[accessibleimage] Response to Dr. Parkes comments

Dear List Members,

I feel that I need to respond to a recent posting by Dr. Don regarding a
research project that I am leading, through my company, Touch Graphics.  Dr.
Parkes uses pretty strong language to support his argument that our work is
not innovative, and that we have acted in an unethical way.  That's unfair
and untrue.  Our work in the area of audio-tactile interactive computing
owes a great debt to the work of Dr. Parkes; we are always very careful to
give him credit for coming up with the idea of making tactile pictures that
talk when you press them, and that provide explanations about the things
that you touch.  Our goal is to build on that original work and to make a
group of products that use that idea in new ways, and to generate
professionally produced content that creates opportunities for education and
entertainment for blind and low vision people.    Dr. Parkes' argument is
like Henry Ford saying to Chevrolet and Nissan, "you can't make innovative
cars because I thought of the idea of cars first".  It is competition and
market-driven innovation that has led to automobiles being so advanced and
relatively cheap today.  

We believe that existing products are too expensive and don't work that
well.  For example, we think that it is important to have an easy way for
the computer to find out which tactile drawing sheet has been placed on the
touch sensitive pad.  So, we came up with a tactile "ID Strip" approach,
that the user runs his or her finger across when a sheet is first placed.
Each sheet's ID Strip includes three short vertical bars, and these are in
different positions on each sheet; when the bars are pressed, the computer
can figure out which sheet has been placed, and then loads the information
that matches the picture or diagram, so the computer will say the right
things when parts of the tactile graphic are pressed on with the user's
finger.  Other products rely on bar code readers to do the same thing; but
we want our product to be as cheap and user friendly as possible, so adding
an additional piece of hardware goes against that philosophy.  There are
many other innovative ideas included in the TTT (Talking Tactile Tablet)
concept, and I would be really pleased if people went to our website
(www.touchgraphics.com) to learn more about them.  

It is pretty painful to be called a liar and a cheater in public, and I am
writing this to try to clarfy things and to encourage more discussion about
the needs of users for great products that take advantage of amazing and
potentially empowering new technologies.  I would love to hear other
people's responses to this.  I know that when two people are arguing about
something, and they both have a personal stake in their positions, it is
hard to know who is telling the truth.   So maybe we need to bring in
unbiased outside opinions to reach a reasonable conclusion and get on with
this important work.  

Thanks,
Steven Landau
President, Touch Graphics

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