Chuck,
I am not so sure that the Optacon III has to be
packaged as part of a braille display
device. For readers who only need the Optacon
reading capability, they won't want to have to
spend even more money to buy all the additional braille display hardware.
It might make more sense to concentrate your
efforts on getting out your basic Optacon tactile
display, as a module that could be packaged into
different products, including a basic stand-alone
reading device. You could then supply the
tactile image display to the manufacturers of
braille displays and braille notetakers, to integrate with their systems.
As one who has been part of the painfully long
development of the NBP (Boston National Braille
Press) notetaker, called the B2G, I can tell you
that it would be a big mistake to squander your
precious time and skills on also trying to design
and manufacturer your own braille
notetaker. Better to let someone else marry your
tactile display module into their braille device design.
By the way, Deane Blazie specified from the very
beginning of the NBP development of the B2G that
its basic Android-based design should be
considered open source. The B2G design might be
the basis for the souped-up design of a braille
display device that includes the Optacon function.
Although I don't know very much about your
tactile display technology, I would say that,
judging from what you have shared with us, that
you should be focusing on solving the excessive
power consumption issue and getting together
a minimal function tactile display prototype
device for demonstrating the capability of the
display approach. Demonstrations of such a
prototype would not have to expose confidential
aspects of your basic actuator technology. A
demonstration of this prototype to the right
folks would be very effective in pulling together
the type of resources and help you need to get
your system off the drawing board and available
to include in real products that others can help develop.
Cordially,
Noel
-
Noel H. Runyan
Phone: 1-(408) 866-7564
-
At 05:14 PM 12/14/2016, you wrote:
Personally, if I had my druthers, I would like just a simple, small,to view the list archives, go to:
straightforward, uncomplicated optacon without these extras. However,
although I have done no formal studies, it just seems by all accounts that
such a preferable device would not take serious flight. So, it seems that
an optacon must be a modular part of an access device, with the default mode
being the nice and straightforward optacon mode.
I wouldn't say things are speeing up; I'm simply working with what I have,
when I can, until more favourable winds blow. I meet soon with a certain
bank to take steps in finally setting up a legal/financial accountable
entity to receive money to take the optacon/braille display to the finish
line. Production and sales is a different matter, of which I know basically
nothing.
The main technical challenge is reducing the power consumption, and making
the power pack smaller than its at least 6 D-cell batteries minimum. There
is a completely suitable alternative energy solution which I have developed
for such things as transportation, but at this point there might be legal
issues which prevent me from dropping it very simply into the optacon and
easily doing away with the portable power problem m. Although several
materials are being studied to improve the displays' efficiency (which would
not be noticed by the user), these efforts and strategies are to reduce
power consumption, and even if they don't happen, I'm not worried about the
displays; they work fine as they are.
The basic optacon software itself is straightforward, and it could be
programmed or written to be run on anything really: a tablet, a smartphone,
a handheld computer. I'm thinking that rather than using an off-the-shelf,
small motherboard and with the braille display and optacon as its
peripherals--in addition to the board as a standard computer--why tie the
purchaser to one's version of the computer, when one cann simply use a
prefered tablet or whatever. I have not yet tried to program the basic
optacon functions in Android or use them with a tablet or smartphone. I
have bypassed any operating system, and programmed two boards using C++ and
the required assembler. I kind of wonder about the need for these portable
O/S platforms, when well-designed software can drive the computer boar
directly and with far, far less resource fuss.
Of course, if there ends up being one module as the braille display, its
keyboard, another for the basic optacon, and then one fits in their prefered
portable computing device for its own accessible use, this raises the issue
of streamlined ergonomics--the form factor.
The use of a touch tablet, however, would open up some interesting
possibilities, not to mention making the device more in line with consumer
products and more easily updated.
In and of themselves, the braille display and standard notetaking functions,
and the optacon, do not require a standard computer mother board or even a
tablet or smartphone, although they are useful and convenient. Something
like the French "Essytime" (it is called something like that), which is a
braille display built directly into a standard portable computer with a
perkins keyboard, and so their accessible computer, not needing a built-in
display as a lid, and with no qwerty keyboard, is quite portable and smaller
than the standard laptop but with the power and portability of a laptop.
The French use a standard computer motherboard, so it can be easily updated
and consumer compatible save for the braille display. Several decades ago
now, I took the design of Smith-Kettlewell's "Note-A-Braille", refined it,
added to it, and gradually migrated it from a hardware bench device to
mostly software using C++; it was a test project for academic purposes, not
an intended product, So, the braille display module and its software /
optacon combo can easily be done without the need for a standard computer as
part of the consumer package.
