Japanese firm unveils a miniature portable keyboard that helps blind people take notes by listening to the sounds of the characters they punch in.

The battery-operated keyboard weighs 500 grams, or just over one pound. The device includes an M.P.3. player that keeps the data on memory so it can be transferred to a computer.

Created by three researchers at the ‘Yazaki’ electronics’ company, the keyboard differs from other devices as it does not rely on Braille script and can be used without being attached to a computer.

California (U.S.) based Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) announced recently that it plans to send monthly energy bills in Braille to its visually impaired customers.

At PG&E, we recognize our business is all about the customers we serve, so we are constantly striving to find new ways to improve services to our diverse customer populations including blind and visually impaired people, said Helen Burt, PG & E ' s chief customer officer.

The Indira Gandhi National Open University (I.G.N.O.U.) has approved a scheme of financial assistance to visually impaired teachers of the university. <br><br>All the teachers and academics who have been appointed under the visually impaired scheme are eligible for the assistance, said I.G.N.O.U. Vice-Chancellor V. N. Rajasekharan Pillai. <br><br>The quantum of assistance has been pegged at Rupees 12,000 per annum that may be used for payment to reader, purchase of Braille books and equipment for research, teaching and learning.

The UCAL annual car rally, where drivers are given authorised blind navigators who read maps in Braille, was held recently. Visually impaired navigators are certified by the National Association for the Blind.

The 50.03 kilometre rally is based on the time, speed and distance format. The rally takes about 124 minutes. There were four categories — expert, for teams that have won earlier; regular, for teams that have participated earlier; novices; and all ladies.

In a first-of-its-kind programme, ‘Blind With Camera’, nine visually impaired persons learnt the art of photography. They captured sounds, voices, smells and touches through the camera.

The exhibition of those photo shots titled ‘Beyond Sight’ was inaugurated by chairman of R.P.G. Enterprises, Harsh Goenka at the Victoria Memorial School for the Blind, Mumbai. The show was held at the National Centre for Performing Arts for public viewing from 17-25 February 2007.

The first ever tandem bicycling event in the U.A.E. was held on 16 February 2007. The cycling challenge was organised to raise money for research into retina degeneration and hereditary eye diseases.

This was the first time that riders who are visually impaired had ventured out on the roads of U.A.E. The visually impaired participants rode on tandems as the ‘stoker’ (in the rear position) with a sighted person as the ‘captain’ (at the front). The teams completed the 220 kilometres coast-to-coast ride from Dubai to Fujairah in nine hours.

Bharatiya Welfare Association for the Blind’ (Gulbarga, Karnataka) is offering karate training to visually impaired boys to equip them with self-defence skills.

The training programme was inaugurated by Amrita Somnath, national referee for Karate and an international karate player from Kerala, recently.

She said karate is a means for self-defence, not attack. It creates tolerance and inculcates discipline in a person, she added.

Association president, Dattu Agarwal, said it was for the first time in North Karnataka this unique programme has been taken up.

The International Institute of Information Technology-Bangalore (I.I.I.T.-B) and Chennai-based companies, Lattice Bridge Info and Spatial Data (Spinfo), are jointly developing cellphone-based technology to help visually impaired people and tourists find their way in a particular location.

Call a designated number and ask a question like 'Where am I?' or 'Where is the nearest A.T.M.?' and disconnect. In a few seconds, you will get a call with an automated voice informing you where you are exactly and where you can find the nearest A.T.M.