Andras Arato

In March 1974, he joined the Measurement and Computing Research Institute (MSZKI) of the Central Research Institute of Physics (KFKI) of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, and after its closure, he was a scientific department head in the Speech and Rehabilitation Technology Department of the Computer Network Center (SzHK) of the Research Institute of Particle and Nuclear Physics (RMKI). At first, he mainly performed network-related work on two-computer systems. In 1979, a Braille display adapter was completed in the VT340 terminal of the CÉDRUS network, the design of which he led. In this context, he met his wife, Teréz Vaspöri.

In 1993, he defended his PhD thesis entitled “The BraiLab Talking Computer Family”. Together with Teréz Vaspöri, he wrote the Klatt formant system text-to-speech program, which was specifically designed for the blind. These were included in the Z80 HomeLab computer-based BraiLab, BraiLab Plus and the IBM PC-based BraiLab PC systems, together with their own screen readers. These works were protected by Hungarian patents granted for the process and equipment. As a result of their work, more than 2,000 Hungarian blind people thus received very cheap, working aids.

Their other projects: MObil SezitőTárs (MOST), (Tactile Talking Text) 3TBook, Digibook for the blind, Learn-ed distance learning for the disabled, TalkPad TalkNote AAC for autistic people, MObil SezitőTárs vibrating Braille-Morse version for the deaf-blind.

Since his retirement, he has been an external collaborator of the MTA WignerFK Rehabilitation Technology Research Group. He is a founding member and Hungarian representative of the Association for the Advancement of Assistive Technology in Europe (AAATE).

Awards: Institute Award, 2nd Class (KFKI, 1976); Jánossy Award, 1st Class (Eötvös Loránd Physical Society (ELFT), 1979); Jánossy Award (ELFT, 1987); Kempelen Farkas Award (1992); Kalmár Award (NJSZT, 2002).