| Date | May 2019 | Marks available | 8 | Reference code | 19M.1.SL.TZ0.1 |
| Level | SL | Paper | 1 | Time zone | no time zone |
| Command term | Discuss | Question number | 1 | Adapted from | N/A |
Question
Braille keyboards
According to the World Health Organization, over 250 million people worldwide are blind or visually impaired. Many of them use a writing system called Braille, which they read by touching patterns of raised dots with their fingertips.
Several companies have recently developed Braille keyboards, such as the one shown in Figure 1. Braille keyboards use different combinations of the nine main keys to form characters.
Figure 1: A Braille keyboard
Braille keyboards are usually very expensive. They can cost twenty or thirty times more than standard keyboards. They are always protected by patents and cannot be cheaply reproduced.
Umair Osman, a young teacher in Pakistan, has invented a haptic interface that uses a flexible plastic overlay1 to imitate the layout of a Braille keyboard.
Umair has also developed software that converts the combinations of keys pressed on the overlay to the corresponding ASCII2 character. The overlay, together with the software, enables visually impaired students to convert a standard keyboard into a Braille keyboard.
Umair is considering releasing his software as open-source software and using crowdfunding3 to develop the Braille keyboard further.
1 overlay: a flexible plastic cover that is placed over the keyboard to allow combinations of keys to be pressed by the user
2 ASCII: American Standard Code for Information Interchange
3 crowdfunding: funding projects from donations made by a large number of people via the internet
Identify two characteristics of a haptic interface.
Identify two ways how Umair could have represented the algorithms prior to writing his software code.
Outline one reason why Umair used these representations of the algorithms prior to writing the software code.
Explain why Umair used surveys, interviews and observation to gather information from visually impaired people during the development of his system.
Umair has decided on a strategy to develop his software and Braille keyboard by using crowdfunding and open-source software.
Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of this strategy.
Markscheme
Answers may include:
- Relies on touch
- Provides physical responses to the user
Award [1] for each definition, up to a maximum of [2].
Answers may include:
- Structured English (text)
- Flow charts
- Pseudocode
Award [1] for identifying each representation, up to a maximum of [2].
Answers may include:
- Each of the representations provide a simplified view of the code.
- This means it is easier for the developer to see the logic used and identify potential errors before it is written (and run) as code.
Award [1] for identifying a reason why Umair used these representations of the algorithms prior to writing the software code and [1] for a development of that reason up to a maximum of [2].
Answers may include:
Surveys
- Provides quantitative data (or data that can easily be quantified).
- This may highlight key trends/patterns.
- Can be linked to visualization techniques that make the trends/patterns easy to understand/comprehend.
Interviews
- Provides more detail than can be gathered from quantitative data.
- This may include insights that may need to be teased from the interviewee that develop on quantitative initial responses / give a wider perspective.
Observation
- Provides real-time interaction of the visually impaired person with the technology.
- May be less demanding on the visually impaired person / less intrusive / not be affected by the use of language.
Award [1] for identifying a reason why each method of gathering information was used and [1] for a development of that reason up to a maximum of [2].
Mark as [2] + [2] + [2].
Answers may include:
Advantages
- Umair may be able to develop working relationships with other like-minded and trusted individuals who may be willing to fund his development work without him having to change his vision.
- The use of crowdfunding may lead to a relatively cheap product, which may help to reduce the digital divide between sighted and visually impaired people.
- This could lead to more visually impaired people being able to express themselves online.
- Crowdfunding may enable more rapid development of the software and overlay.
- The software will enable visually impaired people to redefine their identity.
Disadvantages
- The Braille keyboard and associated software is very much Umair’s vision, and he may not want to relinquish control of it as he may have an emotional attachment to the software.
- There may not be the level of crowdfunding and collaboration Umair had anticipated, and the development of the products may not progress.
- There may not be the expertise in the wider community to drive the development of the software so it becomes usable.
- There may be unethical developers who will take Umair’s ideas and use them to develop their own products / may not share Umair’s altruistic vision.
In part (c) of this question it is expected there will be a balance between the terminology related to digital systems and the terminology related to social and ethical impacts.
Keywords: innovation, trust, collaboration, digital divide, software applications, open source, algorithms, change, expression, identity, ethics, values
Refer to SL/ HL paper 1, part c markbands when awarding marks. These can be found under the "Your tests" tab > supplemental materials > Digital society markbands and guidance document.
