Charles, this is amazing. I can somehow imagine the Sawtooth being the best
suited waveform for this It probably has the correct bite to make things sharp
and clear.
What did became of the Optacon III project? and what would have been different
in the Optacon III you were considering in difference to the previous models?
Ben
Am 08.02.2022 um 19:40 schrieb Charles ("wpg67")
<dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>:
allow me to amend a part of my previous message. More accurately, a
sawtooth waveform felt the best. it most closely resembled the
optacon's squarewave when its pulse width was at 50%. My apologies.
Charles
On 2022-02-08 1:36 p.m., Charles (wpg67) wrote:
I had experimented with sine waves and other waveforms when attending toto view the list archives, go to:
an optacon III project, but either because of training and experience or
because of something intrinsic to the optacons R1 and II,, or to human
perception, its driving square wave felt best and it gave the clearest
tactile and audio information.
As for the painful finger picking which limited reading time, I used
polymer reeds rather than copper wire reeds. Like fine fishing line
with a good stand-up coefficient. So, whoever develops an optacon
display, a mechanical one at any rate, should not ignore the texture of
the fine tactile pins.
Charles
On 2022-02-08 1:24 p.m., Benjamin Blatter wrote:
Dan, it was very interesting to read from you how things worked at yourto view the list archives, go to:
time. It's sad that your people felt disturbed by the sounds of the
Optacon. I read or heard somewhere that the developers of the Optacon would
have changed the sound to a less disturbing sound curve like par examples
sinus wave. But the Optacons where progressed already way to far for this.
While I had joy with my Optacon the constant picking needles made me tired
after maybe 30 minutes and so I didn't really want to read whole books this
way. I for sure couldn't have kept up during my musical education with an
Optacon. In this time book scanners and OpenBook came up and I got many
materials presented on floppy discs :-)
Ben
Am 08.02.2022 um 18:20 schrieb dan.tevelde@xxxxxxxxxxx:
When I got my optacon in high school there were limited options where I
could get training and an optacon to keep. I got my training at a school
for
the blind and my optacon was loaned to me by the U.S. Department of
Education with the understanding that I would need to return it when I
graduated from college. Some people I know went to Associated Services for
the Blind in Philadelphia for training which I think included an optacon. I
wonder how much the training cost. The fact that I would not be able to
keep
an optacon was a disincentive for me to ever become a fluent user. I did
not
get much pleasure from the device and my family hated the noise. I was
always having problems keeping paperback books and magazines open. Maybe my
skills would have improved if I had spent more time with the optacon. In
college I wasn't able to keep up without hiring readers. Recently A friend
gave me an optacon and I need to get around to fixing it. It isn't my
highest priority. If we ever get a new type of optacon with more features I
probably would be more interested in developing my skills using it. If I
don't get around to fixing the optacon then I will donate it to someone on
this list. I wouldn't do what some friends did by throwing their optacons
in
the trash. I'm sure I could find someone to use it if I decide getting it
fixed wouldn't justify my using it.
I know my comments sound negative but this is an example of where I would
want more modern technology to interest me more in an optacon. I think the
device should be essentially the same but with newer components and a
digital interface so software could be updated. We have the technology
except for a practical tactile array which is a real shame. The worst of it
is that we don't have enough interest in an optacon where we could obtain
funding for research and development. It is a sad situation.
Dan
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