Dan, Paul et Al:
If an economical way of producing a tactile display can be found, I
think some of the ideas here would be excellent. I would like to see a
hybrid machine that allowed the user to move the camera over the
material to be read. It could be fed into an OCR engine and then to
speech synthesis. At the same time, a tactile of the print being
scanned would be available.
This sort of mixed approach would allow the user to listen to spoken
text when appropriate. He/she would control the speed of reading via
the speed at which he/she moved the camera over the material. Further,
camera movement would permit skimming and skipping of text based on its
layout on the page. This same ability to control the machine by camera
movement would allow a user to trace out charts and graphs just as we
now do with the Optacon. Finally, an Optacon-style tactile display
would allow the user to recognize and read materials such as math
notation that don't translate well into speech.
I think most of the technology already exists, it's a matter of finding
funding to put it all together.
Loren Schoof
On 2/15/2016 2:00 PM, Paul Hunt wrote:
Hello Dan. Now, that's an interesting idea. We would scan the page with the
camera on the iPhone and the output would be fed to the array. You could
then accurately capture a oletter. Perhaps then as letters are correctly
captured they could be fed to an OCR engine.
-----Original Message-----
From: optacon-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:optacon-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
On Behalf Of Dan Tevelde
Sent: Monday, February 15, 2016 2:35 PM
To: optacon-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [optacon-l] Re: Wy did the Optacon Die
Hi Paul,
You bring up some good points. All I was suggesting is taking advantage of
the camera in the phone and then using a tactile array to read the image. I
wasn't suggesting that OCR should only be used but that OCR would be an
additional option. I would think that taking a picture would make the raw
image available to a tactile array. The image could be converted to text or
otherwise manipulated as the optacon user wished.
The speed, accuracy, and resolution of cameras keeps getting better and
better and I would think a new optacon should take advantage of that
technology.
Judy brought up an interesting point about three-d printing. This process
could be used to produce a prototype object people could feel to see if they
liked it. I don't know if printing could create the actual hardware but I
would think it could produce a useful mockup.
Dan
Sent from my iPhone
On Feb 15, 2016, at 1:57 PM, Paul Hunt <prhunt1@xxxxxxx> wrote:of work and commitment from the user.
Hello Dan. I'm ain iPhone user and also use JAWS every day. I have
worked with OpenBook, Kurzweil, the KNFB Reader and Prismo. I haven't
found a device yet that will do for me what the Optacon can do. The
strength of the Optacon is the lack of OCR. When I scan something into
Kurzweil, Openbook or the KNFB reader, I'm relying on OCR technology
to make decisions for me. If the print is perfectly laid out and nice
and black, OCR software does very well. However, scatter the printing
around the page, muck up the contrast, etc. I can do a much better job
with the Optacon. Besides, I can correct the camera position and get
immediate feedback with the Optacon. It's impossible to get that kind
of feedback with Kurzweil, Openbook or the KNFB reader in spite of its
field of View reporting. Just try printing a check and checking to see
if it's properly lined up and printed with today's security features
with OpenBook or KNFB Reader. It's virtually impossible. The Optacan
can do these things for us. If a device can be developed that will
integrate with an iPhone, give me the option to kick OCR to the curb
when I don't want it and use OCR when it makes sense, I'm all in. I
don't know how proficient you were with the Optacon. I know it takes a lot
-----Original Message-----to view the list archives, go to:
From: optacon-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:optacon-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
On Behalf Of Dan Tevelde
Sent: Monday, February 15, 2016 11:28 AM
To: optacon-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [optacon-l] Re: Wy did the Optacon Die
Hello All,
I have stated my case before but my ideas have been criticized and
shot down. However, I am going to take a chance on stating my case again.
First of all, the present optacon is not fine the way it is and
wouldn't atract new users. The current device has one advantage and
only one. It does one task and does it well. The problem is I don't
see how it could easily be updated without sending a device to
someone to make repairs or update any hardware and software.
I used an optacon in high school but felt no incentive to keep up my
skills as the optacon was on loan from the department of education and
I didn't have any resources to buy one so I could make a long-term
investment on the use of the device. I didn't think about the
practicality of a new optacon until I got my current job as a computer
programmer and had access to Braille displays. My employer bought me
my first disppay. Later, I was
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