It’s skeuomorphin’ time!! The enduring physicality of braille! - Santiago Gepigon III at !!Con 2024

It’s skeuomorphin’ time!! The enduring physicality of braille! I’m bothered by how “flat” computing has become for me: staring at a flat screen, typing on a flat keyboard, tapping on a flat “touch” screen—where’s the physicality? Is a clicky keyboard peripheral my only saving grace? In this talk, I’ll explore how braille—a tactile writing system originally designed for the visually impaired—has enriched my relationship with computing. In three stories, across three centuries, I’ll show you how apparently vestigial features have been, time and time again, leveraged to give braille new life. Santiago Gepigon III claims he cares about backwards compatibility and yet he’s nothing like Santiago Gepigon Sr. or Jr. Some breaking changes include: a love for k-pop, an affinity for Lisp structure editing, and a fascination with domain-specific keyboard shortcuts. Presented at !!Con 2024 (pronounced, of course, "bangbangcon"!) in Santa Cruz, CA -- https://bangbangcon.com/ !!Con is a production of the Exclamation Foundation -- https://exclamation.foundation/ Video Production by Confreaks Follow Confreaks 👇 https://confreaks.com https://x.com/confreaks