Will the do-gooders PLEASE knock it off with the vibrations! Who wants extraneous vibrations when accurate sensory cues, which come from the actual surroundings, are available--along with accurate information about the environment, gleaned before or during travel? We get sentient travel information about overheads and locations from real intelligence now; it's called a guide dog. Vibrations tell one absolutely nothing of value. Let's hope this burgeoning researcher does what good research dictates: namely, becoming acquainted with the subject matter, blind people with good travel skills, before devising some hair-brained scheme which does nothing but cost money. Karla Westjohn ----- Original Message ----- From: "Cindy Handel" <cindy425@xxxxxxxxxxx> To: <optacon-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Friday, July 23, 2010 9:05 AM Subject: [optacon-l] Re: from Peggy Covey I hope he changes his idea to something like the Optacon. It would be much more useful than another piece of high-tech travel equipment, which doesn't get much use and is way to expensive; IMO. Cindy ----- Original Message ----- From: "pacovey" <misscat@xxxxxxxx> To: "optacon" <optacon-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Friday, July 23, 2010 9:03 AM Subject: [optacon-l] from Peggy Covey Hello everyone, Every once in awhile, someone comes along who wants to do something for us blind folks. Last sunday I met with a student from the University of Cincinnati School of Design. He is interested in inventing a device that would be cheap and assist with travel. It would combine lasers and vibrating motors to impart information. I talked with him, then invited him to my home. You might say, I pulled him in to the deep end. He saw everything in my office including the OPTACON. Of course, he had never heard of it and was fascinated with it. He was able to recognize a few letters. He appreciated the potential of it and wondered why it is considered "old technology". I don't know what his project will be now but it was fun spending three hours with him. to view the list archives, go to: www.freelists.org/archives/optacon-l To unsubscribe at any time, just send a message to: optacon-l-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word "unsubscribe" (without the quotes) in the message subject. Tell your friends about the list. They can subscribe by sending a message to: optacon-l-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word "subscribe" (without the quotes) in the message subject. to view the list archives, go to: www.freelists.org/archives/optacon-l To unsubscribe at any time, just send a message to: optacon-l-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word "unsubscribe" (without the quotes) in the message subject. Tell your friends about the list. They can subscribe by sending a message to: optacon-l-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word "subscribe" (without the quotes) in the message subject. to view the list archives, go to: www.freelists.org/archives/optacon-l To unsubscribe at any time, just send a message to: optacon-l-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word "unsubscribe" (without the quotes) in the message subject. Tell your friends about the list. They can subscribe by sending a message to: optacon-l-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word "subscribe" (without the quotes) in the message subject.