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Although these artifacts may not look as shiny and sleek as modern production line computers, the Galarneau Braille computer and printer were prototypes handmade by a blind engineer, Roland Galarneau.

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The ingenious Galarneau Braille Computer/Printer!
(National Museum of Science and Technology)

 Visually impaired from birth and with just two percent vision, he taught himself to read using a homemade microscope. In 1970 he established Converto-Braille Cypihot-Galarneau, a non-profit corporation to produce books and print materials for the blind.

The 1972 version of his computer read and translated text punched on perforated tape, then embossed it on paper using a specially adapted braille typewriter. In 1976, the company produced its first braille books, free of charge, for visually impaired students.

Canadian Computers Aid the Visually Impaired -- The Ingenious Galarneau Braille Computer/Printer

Converto-Braille History

Other sites for the Converto-Braille:

Converto-Braille -- Groupe Galarneau Group