[accessibleimage] Re: Dream Machine

Didn't Will Pearson say that a human can have tactile resolution as low as
.1mm ?

-----Original Message-----
From: accessibleimage-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:accessibleimage-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Steven Landau
Sent: Monday, May 22, 2006 9:22 AM
To: accessibleimage@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [accessibleimage] Re: Dream Machine


Interesting question, Lisa.  For me, the ultimate TG machine would be one
that could produce continuous curving and angled lines that could be at any
height (including ones that could slope up out of the page) on a broad range
of materials, from durable plastics to cheap, thin paper.  One of the
biggest drawbacks to existing embossing tools is that the dots are always
too big and far apart to make suitably smooth lines unless the lines are
parallel to the direction of the grid of dots. This dramatically limits what
can be adequately shown.  I have heard it said that tactile perception is
not good enough to perceive fine detail and therefore, a fairly coarse grid
of dots is adequate.  I disagree with this position; in my experience,
tactile perception is highly sensitive to even tiny differences in
smoothness and height of relief.  I agree that very fine detail is hard to
interpret through touching (and in fact, too much detail can interfere with
overall comprehension of the image). But, that doesn't mean that high
resolution and precision is wasted.  Touch perception is different from
visual seeing, and so my ideal machine would take this into consideration,
and would be strong in creating images that are precise and clear, with lots
of information that could be gleaned from careful examination, but with an
overall idea that would be almost instantly apparent.  Also, cheap, easy to
use and (obviously) accessible.

-----Original Message-----
From: lisa [mailto:fnugg@xxxxxxxxx] 
Sent: Monday, May 22, 2006 5:14 AM
To: accessibleimage@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [accessibleimage] Dream Machine

Hi.
Don't know if this is a futile exercise but thought  it  would  be  an 
idea  to put forward  -  perhaps not real practical 
The question is if we could build a machine for making tactile graphics 
how would it be? What would it do? What would be in it? What would your 
dream machine be like? Produce great graphics and a cappuccino at the 
same time? 
Some of mine are that it would be cheap, anyones grandmother could use 
it and everyone in the whole world could get one, solar powered would be 
nice.
What would you like?
Best,
Lisa

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