Re: Two Weeks of Surveys, update Pril 30, 2006

From: "Teresa Arroyo" <tarroyo@xxxxxxxxx>
To: <optacon-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Mon, 1 May 2006 12:54:12 -0400
Mike,

The buzing can molest others around, but if taken away how would we know 
that we are on print and that the Optacon is actually working? The sound 
helps to know what is going on.

Teresa
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mike Freeman" <k7uij@xxxxxxxxx>
To: <optacon-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Monday, May 01, 2006 12:42 PM
Subject: Re: Two Weeks of Surveys, update Pril 30, 2006


> Catherine:
>
> Just a comment (not a negative one): in trying to design a new Optacon
> to read displays as program guides on a TV screen, one problem which
> would be kinda tough to surmount is that most of these displays scroll.
> I see no way to easily get around this while retaining the ability to
> physically scana the display. And then there's the problem of
> making a choice based upon the screen. The present Optacon has no
> knowledge, say, of a highlight bar and it would be awkward at best to
> scan the screen, fiddle with the remote, scan the screen some more, etc.
> etc. etc. But I sure understand the desire to be able to do this. I
> can't even set my VCR's tape speed. <G>
>
> On the matter of the buzzing, while I don't have any direct experience,
> when Dean Blazie was looking into manufacturing an Optacon replacement,
> he claimed that if one replaced the square wave used to drive the
> vibrating pins with a sine wave, most (if not all) of the noise of the
> array went away.
>
> Mike Freeman
>
> On Sun, 30 Apr 2006, Catherine Thomas wrote:
>
>> Currently, we have 64 responses to our first survey and ten responses to
>> our second survey. Five of the responses from current users (or users 
>> with
>> broken Optacons) actually came in as a result of the second survey.
>> Of the 74 respondents less than five had no interest in sharing their
>> experiences to raise funds or assist new potential Optacon users.
>> Most of the respondents hope for a new Optacon. Less than five are
>> satisfied with the Optacon as-is and have no special wish for an
>> improvement.
>> Among the most commonly expressed wishes from current Optacon users are
>> the following:
>> 1. to quiet down or eliminate the buxxing.
>> 2. To keep the tactile array similar in size and intensity to the
>> Optacon r1d. All respondents so far who described experiences with the
>> Optacon 2, say they prefer the larger more adjustable array on the r1d.
>> 3. Many current users mentioned replaceable batteries and a
>> modular camera as improvements they would want to retain.
>> 4. Many users would like to read more of their computer screens
>> using the Optacon as a supplement to their screen-readers. They mentioned
>> crashes when speech or Braille software did not work. They also mentioned
>> reading the initial screens for one reason or another while the computer
>> is loading.
>> 5. The most common new feature wished for is the ability to read
>> various types of displays. NOTE THAT THESE ARE NOT PRINT DOCUMENTS AND
>> THEREFORE COULD NOT BE SCANNED. The particular concerns are all the new
>> menu-driven displays--from DVD and VCR displays to tv screens and cell
>> phones.
>> Note to those who may not know: These days those who have sight and have
>> cable or satelite television have access right on the tv screen to an
>> electronic tv guide which lets them know what is on every channel.
>>
>> FACTS AND MYTHS
>>
>> Here are some interesting facts about the Optacon which may surprise some
>> users.
>>
>> 1. An authorized Optacon instructor who responded to the survey
>> informs us that several students who could not learn braille because they
>> were diabetic, were able to learn and use the Optacon.
>> 2. Some users of the Optacon do not read braille.
>> 3. Some Optacon users do have a little vision. The device is by no
>> means unique to the totally blind.
>> 4. From our new survey we learn that almost all the respondents so
>> far do know what print looks like. Orienting people to print may be less
>> of a factor in developing new training than we had first supposed.
>> 5. Another group who just might benefit from the Optacon are
>> people with dyslexia. Very little research has been done in this area but
>> it seems that using the hand-held camera might bypass the problems in the
>> visual circuits that make print so hard for dyslexics to read and write.
>> Thank you to the respondent who mentioned this.
>> 6. A number of respondent mentioned how the Optacon makes their
>> other devices more effective. The most common examples relate to 
>> scanners.
>> Optacon users can choose the pages they wish to scan. They can also 
>> orient
>> the pages on the scanner surfaces correctly. Most ;important, they can
>> determine if the page contains columns or other complex layouts and set
>> the scanner so that they get the best possible scan.
>> 7. Although a few scanner users were satisfied with the results
>> they got, the majority use the Optacon to check the actual print to
>> correct errors.
>> 8. In the original survey, to the question "For what tasks do you
>> never use the Optacon?" just about all the respondents who answered this
>> question said that they don't use the Optacon to read ful-length novels 
>> or
>> long documents.
>> GET THE FACTS, LISTERS. YOU'LL SEE THEM HERE AS THE DAYS GO BY AND WE GET
>> MORE RESPONSES.
>>
>> Keep posting to all the lists and magazines. Send in your own surveys if
>> you haven't already done so.
>> THANK YOU TO EVERYONE FOR YOUR HARD WORK GETTING THE SURVEYS MOVING.
>> Welcome to the new listers who have joined us within the past two weeks.
>> If we can all work together, we can save the Optacon. There are no
>> guarantees but if we do save it remember, you read it here first.
>> Catherine
>>
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> -Catherine Thomas
>> braille@xxxxxxxxx                     /
>>
>> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
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>
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Follow-Ups:
- Re: Two Weeks of Surveys, update Pril 30, 2006
  - From: Mike Freeman
References:
- Re: Two Weeks of Surveys, update Pril 30, 2006
  - From: Mike Freeman
Re: Two Weeks of Surveys, update Pril 30, 2006

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