Feelgoods factor helps blind round Internet

COMPUTER-users are feeling their way around virtual graphics in a project to help blind people explore the Internet. Chetz Colwell, a researcher in the sensory disabilities research unit at Hertfordshire University, has designed a probe that allows users to "feel" virtual objects and surfaces through offering differing degrees of resistance as it is moved around. An advantage for sighted people could be in teleshopping, allowing customers to feel goods they are interested in buying.