[2] The device is slid over printed text and a camera captures images of the words and sends them to a microcontroller.

The six-person development team comprises Chandani Doshi, Grace Li, Jialin Shi, Bonnie Wang, Charlene Xia, and Tania Yu, all undergraduate students at MIT at the time of Tactile's conception.

[3] A joint collaboration in materials science, mechanical and electrical engineering, and computer science, Tactile received popular media attention[4] for its rapid pace of development, as well as its inventors all being women in STEM fields with disproportionally low female representation.

[5] Tactile provides real-time translation of English text, captured by integrated camera, into braille dynamically rendered on a refreshable display.

[3] With existing braille display devices priced in the range of $1,500 to $2,500, Tactile has been characterized as a potential "quantum leap forward for the blind community.