Abstract
Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to describe the development of a system called Mubser to translate Arabic and English Braille into normal text. The system can automatically detect the source language and the Braille grade.
Design/methodology/approach - Mubser system was designed under the MS-Windows environment and implemented using Visual C# 2.0 with an Arabic interface. The system uses the concept of rule file to translate supported languages from Braille to text. The rule file is based on XML format. The identification of the source language and grade is based on a statistical approach.
Findings - From the literature review, the authors found that most researches and products do not support bilingual translation from Braille to text in either contracted or un-contracted Braille. Mubser system is a robust system that fills that gap. It helps both visually impaired and sighted people, especially Arabic native speakers, to translate from Braille to text.
Research limitations/implications - Mubser is being implemented and tested by the authors for both Arabic and English languages. The tests performed so far have shown excellent results. In the future, it is planned to integrate the system with an optical Braille recognition system, enhance the system to accept new languages, support maths and scientific symbols, and add spell checkers.
Practical implications - There is a desperate need for such system to translate Braille system into normal text. This system helps both sighted and blind people to communicate better.
Originality/value - This paper presents a novel system for converting Braille codes (Arabic and English) into normal text.