From texting on a smart phone to ordering train tickets at a kiosk, touch screens are ubiquitous and, in most cases, relatively reliable. But for people who are blind or visually impaired and use electronic braille devices, the technology can be vulnerable to the elements, easily broken or clogged by dirt, and difficult to repair.

By combining the design principles and materials of soft robotics with microscale combustions, Cornell researchers have now created a high-resolution electronic tactile display that is more robust than other haptic braille systems and can operate in messy, unpredictable environments.

The technology also has potential applications in teleoperation, automation and could bring more tactile experiences to virtual reality.

The research is published in Science Robotics. The paper’s co-first authors are Ronald Heisser, Ph.D. ’23 and postdoctoral researcher Khoi Ly.

“The central premise of this work is two-fold: using energy stored in fluid to reduce the complexity of mass transport, and then thermal control of pressure to remove the requirements of complex valving,” said Rob Shepherd, the John F. Carr Professor of Mechanical Engineering in Cornell Engineering and the paper’s senior author.

“Very small amounts of combustible fuel allow us to create high-pressure actuation for tactile feedback wherever we like using small fluid channels, and cooling the gas during the reaction means this pressure stays localized and does not create pressure where we do not want it,” he said. “This chemical and thermal approach to tactile feedback solves the long-standing “Holy Braille’ challenge.”

The majority of refreshable electronic tactile displays contain dozens of tiny, intricate components in a single braille cell, which has six raised dots. Considering that a page of braille can hold upwards of 6,000 dots, that adds up to a lot of moving parts, all at risk of being jostled or damaged. Also, most refreshable displays only have a single line of braille, with a maximum of roughly 40 characters, which can be extremely limiting for readers, according to Heisser.

“Now people want to have multi-line displays so you can show pictures, or if you want to edit a spreadsheet or write computer code and read it back in braille,” he said.

Rather than relying on electromechanical systems—such as motors, hydraulics or tethered pumps—to power their tactile displays, Shepherd’s Organic Robotics Lab has taken a more explosive approach: micro combustion. In 2021, they unveiled a system in which liquid metal electrodes caused a spark to ignite a microscale volume of premixed methane and oxygen. The rapid combustion forced a haptic array of densely packed, 3-millimeter-wide actuators to cause molded silicone membrane dots—their form determined by a magnetic latching system—to pop up.

For the new iteration, the researchers created a 10-by-10-dot array of 2-millimeter-wide soft actuators, which are eversible—i.e., able to be turned inside out. When triggered by a mini combustion of oxygen and butane, the dots pop up in 0.24 milliseconds and remain fixed in place by virtue of their domed shape until a vacuum sucks them down. The untethered system maintains the elegance of soft robotics, Heisser said, resulting in something that is less bulky, less expensive and more resilient—”far beyond what typical braille displays are like.”

“We opted to have this rubber format where we’re molding separate components together, but because we’re kind of molding it all in one go and adhering everything, you have sheets of rubber,” said Heisser, currently a postdoctoral researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. “So now, instead of having 1,000 moving parts, we just have a few parts, and these parts aren’t sliding against each other. They’re integrated in this way that makes it simpler from a manufacturing and use standpoint.”

The silicone sheets would be replaceable, extending the lifespan of the device, and could be scaled up to include a larger number of braille characters while still being relatively portable. The hermetically sealed design also keeps out dirt and troublesome liquids.

“From a maintenance standpoint, if you want to give someone the ability to read braille in a public setting, like a museum or restaurant or sports game, we think this sort of display would be much more appropriate, more reliable,” Heisser said. “So someone spills beer on the braille display, is it going to survive? We think, in our case, yes, you can just wipe it down.”

This type of technology has numerous medical and industrial applications in which the sense of touch is important, from mimicking muscle to providing high-resolution haptic feedback during surgery or from automated machines, in addition to increasing accessibility and literacy for people who are blind or visually impaired.

“As technologies become more and more digitized, as we rely more and more on computer access, human-computer interaction becomes essential,” Heisser said. “Reading braille is equivalent to literacy. The workaround has been screen-reading technologies that allow you to interact with the computer, but don’t encourage your cognitive fluency.”

Amazon’s budget security brand, Blink, announced two new cameras during the company’s fall hardware event in New York City: the Blink Mini 2K+ and the Blink Outdoor 2K+. As the names suggest, these cameras sport 2K resolution to pick up more details. But it’s the Blink Arc accessory that makes these security cameras more interesting.

The Arc can combine two cameras and stitch the feeds together for a complete 180-degree view. The product of some glue-gun experimentation, a borrowed 3D printer, and some nifty AI tools, this accessory came together in just 60 days. “There’s this fatal flaw with pan/tilt cameras,” says Jonathan Cohn, head of product at Blink. “The cliché Mission Impossible scene, where they wait for the motorized pan/tilt to turn the other way and duck behind.”

Camera Fusion

Blink’s Arc is Cohn’s solution, initially cooked up in his kitchen, and it’s designed to eliminate your blind spots. He showed some photos of the early prototype, cobbled together using snap mounts and hot glue. He was able to get the right angle so that he’d walk out of the frame on one camera mounted on the front of his house and into the frame on another camera on an almost level horizon.

The junior mechanical engineer, tasked with perfecting the angle and necessary overlap, used an AI tool to stitch the videos together, and despite some warping, it looked promising straightaway. Cohn borrowed his kid’s 3D printer to build the first Arc and popped in a couple of third-generation Blink Mini 2K+ cameras. Before long, the computer vision team found a way to dewarp the video, and the Arc was producing an almost seamless 180-degree live view.

