Thank you for the link Gordon. The New Opticon appears to be a device with a lot of potential, if the description is to be believed. Its an idea who's rebirth provides an interesting alternative to the usual scanner/OCR/speech output for those who learn to use it. I do not know of anyone who has tried this device, and I've not heard or read any reviews of it. At $3,000 its portability and the versitility claimed for it, if they are borne out in use,, do seem to offer the totally blind a good alternative to what has become the mainstream. If it were to become available here for around £2,000 then, if its advertized capabilities are indeed borne out, then blind people, especially those living alone, could be tempted. To read more, goto: http://www.catechnology.net/dssbhotretiakoss2.html (I am not totally blind myself, but I know several people who are, and at least one who uses the old Opticon and values it very much for stuff a scanner/OCR will not touch. ) Ray Personal emails: Email me at mailto:ray-48@xxxxxxxx ----- Original Message ----- From: "gordon atkinson" <g.atkinson@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> To: <access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Wednesday, September 22, 2004 2:18 PM Subject: [access-uk] Re: Is the Opticon dead? Hi Ray I am only aware of two Optacon-type print readers which were discussed on the ACB Radio Main Menu program at the end of 2002. One reader is called p2rd which uses a standard digital camera connected to a control unit. The image from the camera is cnverted into synthetic speech. The website is: www.catechnology.net The other is more akin to the Optacon. It has a camera which is connected to a control unit which has a tactile array similar to the Optacon. This one is called videotim. The website is: www.abtim.com Hope this helps. Gordon Atkinson ----- Original Message ----- From: "Ray's HomeSent: Tuesday, September 21, 2004 11:16 AM Subject: [access-uk] Is the Opticon dead? I seem to recall someone, maybe on this list, saying that someone was reserecting the Opticon. Does anyone know anything about this? Maybe its not called 'Opticon' now as there seem other products out there with that name, and maybe its been trademarked by now. Ray Personal emails: Email me at mailto:ray-48@xxxxxxxx ** To leave the list, send a message to:- ** access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx ** and in the Subject line type ** unsubscribe ** For other list commands such as vacation mode, send a message, to ** access-uk-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the Subject:- faq