In 2018, while in between jobs, Stéphane Godin used the time to put his technical skills to work at My Human Kit, a Rennes-based fab lab where able-bodied and disabled people use technology to design objects to make everyday life easier for people with disabilities, such as visual fire alarms... or Braille embossers.

Stéphane Godin fan of technology, and you quickly realise when you talk to him that he's passionate about technical subtleties. But technology for technology's sake doesn't seem to interest him very much, quite the contrary: “I've always found that a lot of energy is spent on making machines that go faster and faster, software that makes more and more money, etc., but when it comes to disability, lots of things could be done with digital technology, but progress is slow ". At Human Lab, Stéphane is involved in prototyping various machines. A group of volunteers were tinkering with 3D printers to adapt them to print in Braille... It worked, but it wasn’t really reliable or satisfactory. Together with Philippe Pacotte, another fab lab volunteer, Stéphane proposed to design a prototype open-source braille embosser. “The people in the lab laughed. A month later they had the machine”. This machine is Braille RAP.

Stéphane Godin talked to us about the needs of blind people, open-source technology and both local and international social connections and cooperation. It’s not just about the machine !

This work stéphane godin by Anne-Charlotte ORIOL is licensed under Creative Commons Zero v1.0 Universal

How did the Braille RAP project come about ?

Stéphane Godin: The project was born in a FabLab called My Human Kit, in Rennes, which is dedicated to manufacturing techniques for the disabled. In 2018, I had a bit of time on my hands, so I did quite a bit of volunteering for prototyping on various projects at My Human Kit, where attempts were being made to produce Braille. They were constantly adapting machines, such as 3D printers cobbled together to print Braille or CNCs fitted with special tools. It worked well, meaning that we ended up with printed Braille, i.e. a matrix of raised dots on paper, but it took two hours of adjustments to get it up and running. In 15 attempts, it only worked once every other try... Philippe Pacotte, a colleague, and I told them, “if you want to make Braille, you have to make a machine that does just that but does it well”. They laughed. A month later, they had the machine.

That’s how it started. Overall, it's not a very complicated device, compared with a 3D printer or a laser cutter, for example. It’s a numerically controlled machine with a tool that deforms paper to make dots.

Once we had the machine, we started to present it to people, particularly Braille teachers, who all said, “the Braille is superb, keep going!” That’s why the machine still exists today. There are ups and downs because it's an open-source project and therefore not necessarily funded. COVID was a rather complicated period, but now we're starting to attract the interest of associations for the visually impaired, who are beginning to realise that open-source technology can offer solutions for everyday independence, that the existence of this machine raises a whole host of interesting questions to be resolved, especially as the situation with Braille is not as ideal as people would like to have us think.

Why don't you think the situation is ideal ?

Stéphane Godin: The first problem is Braille itself. Among the general public, everyone thinks that Braille is a solution for the visually impaired. However, in Europe, most people become blind or partially sighted with age, but these people don't learn Braille. Overall, Braille is used by just 10% of blind people. On the other hand, for children and teenagers, Braille means access to reading and writing, and therefore to education. If you don't have a way of producing and teaching Braille, you end up with children who can no longer go to school.

In the field of disability, open source is an interesting alternative because some fairly basic machines cost a lot of money...

Stéphane Godin: Yes, a Braille embosser is very expensive [around €4,000-5,000]. But then, you have to admit that there aren’t that many of them around. A mobile phone is worth reasonably little compared to the electronics inside, but it's cheap because there are billions of them. Braille embossers aren't a huge market, either. As I see it, the solutions on the market are printers for printing companies, for people who need to print 2,000 pages a week, but the market niche of personal printers, for small associations or someone who needs to print a few pages a week, is not covered.

How have you managed to make your machine known, particularly among associations for the visually impaired?

Stéphane Godin: In 2022, we were contacted by an association in Cameroon, ANIAAC (National Association for the Integration and Accommodation of Blind People), which, during a visit to Brussels, had come across the Braille RAP model and wanted to see id we could help them set up and install the first Braille RAPs in the country. We managed to finance a month-long operation in Cameroon where we built six machines in four different towns in Cameroon, with workshops in fab labs, schools, the teacher training college, etc. This made us aware the situation of Braille in the countries of the Global South, a situation that is not at all the same as in Europe, particularly as in these countries, there’s a crucial need for equipment that works and can be maintained and repaired because, there’s also a wide range of pathologies that cause blindness, sometimes in very young people. This operation raised the profile of the project a little and it also enabled us to realise that there were needs that weren't covered [in the project at the time], particularly in terms of software. For example, we’ve identified the need for software that is easy to use, accessible and that can emboss languages other than French, because Braille is different in every language in the world. That allowed us to develop the project towards something a little more open, which has now led to interest among associations for the visually impaired.