Part of the charm of Amazon’s budget security camera brand is the jerry-rigged nature of add-ons like the Blink Mini Pan-Tilt, which allows you to slot a Blink Mini camera into a base that adds pan and tilt functionality. The Blink Arc is very much in the same mold. You can slot in your existing Blink Mini 2 cameras or snag a couple of the new Mini 2K+ models. (It doesn’t work with Blink’s other devices.) As long as the cameras are the same type, the Blink app can stitch their views.

The Arc houses the cameras at just the right angle and enables them to use a single outdoor power supply. You can connect the Arc to a snap mount to set it up horizontally, vertically, or hanging under your eaves. The video stitching is done on the software side; you simply link the cameras in the Blink app as left and right, and get a panoramic view. Blink even worked out a way to pan and zoom on subjects, so when there’s an event, it looks much like a pan/tilt camera tracking a subject, but it’s really just zooming on the 180 feed.

Other Wireless Headphones We’ve Tested

Wireless headphones are the default these days, and there are roughly 1 gazillion of them (and counting). We do our best to test them all, but not everything we test can make the big list. Here are some other good options worth trying.

Status Audio Pro X for $249: The Status Audio Pro X are an excellent pair of earbuds that are slightly overshadowed by their mainstream competitors when it comes to daily use. That said, these buds look and sound awesome, with a triple driver array (one dynamic for bass, two Knowles balanced armatures for mid and high end), which allows them to stand above many other earbuds.

Sony WH-1000XM5 for $398: Sony’s XM5 remain a top headphone, even after being supplanted by the fancier XM6. For a fairly sizable price reduction, you’ll get still-fabulous noise-canceling tech, great sound, and luxe comfort in a supremely portable package.

Beyerdynamic Amiron 300 for $280: These premium earbuds from Beyerdynamic are nondescript-looking and don’t have noise-canceling to compete with Sony and Bose, but they do sound fantastic. If you’re looking for a great-sounding pair that won’t get you judged in public, these are a great option for quiet luxury.

Bowers & Wilkins Pi8 Earbuds for $467: Bowers & Wilkins brings its speaker prowess into the world if high-end earbuds. The Pi8 provide a premium and stylish build, excellent sound quality, and solid noise canceling, albeit at a very high price point. Like other earbuds we’ve tested lately, one of the Pi8’s coolest features is the ability to stream audio from wired audio sources via the charging case, which can really come in handy on long flights.

Edifier Stax Spirit S5 for $500: These high-flying headphones lack noise-canceling, but make up for it with fantastically clear sound from their advanced planar magnetic drivers that use specialized magnet tech for vividly clear delivery. If you can afford their high price, they’re a fun investment that digs into the meat of your music like few headphones in their class.

Soundcore Space A40 for $45: Even though they’ve moved off our main list, the Space A40 are still among the best earbuds you’ll find for the money. Their stylish, premium-looking design is bolstered by solid features, clear and detailed sound, and excellent noise canceling for the price.

Sonos Ace for $399: The Sonos Ace are a pricey but impressive first effort from Sonos, with fantastic noise canceling, great sound, and one of the comfiest designs (if not the comfiest) you’ll find in the game. A few initial software bugs hindered their performance upon release, including trouble with the TV Swap feature that lets you pass sound from a Sonos soundbar to the Ace, but that seems to be fixed, making these an excellent choice—especially for those already invested in the Sonos way.

Beats Solo 4 for $150: We like Beats headphones these days, but this pair was just a bit lacking in features for us at its standard $200 price. Now that they’ve come down, we can heartily recommend them to folks who are looking for a pair of wireless headphones that don’t have noise canceling.

Technics EAH-AZ80 for $161: The AZ80 are great earbuds. Their most noteworthy feature is conveniently pairing to three devices at once, but they finish strong with good noise-canceling tech, top-tier sound quality, and seven different ear tip options for a remarkably comfy fit.

Beats Studio Pro for $250: The Studio Pro offer quality performance, including surprisingly clear sound, good noise canceling, and refreshingly natural transparency mode. The design feels a bit cheap, and they skip features like auto-pause, but extras like Hands-Free Siri and head tracking with spatial audio help pad their value—especially since their sale price sometimes drops to around half of the original $350 MSRP.

Sony WH-CH720N for $129: These Sony cans may have a silly name, but their sheer value makes up for it. They’re not as pliable as top options and don’t come with a case, but their sound quality and noise-canceling are excellent for the money. They are also built to last and have battery life that goes on and on, making them a great option for prudent shoppers.

Master & Dynamic MH40 for $399: M&D’s second-gen MH40 pack gorgeous sound into an equally gorgeous design, with luxurious trappings like lambskin leather and metal parts in place of plastic. Their lack of advanced features, excluding even noise canceling, makes them a pricey portal to minimalism, but they’ve got style for days.

Audio Technica ATH-M50xBT for $219: The original ATH-M50X provide balanced sound and great durability, making them ubiquitous in music and film studios. But what if you want to take them with you between takes? Enter the ATH-M50XBT, which partner a wired studio connection with Bluetooth for wireless freedom. They don’t offer noise canceling or other advanced features but they’re great for melding art and play.

Sony Linkbuds for $128: The Linkbuds have a neat trick: speakers with holes in the middle that let in the world around you for environmental awareness. They’re not so hot for noisy environments, making them something of a one-trick pony, but they’re among the best options in the growing open-ear trend. They’ve also been updated in the new Linkbuds Open, which are pricier at present but offer a few new features and a more stable fit.

JLab Jbuds Mini for $40: These micro-buds from JLab offer so-so sound, but their adorably teensy design that fits on a key ring makes them a fun accessory for those who need some cheap buds to take on the go.

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