RE: survey update: Four Weeks In Review
- From: "Rose Combs" <rosecombs@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: optacon-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Fri, 19 May 2006 03:01:26 -0700
OK, I guess I need a copy of the survey, I have been here sort of, but the
past four weeks have been difficult, first, my father passed on after a long
illness, and then my computer's hard drive committed suicide and I thought I
lost a load of files. I lost some but it wasn't as bad as I thought, seems
that at some time I actually put them on a removable hard drive on my
husband's computer but I have not been thinking much about surveys.
I do use my Optacon, especially at work, at home I generally use my husband
which one friend calls my TOMMYCON.
Rose Combs
rosecombs@xxxxxxxxx
-----Original Message-----
From: optacon-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:optacon-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
On Behalf Of Catherine Thomas
Sent: Sunday, May 14, 2006 9:21 AM
To: optacon-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: survey update: Four Weeks In Review
FACTS ABOUT THE SURVEYS
To date we have received 98 surveys from current Optacon users and
18 surveys from Potential Optacon users. The surveys have arrived in a
steady stream, averaging about thirty per week. If this trend continues we
will have a lot of data to share with funding sources and input to share
with engineers and others interested in the Optacon. Please inform everyone
that it is not too late to submit a survey.
Although many Optacon users tell us that they use the Optacon nearly
every day, there are some respondents who tell us that they use the Optacon
for a specific purpose only. For many respondents, the level of Optacon use
varies with changing life circumstances. Examples are respondents who
learned the Optacon in elementary school, did not use it as teen agers, and
picked it up again when they entered college or work-related situations.
Other respondens decreased their use of the Optacon when they married
sighted spouses.
The Optacon has evolved as user needs have changed. Many respondents
who used to read novels for pleasure, now scan these books into a computer
instead. Those who do a lot of scanning report that the Optacon is a major
help in improving the scanning process and correcting errors.
Although this question was not asked, many respondents have
volunteered the information that they have more than one Optacon. In some
cases the units are used in different locations but mostly the second and
third Optacons are retained as backup. This fact alone tell us quite a bit
about the preciousness of the Optacon and how its users feel about doing
without it.
The uses of the Optacon vary too widely to mention all of them.
The overwhelming majority (but not all), use the Optacon to help with some
aspect of mail reading and sorting. Others use the Optacon regularly to sign
documents and to verify amounts and balances on bills, credit cards, checks,
and statements. A more detailed description of Optacon uses appearing in the
surveys will be posted at another time.
ISOLATING THE UNIQUE USES OF THE OPTACON
Many respondents have gone out of their way to tell us the things
the Optacon does that other devices available at this time cannot. Among
these types of uses are interpreting schematic diagrams, reading print on
the surfaces of appliances, reading signs on walls, reading information on
cans, bottles, boxes and jars without removing the labels, and reading any
foreign language or code including print music and programming symbols.
Some respondents who are deaf-blind or who have hearing loss find the
Optacon particularly useful when devices that speak are not an option. We
encourage deaf-blind users to tell us more.
IMPROVEMENTS IN THE OPTACON
All users of the Optacon agree that its greatest value is its
ability to display print as it actually appears and to allow the human brain
to interpret it. The users who mentioned it also agree that the resolution
and fine-tuning available in the r1d Optacons is far better than that
available in the later Optacon II model. Most respondents agree that
user-replaceable batteries, and a camera that could be use at a greater
distance (probably wireless) would be a plus. Although some respondents
don't find this an issue, many user would like to have a quieter
Optacon--one that does not buzz when in use. Some respondents mention that
the noise is annoying to co-workers and some prefer not to use the Optacon
in public places such as libraries because of the noise.
This matter is subjective and there is no precise agreement. Many
respondents are eager for additional lenses that will fit into small spaces
or read additional colors and types of displays. Currently there is no
device available to read a scrolling display, or the display which contain
menus such as cell phones or the displays now common to tv screens.
Some respondents wish that the Optacon included some type of memory,
storage facility, speech, OCR etc. However, most of these respondents would
prefer to do without these things if they in any way compromised the
original purpose of the Optacon which is to read actual print on all kinds
of surfaces in real time without any sort of pre-interpretation.
