Judy Dixon
The Canute 360 is a nine-line, 40-cell braille display that was designed primarily to be a book reader, particularly for those books and other documents with highly formatted content. The device is manufactured by Bristol Braille Technology (BBT), a not-for-profit corporation in the United Kingdom. BBT was founded in 2011 and, after fourteen prototypes, the Canute 360 began shipping in 2020. During its development, BBT worked closely with experienced braille readers and used their extensive expertise and input in creating this unique product.
The name Canute 360 is an unusual one. 360, of course, refers to the fact that the device has 360 braille cells, nine lines of 40 cells each. But what does the Canute portion of the name mean? According to Ed Rogers, Bristol Braille's founder and Managing Director, the name Canute comes from King Canute the Great, a tenth-century monarch. He was infamous for his attempt at using his royal power to hold back the ocean. There had been several previous efforts at creating a multiline braille display that had not been successful. Ed Rogers recognized the challenge he had undertaken and thus, the name was fitting.
The choice of nine lines was a purposeful decision which may not be immediately obvious to braille readers in the United States. RNIB (The Royal National Institute of Blind People) operates the largest braille lending library in the UK. They produce braille material in two formats: a4 which is 27 lines of 28 and Wide-format which is 27 lines of 38 cells. Both of their formats use 27 lines. This number divides very nicely by 9 so each full page of braille takes exactly three Canute displays. In the United States, books are produced with 25 lines per page so when displayed on a Canute 360, every third display has two blank lines at the bottom of the screen.
The Canute 360 is especially well-suited for reading music, mathematics, and other highly formatted braille text. The device can display .brf and .pef files. .PEF (portable embosser format) is an XML-based standard that was developed by researchers at the Swedish Library for the Blind in 2008 in conjunction with the DAISY Consortium. It was created to provide embossing capabilities across languages, braille codes, and computer platforms. PEF is still used in Scandinavia but it has not gained wide popularity and is rarely used in the United States.
When the device is received, the package includes a print manual and a four-page braille quick start guide. The full manual is available on the device, or from Bristol Braille's website. If you don't find the manual on your device, it is most likely because your distributor didn't include an SD card with the files from Bristol Braille. You can get the set of Getting Started files by going to www.bristolbraille.co.uk/support and selecting "Braille Ready Files to Use on the Canute 360." The .zip file contains the following:
Canute_360_manual.brf
English Premier League table.brf
Mozart Sn14 III Canute.brf
Pascals Triangle.brf
Calendar 2022.brf
These files provide great examples of braille materials that benefit from a two-dimensional display.
Physical Description
The Canute 360 is 14.5 inches (37cm) long, 7.5 inches (19cm) from front to back, and 1.5 inches (4cm) high. It weighs 6 pounds (2.8KG). The case is made of aluminum with a plastic reading surface.
The top surface has nine lines of six-dot braille cells. Each line has 40 cells. The lines are spaced farther apart than what you would find in a normal braille book. The spacing is similar to a double-spaced page. At the left end of each line is a braille line number and a triangular Line Select button. Directly above button 1 is a circular Help button labeled with a braille H. Directly below button 9 is a square button with a braille label 0. This button is used to enter a 0 when inputting a page number containing a 0.
The front edge has three large rectangular control buttons with braille labels above them on the top surface. From left to right, the braille labels read: Back, Menu, and Forward.
On the left side, from front to back, is an HDMI port then a 3.5mm audio jack. You can connect a monitor to the HDMI port and it will show the contents of the braille display in a high-contrast braille font with ASCII braille characters underneath. The audio jack is not used at the moment. About halfway back is an SD card slot located at the very bottom of the left side. Farther back are two USB-a ports and a USB-b port. The USB-b port is used for connecting to computers.
Most of the back surface is smooth with no ports. At the far right end of the back surface is the socket for inserting the power supply and immediately to its right is the spring-loaded on/off button.
The right side of the device has no controls or ports.
Using the Canute 360
The manufacturer recommends that the Canute 360 always be placed on a table or other hard, flat surface. The device does not contain a battery so it must be plugged into an electrical outlet to be used. If battery operation is desired, the manufacturer can recommend an external battery, the type that is used to power a laptop computer.
After being plugged in, press the on/off button briefly to turn it on. The device will take about a minute to fully initialize. During the initialization process, the top line will flash on and off several times then all the lines will refresh one at a time. When turned on but not refreshing, the device makes a quiet ticking sound. The manufacturer says this is normal and nothing to worry about.
The Main Menu is accessed with the Menu button on the front edge of the device. The Main Menu contains the following five items:
Go to page
Insert bookmark at current page
Choose from existing bookmarks
View system menu
View library menu
You can select any item by pressing the triangular Line Select button at the left end of the menu item. As a shortcut, from within any document, you can press the #9 Line Select button and go directly to the Library Menu, or the #8 Line Select button to go to the System Menu, without having to go back through the Main Menu.
To get files onto the device, you will need to use a USB flash drive or an SD card. If either is inserted and contains compatible files, they will be detected by the device and listed when you select Go to Library.
The manufacturer recommends that an SD card always be left in the device. This is where the Canute 360 will store its system settings and bookmarks.
Reading continuously works well. Although the nine lines refresh one line at a time, when you have finished reading the bottom line, and press the Forward button, as the lines begin to refresh, it is possible to begin reading the top line right away.
To shut down the Canute 360, press the on/off button briefly. The words "Please wait" will appear on the display for a few seconds before the device is turned off.
All firmware and software used by the device is open source, and there is an API (application programming interface) available for developers.
Using the Canute 360 with Other Devices
The Canute 360 can be connected to computers running Linux, ChromeOS, and Windows. It is supported by BRLTTY version 6.1 and above. When using BRLTTY, all of the output is from the command line. It sends the last nine lines from the command line to the Canute. The manufacturer advises that this will require a "reasonably high level of technical competence."
As of version 12.4, the Duxbury Braille Translator supports the Canute 360 as a braille embosser. For this to work, BRLTTY must be installed on the computer. Files are formatted for pages with nine lines of 40 cells.
The Future of the Canute 360
The developers of the Canute 360 are actively working on more features and more connectivity options. They hope to have the device supported by NVDA in the future.
In the United States, the Canute 360 is distributed by A T Guys, American Thermoform Corporation, and Dancing Dots. The price varies slightly among distributors, but all offer the Canute 360 for less than $2,900. For more information about the device, visit Bristol Braille Technology.
This article is made possible in part by generous funding from the James H. and Alice Teubert Charitable Trust, Huntington, West Virginia.