So, back to the modular approach: the software for the notetaker, the
braille display module and perkins keyboard which contains the notetaker
software (its board is like a small cracker) and advanced optacon bells and
whistles, the autonymous optacon module and its nifty camera...and then
what: must there be an obligatory computer so it will sell because one would
have the full use of a fully accessible computer? It is becoming too
convoluted for my personal comfort. All of this stuff so that our
irreplaceable optacon will have a market? Yes, one could use the
braille/optacon combo as a peripheral for whichever computer they have and
this as it should be of course, but this again raises the ergonomics
issue.--does it?
Personally, if I had my way, why not just a simple, nicely updated and
straightforward optacon and that would be that. It appears that reality
requires a more encompassing solution.
Chuck
-----Original Message-----
From: Debby Franson
Sent: Wednesday, December 14, 2016 3:34 PM
To: optacon-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [optacon-l] Re: a question regarding the ergonomic design and
mechanics of the optacon III
Hi Chuck!
I'm glad your progress is speeding up. That's exciting.
I agree with you about tacking on the smart display would probably make a
clunkier design, being the worst of the options.
Could a cover be made to put on to cover the "fat domino" space, similar to
the cover that is placed over the spot on the optacon II when the battery
pack is removed? That cover would protect whatever the opening leaves
exposed and keep dust out.
I agree that one versital unit would be best.
Debby
At 02:13 AM 12/12/2016, C. Pond wrote
An optacon III ergonomic mechanical question if I may in order to make itrecommended a one-handed option, we
marketable, accompanied by a pre-amble for its context:
As things stand now, the optacon IIIâs display ha has evolved from a mere
dumb display (a mere vibrotactile output device which feels something like
a fat domino)) to a stand-alone display into which the nifty camera and
power and whatever can be plugged. This way, the camera and the
smart-display can be mechanically connected to form a crude one-handed
optacon with room for improvement, or they can be used each in one hand as
we traditionally have done. Although I am still really concerned about
the power monster, and Iâm working with tuflon an and a few other
experimental strategies to reduce power consumption, Iâââ¢m not worried
about a vibrotactile display. We have a two-handed optacon---even in its
basic formââand since Mr. Noel Runyan
now have that as well. So be it. Having said these things, it is myup-to-date small optacon simply will
âsenseâ or belief that a simple ple
not sell, take wings and fly. no matter the zeal of present optaconcome al along, ten years from now
users. I could be wrong, given proper education of blind people,
especially children, but that is how it looks realistically from this
userâs vantage. If no new optacon users
will show a very different optacon-user landscape compared tos
today. Therefore, from this line of reasoning, I have combined the basic
optacon III with a small, standard computer (around the size of a Braille
Sense U2 32-cell model; smaller than a Braille Lite 40) and a built-in
32-cell braille display (which unfortunately and to my chagrin and
sincere regret and wish for the contrary is proprietary at this time, and
this goes against Every sentiment and wish within me to have it
so!). The braille display can be built by hand for a few hundred
dollars, and likely would be less costly if produced by automation and in
numbers greater than 99 per batch. At this point, the optacon IIIâs
display fits nicely behind the spacebar and between dots 1 and 4 of then
deviceâs perkin
s keyboard. So, along one long edge at the front is the 32-cell displaysolidifyifying the optacon IIIâs
(built with banks of 4 braille cells per bank, smaller than bimorph-based
cells), and the optacon IIIâs display is right at at the back edge,
between dots 1 and 4, and therefore in the middle of the edge. The
device has as many useful functions as any hand-held computer with a
robust braille display and good accessibility. However, if the optacon
IIIâs vibrotactile display is built into the hanhand-held computer with
its inexpensive and robust braille display, several questions come to
mind for which I do need feedback.
1. Although the smart display could be made mechanically to slide in and
out of its place, like the old PCMCIA cards, when the display is removed
and connected to its camera, a rectangle-like void about the size of a fat
domino would be left in the hand-held computer with its braille
display. So, what to do in order to prevent this mechanical oddity or use
the empty display space?
2. Is there a better way to design the mechanics of the device?
The only reason why Iâm evolving toward
s
design as part of an encompassing system is that on its own, a new optacononly twotwo reasons I can see for
likely would not sell, so other things must be added. Likely enough, most
people would use the braille display and computer more often than the
optacon IIIâs vibrotactile display. The
being able to detach the optacon IIIâs display fr from the hand-held
computer are:
1. To connect it to its camera for one-handed use.
2. To use it as a stand-alone, small, versatile optacon.
Otherwise, and if a stand-alone optacon would indeed sell, this stuff
about a hand-held computer with a built-in braille display would not be an
issue.
If the smart display were merely tacked onto one end or the other of the
hand-held computer, that would solve nothing and would make ergonomic
design and use even worse.
I doubt a market exists for two optacon III versions: a one-handed optacon
and a two-handed optacon, and also not likely for a simple, stand-alone
optacon III. If I had my way, I would build the detachable optacon III
into an encompassing system, and find a good use for that fat domino void,
or find a way so it doesnât happen in the first pt place.
So, please, any thoughts and suggestions? No doubt the mechanical
solution for this is simple and straightforward.
Chuck
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