UNANTICIPATED POSITIVE OUTCOMES
Many respondents did not realize that Optacons could still be
repaired. Some units are being repaired already and others will be repaired
when their owners can raise the money to do so. Other respondents were able
to increase the use they make of their Optacons because they no longer have
to worry abut losing them entirely. This outcome is a direct result of our
outreach to Optacon users.
Our outreach has also located some unused and non-working Optacons.
We need to find as many of these units as possible and get them back into
circulation. Even badly damaged non-working Optacons have some parts worth
canabalizing. Please direct any donated Optacons to one of the Optacon
repairers. If somebody wishes to sell an Optacon or a special lens, they
should be directed to an Optacon repairer or the information should be
posted to the Optacon list. When the present project expands enough to have
a legal corporation, employers that used to provide Optacons to employees as
well as educational institutions and other types of training and rehab
agencies can be contacted to donate their stock of Optacons.
The Optacon is generating interest from brand-new users too. Some
would like to see the Optacon demostrated. Others would like help with
training. Some might consider buying an Optacon if a suitable evaluation
period and preliminary traing instructions were a part of it. Other would
consider buying an Optacon if it could red various types of more modern
displays and interface with modern computer screens.
OTHER POSITIVE OUTCOMES
The Optacon user list which began this initiative a month ago has
increased in size by at least twenty members. A manufacturer in the U.S.
which sells the Smith-Corona ribbons needed for the typewriter that used the
Optacon special lens is willing to sell small amounts of ribbons to members
of our group. The details of how this will work are still in negotiation.
Individuals who over the years found the Optacon a fascinating device are
welcome to join us in an effort to preserve it. We already have a method to
rebuild and replace damaged retina cables, one of the most vulnerable parts
of the Optacon. All persons who repair Optacons or who are interested in
doing so have a place to come together and expand their services as well as
sharing parts and donated Optacons. All of these facts will help to preserve
the Optacon.
REDEVELOPMENT:
Nobody knows just yet what the Optacon's future will be. Our user
list currently includes several engineers and software experts who are
seriously interested in developing additional accessories for the current
units and possibly re-developing the Optacon entirely. No decisions have
actually been made in this area. Engineers are contacting other technical
experts to figure out what is possible. Users of the Optacon are telling us
what is absolutely necessary, what they would also like and what they might
like but could live without. All of this input is major to the success of
any funding effort that will be made. We do want to make clear that any
Optacon user or any interested person who responds to one of our surveys or
asks any questions is in no way under any type of financial obligation.
SUMMARY:
For the immediate future the Optacon preservation effort will
continue to seek Optacons, data from current users, data from potential
future Optacon users, and technical expertise in various areas. We encourage
our users to let anyone who ever liked the Optacon know about this effort.
We encourage everyone to continue to get our message to lists and magazines.
We need the imaginative members of our list who like to write or who might
be interested in training users to start to think about new methods. Since
our users are all over the world, it is no longer possible to congregate
them in one place for weeks of training.
We still don't have nearly enogh data to determine whether the
Optacon can ever be marketed again. The success of such an effort would
probably depend on what new features the Optacon contains.
The drawbacks of the Optacon are well-known. No attempt is being
made to minimize them or to mislead any possible new user. The surveys have
however, exploded certain beliefs held by some Optacon users. Among these
are the following: Not all Optacon users read Braille. Many respondents are
interested in the Optacon because they have lost sight later in life.
Deaf-blind persons are able to use the Optacon even though they cannot hear
the buzz. Some diabetics who could not learn Braille were able to use the
Optacon but others were not. Time, patience, practice, and motivation are
the four elements which combine together to create a successful Optacon
user. Age, previous knowledge of print, and some other factors thought to be
a part of this success are of minor significance as barriers. There has also
been minimal probing into whether sighted dyslexics can benefit from using
an Optacon. The belief that these things could not be done are being proven
false.
During our first month we have accomplished many steps in preserving
the Optacon. If we go on as we have begun, who knows what exciting things
might be in store.
Catherine Thomas
Acting Survey Coordinator
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-Catherine Thomas
braille@xxxxxxxxx /
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