It's a bit like reverse innovation, in that you developed the tool with Cameroonian partners before becoming known in France…

Stéphane Godin: It's a bit like that... In France, I thought that associations for the visually impaired had Braille embossers, that the Ministry of Education had Braille printing facilities... Generally speaking, and this is quite true, if you want to produce documents in Braille in France, you can do it if you look hard enough... in the big cities. On the other hand, if you’re blind in the middle of a rural area, for example, it's more complicated. That's what I found out.

In 2023, I entered the project in the Hackaday Prize, an international competition for makers involved in open source projects. Braille RAP won fifth prize. This international challenge awarded by Americans, in Los Angeles, so it caused a bit of a stir! Afterwards, for example, we were contacted by a family living near Montauban, in South-West France, with a blind child at school. The child attends his local school with no particular problem; all documents that are planned in advance are provided to him in Braille, but anything that’s produced at the last minute, he doesn't have access to... To learn Braille, he has Braille lessons at INJA in Toulouse, which is over an hour's drive away. This means that his parents have to arrange to take him to Toulouse twice a week and that at least one of his parents cannot work full time... They asked us where they could get a Braille RAP. Because it's an open-source project, it's not marketed as such, so in the end we offered to make one for them as part of a workshop we were organising in a fab lab in Brittany, which also allowed us to test out the tool with this family. And we're starting to see results... The device is used almost every day, whether to make documents or labels, or to do exercises.

Your website now contains all the Braille RAP documentation. Does that leab a person or organisation wanting to set up the machine has all the information they need to do so ?

Stéphane Godin: Some people have built the machine solely from the documentation... There must be around 20 people who have set up a device. Sometimes people contact me because they have a problem or a question, but I sometimes come across people on YouTube who’ve never got in touch with me!

You've also developed software to operate the machine. Is that also open source ?

Stéphane Godin: Yes, it's also open source. It's been a real adventure! Braille is basically an alphabet, so it's easy to translate, but there are also lots of subtleties that are a little more complex. The first software we used to try out the machine did Braille transcription, but it wasn't very good. We also used another program, NetBraille, which was funded by the French Ministry of Education and which enables Braille to be transcribed into French. I made a driver for Braille RAP so you could transcribe Braille into French and then print it directly.

Then, between concerns about technical developments in certain programming languages and computer installations, and the fact that I discovered a library [of computer code], we decided that we had to make our own software. This library, called LibLouis, is a very old open-source library (the earliest versions date back to 1995!). It’s a very, very old Linux project for Braille transcription, and because it's open source and old, there are 200 Braille standards available in the library, including French, Spanish, German, Italian and English, but also Chinese, Swahili, Zulu, etc. There are a lot of languages out there because people who have studied the subject and made the necessary contributions to translate them, so I integrated it into a software programme that translates text and transforms it into instructions for the machine to put dots in the right places and thus print in Braille.

So today it's easy to build a Braille RAP to write Braille in Spanish, for example?

Stéphane Godin: Yes. In any case, it's within the reach of a DIY enthusiast. There's a small electronics/programming section at the end, where you need to know a bit about using an Arduino [microprocessor], but some people do do it by themselves.

Are you aware of any educational projects that have been developed around the construction of the machine ?

Stéphane Godin: No projects as such, no. I'm trying to get funding for a few, mainly in the Global South because the situation over there isn't the same and a €4,000-5,000 Braille embosser isn't exactly affordable for a school in Africa. I'm trying to ensure that these projects are an interface between fab labs, in terms of technical expertise, and associations for the visually impaired, who are the users. It's when you mix the two audiences that things work well, because building a machine just for the sake of it without the users is bit limited, while users have a hard time mastering the technical aspects of making the device and mastering the settings behind them. It's good if things are done cooperation, even if it's not always easy because of competition for potential funding, for example. You have to be able to work together on projects, and that's not something that comes completely naturally. The good thing about this kind of project is that it highlights the fact that working together can also lead to other things.

This is also one of the advantages of open source, which, over and above the technical aspects, allows people to think about these forms of cooperation...

Stéphane Godin: Exactly. That’s what I love about this project, there are so many dimensions to it. In addition to the main aim of the device, which is to produce documents for the visually impaired, you have the numerically controlled machine itself, so for students doing a BTS [Higher Technician’s Certificate] or an engineering course... assembling this kind of machine is a good exercise.

As it's open source, all the diagrams are available and it's 100% repairable. To go back to the situation I discovered in Africa, the problem is not having embossing machines, because international projects that have financed and provided very expensive machines that were sent to the capital, but then when the project ended and everyone left, the spare parts weren't available and no one was trained in maintenance so when the machine broke down, that was it.

Was open source a choice that came quite naturally to you ?

Stéphane Godin: we did it quite naturally because it was part of the My Human Kit approach... The project was born in a fab lab, so it’s all part of the philosophy behind it. Fab lab projects are usually open source, and we're using quite a few open source elements that already existed...  there's a piece of software that comes from 3D printers, there are mechanical designs that also come from 3D printers... it's logical that we respect the licences for what we've used.

