and then the sender dots the right part of Braille code on the proximal interphalangeal (PIP) joints. Deafblind people who are skilled in Finger Braille can communicate words and express various emotions because of the prosody (intonation) of Finger Braille (Fukushima, 1997). Because there is such a small number of non-disabled people who are skilled in Finger Braille, deafblind people communicate only through an interpreter. Thus, the participation of deafblind people is greatly restricted.