RE: optacon in the future

Hi I've used the Virtouch mouse.  I read about it and was quite excited as
the company's website implied that it could be used instead of, or in
addition to a screenreader and made claims for it that weren't true.  The
website claimed that the product would display Braille but that didn't work.
I tested the mouse for a couple of weeks on my computer at work.  There were
no scripts with the software to allow it to interact with computer
applications.  All I could do was access the sound files which came with the
unit.  These sound files oriented a user to the functions of the mouse.  I
was able to play the games which came with the mouse and actually interact
with the computer in a way that a sighted person would.  The product was
sold here in the U.S. by Adaptive Technologies in MA.  The people I e-mailed
at virtouch and at Adaptive Technologies indicated that their priority was
selling the device as a game controler to teach kids Braille and other
tactile skills.  I think the product is still available but the Virtouch
website is out of date.  I'm not sure if this approach would work to produce
an Optacon but I think a tactile mouse could be used as a computer accessory
to enhance the performance of a new type of Optacon connected to a computer
screen.
Last night I couldn't sleep and was thinking about the Optacon in the future
and thought that the camera unit which would have wheels would look like the
virtouch mouse and have a couple of buttons to change the size of the image
on the array or maybe change the intensity of the vibrations.  The camera
would connect to the array the way it does now although I suppose there
could be a wireless connection.  IN addition to a tactile array, there could
be software in an Optacon to use haptic technology.  I do think the use of
haptics could be helpful in getting tactile feedback but I'm not sure how
haptics would be used in a new type of Optacon.  If I understand how haptics
work the technology uses magnetic force feedback to represent shapes.  You
get the tactile images not literally but as resistance when you move a mouse
around on a computer desktop.  There are already a couple of shareware
products out there that will let a blind person use a mouse but I'm not sure
if this could be extended to an Optacon.  I mention haptics since many
sighted people are using haptic devices in games and like the idea that they
get sound and tactile feedback when they interact with computers.  I hink
using haptics would be useful in providing graphical information but would
have to be an adjunct to a new type of Optacon rather than the Optacon
itself.
I think the basic problem with a new Optacon would have to be building a
tactile array and then deciding how to transmit the information from print
to the tactile array. I don't know if an Optacon would be an analog device,
or if it would work like a PDA with a digital camera.  The one advantage I
can think of having a PDA is that there could be a USB port and you could
save and copy images to a computer. or update the Optacon software from a
computer like you do with any other PDA.  I like the idea of having the
Optacon as a PDA mainly in the sense that you could copy and save images for
later review or maybe even e-mail an image to another user to see how they
would interpret what you scanned.  The nice thing about having the ability
to save images would be that you could later manipulate them to make them
larger or smaller or explore the image with the tactile array without having
to carry around the original document.  I could see having the ability to
save images being used in a practical way with PowerPoint where you could
scan slides and save the images and attach your own labels.  If the PDA had
software to modify the image you could make it larger or smaller depending
on your reading needs.  I was in a class last fall and the written material
was a book with PowerPoint slides.  I had two separate files one in
Microsoft Word containing the text, and the other containing the text of the
PowerPoint slides.  Just having the text wasn't really enough as it lost its
relationship to the visual elements in the slides.  The whole books was
pages where you could review information and write down answers in the balnk
parts of the page and this format didn't translate well into texst.  I was
trying to read the documents with a Braille Lite and it ended up being more
trouble than it was worth.  If I had had an Optacon I could have read the
text with the same spatial orientation as the other people in the class.
I think another challenge in incorporating the Optacon into a PDA would be
developing a screenreader to manipulate the software.  Just having synthetic
speech would leave out people who are deaf blind.  If Braille output was
included in the screenreader then this would add another level of complexity
to the device.  These are just my thoughts and I hope that something can be
done.  I do wonder though about the differences between analog and digital
devices.  Are there still analog electronic products out there?  I'm a
keyboard musician and I don't see any more analog instruments out there
being made.
By the way, there are other portable scanners with speech output available
besides the KNFB Reader.  For those that are interested check out the
website of Guerilla Technologies for Mobileyes.  This device does scanning
and reading but also has an MP3 player and toher things.  Sorry this e-mail
has gone too long but I wanted to get a word in edgewise.

Dan



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