What is your current project for Braille RAP ?

Stéphane Godin: Last year, we finished an accessible software package that we tested with visually impaired people, which allowed them to transcribe a document into Braille. This means they can either type their text or open a Word or OpenOffice document (it doesn't work with PDFs, unfortunately), transcribe it into Braille and print it directly.

Recently, we also released software that allows you to represent graphs in the form of points. It's the same technology as Braille, but by making a series of dots on a sheet of paper, you can make drawings in relief. They can be used to illustrate animal shapes, geography maps, geometry exercises and so on, and to make all kinds of concepts more tangible that are otherwise difficult to convey in text.

We also recently received funding from a Dutch foundation to develop software packages, which will be available on Windows and Linux, enabling us to create page layouts and combine Braille and vector graphics so that we can create geography maps, maths exercises, building plans, etc. The idea is also to work on extensions behind the software that will allow users to retrieve data from OpenStreetMap and transcribe it directly into a tactile version.

I very recently released the prototype of the A3 version. Braille RAP has always been A4 and that works very well. But, when it comes to maps and plans, having a slightly larger sheet of paper means you can put more things on it, especially as Braille takes up a lot of space. It's much better for making transport maps, for example.

You talk a lot about graphic representations, maps and so on. Is there a big need here too, and not just in terms of writing ?

Stéphane Godin: The need, in fact, lies in the inclusion and empowerment of visually impaired people. Working with associations for the visually impaired, we realise that some pretty basic needs are still unmet, such as access to transport maps. This raises two questions: firstly, how do we make it accessible, and secondly, how do we ensure that it is distributed widely enough for people to benefit from it?

And are you continuing to run workshops on the machine ?

Stéphane Godin: Yes, that's also what I like about this project, in addition to the technical dimension which is more linked to my professional interests. I try to set up workshops in developing countries (Senegal, DRC, etc.) as well as in France (mainland France, Reunion Island, etc.).

For the moment I'm resisting the idea of marketing the machine, which I'm regularly asked to do. I'm resisting for two reasons. Firstly, I don't want to turn my garage into a warehouse of parts and sit assembling Braille RAPs all day long, etc. Secondly, I think that organising collective assembly workshops that bring together blind people, fab lab users, etc., is so great that I don't want to encourage people to just buy the device ready made in a few clicks online.

This issue is regularly encountered in open source projects, but there will always be people who don't want to or can't make or repair the machine themselves, or who don't have a fab lab nearby…

Stéphane Godin: Of course, but I think the question is how do we solve this problem, how can we make fab labs more accessible to these people, how can we make sure that fab labs are able to maintain Braille RAPs, etc.?

On a more personal note, how did you come to look at the links between technology and disability ?

Stéphane Godin: I think that's a question I've been asking myself for a long, long time. I've been tinkering with computers since 1992, including in my job! I sort of fell into it when I was a kid, but I've always found that a lot of energy is spent on making machines that go faster and faster, software that makes more and more money, etc., but that when it comes to disability, not much was being done with digital technologies and that well... it wasn't progressing much.

I knew about fab labs because there a quite a lot open in Rennes, we're luck on that count! Then, one day, I went to see My Human Kit and was really marked by the experience. It's a place where people from all walks of life come together, including disabled people, able-bodied people, retired people, students, etc., which creates a really nice atmosphere, something special. Also, these are projects that have real meaning. It’s not quite the same, going to a fab lab to make key rings on a 3D printer or building a specialised prosthesis for cutting pizzas!

I think we need to dig deeper and grow these projects as much as possible, because they give us tools like Braille RAP. Today, I can get out my device and print Braille without no issues. Why not create wheelchair equipment, or a tool for guidance or vocalisation for instructions?

This brings us back to you previous question: what can we do with existing technologies, who benefits from them and how can we ensure that as many people as possible benefit from the opportunities they offer ?

Stéphane Godin: Yes, that's it. Also, how does a place like My Human Kit actually contribute - even if that's a big word - to the inclusion of such a large number of people? If we address disability solely from a medical point of view, we confine the disabled. With a minimum of organisation and common sense, we can create places that are shared by everyone.

So it's not really a question of machines, it's all about creating links !

Stéphane Godin: Rhat's what I find so exciting about these projects! There’s the technical aspect is there, but there are also all kinds of human aspects that are really exciting, too.

Find out more

• Braille RAP website
• Website of the association My Human Kit, whose aim is to invent, manufacture and share technical assistance solutions for and with people with disabilities" and which is behind the HumanLab fab lab in Rennes
• Thesis (available online) by Amélie Téhel: (**Re)building a non-standard body : a communicational approach of the DIY fabrication of oneself** (2021), on "the potential for developing the power to act through the projection of self and collaborative manufacturing. Based on a field study in two Fab Labs specialised in the manufacture of technical assistance devices for the disabled, the analysis aims to highlight the empowering dimension of 'working together’”.

[Translation : NSS EPALE France]