A group of university students have developed an affordable, portable device that instantly converts text and numerals into braille.

BraillEye, a pocket-sized device, will be displayed along with other projects at a business incubator in the three-day Think Science Fair in Dubai this week.

“This was the first time that we turned something that was purely theoretical into something real, and it was a great learning opportunity,” said Mahmoud Abutaqiya, an electrical engineering undergraduate at UAE University.

He made the device with five friends from the chemical engineering, technical and business management departments at the university.

“I tell students even if they have only an idea, they should participate because even if they don’t win but their idea has promise they will be contacted to find out what help they require,” Mr Abutaqiya said.

It has taken two years for the UAE University team to produce the prototype for the fair, after it won a contest.

The concept was inspired to help Saifldden Taqatqa, a visually impaired team member who needs visual aids for daily tasks such as understanding shop price tags.

Assistive devices are usually focused on helping those with visual disabilities to read from the internet or documents.