Chris, you are quite correct about SVG, and in fact, the philosophy of the ViewPlus IVEO technology is that tactile images can be derived directly from the SVG file. Some images such as photographs don't provide intuitive tactile representations if derived directly from the visual image, so that's why one would want to include a tactile layer. However transcribers are perfectionists who often insist on tweaking the embosser bit map before it is embossed. More than tweaking is needed for lower resolution embossers that don't have variable dot heights. So that's why embosser-specific tactile bit maps are needed in UTD. They are too nitty-gritty dependent on today's technoloogy to be part of SVG (my opinion).
On 12/23/2009 11:42 AM, Chris von See wrote:
John, I may not have correctly understood your original description of UTD. Since SVG is a W3C standard method of representing graphics and it is allowed as a DAISY image format, it seemed reasonable that tactile graphics could be represented in SVG and that SVG could be readily understood by devices needing to render those graphics, regardless of whether that rendering is in ink or dots. It may be that I don't completely understand the problem that's being solved by UTD or why it would need to be embosser specific... Cheers Chris On Dec 23, 2009, at 10:58 AM, John Gardner wrote:I'm not sure I understand the question Chris. Is your question about the proposal by the DAISY SVG Working Group to include invisible tactile layers in addition to visible SVG layers? If so, then yes, UTD is different. Braille is, crudely speaking, a tactile bit map representation of the words in the DAISY XML file, and the UTD tactile graphics portion would be a tactile bit map representation of the SVG tactile layer. The SVG images are not specific to any particular technology, but the UTD image would need to be embosser-specific. UTD is presently more of an idea than a specification, and it might be a good idea for UTD to include several copies of graphics formatted for a variety of embossers. On 12/23/2009 9:46 AM, Chris von See wrote:Aside from the braille labels, etc. how does UTD compare to SVG, which is already supported by DAISY? Chris von See Senior Geek TechAdapt, Inc. http://www.techadapt.com chris@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Save trees. Print only when necessary. On Dec 23, 2009, at 9:39 AM, John Gardner wrote:Hello all, I apologize - I should have introduced the concept of UTD Universal Tactile Document before to the list. As John Boyer points out, it is indeed something that ViewPlus has put forward, but we hope it is far more useful than just for ViewPlus. It is useful today for any embosser that can also emboss graphics and/or that can print ink words. UTD is being proposed as a superset of DAISY3 XML with extensions as necessary to include a formatted tactile document. It will contain braille of course with indicators connecting the braille with the normal text. UTD is intended to serve as both a format used by braille/tactile graphics/ink-print embossers and as a format that is convenient for braille/tactile graphics translator software of the future. By retaining the original DAISY document, it retains a great deal of flexibility. So it's not really a superset of PEF. John Gardner On 12/23/2009 6:40 AM, Christian Egli wrote:Hi John "John J. Boyer"<john.boyer@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> writes:The main thing now is to work out the specifications for the Universal Tactile Documnt Language. These may be preliminary. They will draw on ideas from the Portable Embosser File (PEF) language and from the rest of Daisy xml.I'm not sure you've introduced the idea of the Universal Tactile Document Language before. Is it some kind of superset of PEF[1], i.e. a page oriented xml format that contains Braille? Thanks Footnotes: [1] http://www.daisy.org/projects/braille/braille_workarea/pef.php-- ________________________________ John Gardner | President | ViewPlus 541.754.4002 x 220 | www.viewplus.com ________________________________ PRIVILEGED AND CONFIDENTIAL: This message and any files transmitted with it may be proprietary and are intended solely for the use of the individual to whom they are addressed. If you are not the intended recipient, any use, copying, disclosure, dissemination or distribution is strictly prohibited; please notify the sender and delete the message. ViewPlus Technologies, Inc. accepts no liability for damage of any kind resulting from this email. For a description of the software and to download it go to http://www.jjb-software.comFor a description of the software and to download it go to http://www.jjb-software.com-- ________________________________ John Gardner | President | ViewPlus 541.754.4002 x 220 | www.viewplus.com ________________________________ PRIVILEGED AND CONFIDENTIAL: This message and any files transmitted with it may be proprietary and are intended solely for the use of the individual to whom they are addressed. If you are not the intended recipient, any use, copying, disclosure, dissemination or distribution is strictly prohibited; please notify the sender and delete the message. ViewPlus Technologies, Inc. accepts no liability for damage of any kind resulting from this email. For a description of the software and to download it go to http://www.jjb-software.comFor a description of the software and to download it go to http://www.jjb-software.com
-- ________________________________ John Gardner | President | ViewPlus 541.754.4002 x 220 | www.viewplus.com ________________________________PRIVILEGED AND CONFIDENTIAL: This message and any files transmitted with it may be proprietary and are intended solely for the use of the individual to whom they are addressed. If you are not the intended recipient, any use, copying, disclosure, dissemination or distribution is strictly prohibited; please notify the sender and delete the message. ViewPlus Technologies, Inc. accepts no liability for damage of any kind resulting
from this email. For a description of the software and to download it go to http://www.jjb-software.com