IN 2002, Bally Gaming Systems introduced its Ray Charles slot machine, specifically designed for visually impaired players.
The game, which included audio cues and a Braille button deck and featured Charles' rendition of "America the Beautiful," came about as a result of a close collaboration between the gaming manufacturer and the late artist, who lost his sight as a child.
The company received an Access Award from the American Foundation for the Blind for the innovation.
Sadly, the experiment was short-lived.
As a marketing spokesman put it to us, the game was "a very noble experiment that frankly just never caught on."
In spite of all the publicity, Bally sold very few models and in the highly competitive world of slot machines, the law of supply and demand rules. To our knowledge, none of these machines remain on any casino floor, whether in Las Vegas or elsewhere.