Re: survey update: Four Weeks In Review
- From: Winifred Downing <wmdowning@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: optacon-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 17 May 2006 21:41:52 -0700
Thank you so much for this interesting summary of all the information you
have gathered. I never achieved great speed with the optcacon but did
teach it at TSI in the glory days when we had nine rooms with teachers in
each and a person being trained. People stayed for two weeks. The program
was supervised by Gayle Brugler, and I found it wonderfully stimulating to
work in it part time.
I don't use the optacon to read book now since I have a scanner, It is
often a help in settling what I want to scan, observing what pages to skip,
etc.
My main daily use is with the typewriter attachment. With it I prepare my
own checks, applications, post office orders, etc. I read information
from food packages, return addresses
on mail, etc.
I was indeed encouraged to see a brief mention of how we can secure
Smith-Corona ribbons for the typewriter. I've scouted every place here and
sometimes find a shop with a few to sell. The type I can't get at all is
the correct cartridge. I'll be grateful for the address.
I've had some delightful experiences with the optacon as when my daughter
was eagerly waiting to hear whether she had passed her licensing
examination as a nurse. She was living in the nursing dormitory in the
kind of setup common in nursing training in those days. I watched the mail
for the information, saw it, opened the mail, and read just far enough to
see the word "congratulations". There were pages of formal material that I
didn't wander through, but I could call the hospital with that single word
message.
I also remember when I first saw an optacon at a state convention. I knew
my upper case letters from printing on milk bottles and some jars, and I
read the word "cat". I thought I'd died and gone to heaven to at last find
some way to read print. To see it more, I became the experimental student
at a course for optacon teachers at San Francisco State University. The
teacher of the class saw how eager I was and that was when I never thought
I could own one. She allowed me to take the device home at night, and I
stayed up until very late. My children said they watched me learn the
alphabet at 48 years of age--the small letters, that is. I wouldn't give
up for the world what I've learned about printed documents and
characteristics of print.
At 12:21 PM 5/14/2006 -0400, you wrote:
>FACTS ABOUT THE SURVEYS
> To date we have received 98 surveys from current Optacon users and
>18 surveys from Potential Optacon users. The surveys have arrived in a
>steady stream, averaging about thirty per week. If this trend continues we
>will have a lot of data to share with funding sources and input to share
>with engineers and others interested in the Optacon. Please inform
>everyone that it is not too late to submit a survey.
> Although many Optacon users tell us that they use the Optacon
>nearly every day, there are some respondents who tell us that they use the
>Optacon for a specific purpose only. For many respondents, the level of
>Optacon use varies with changing life circumstances. Examples are
>respondents who learned the Optacon in elementary school, did not use it
>as teen agers, and picked it up again when they entered college or
>work-related situations. Other respondens decreased their use of the
>Optacon when they married sighted spouses.
> The Optacon has evolved as user needs have changed. Many
>respondents who used to read novels for pleasure, now scan these books
>into a computer instead. Those who do a lot of scanning report that the
>Optacon is a major help in improving the scanning process and correcting
>errors.
> Although this question was not asked, many respondents have
>volunteered the information that they have more than one Optacon. In some
>cases the units are used in different locations but mostly the second and
>third Optacons are retained as backup. This fact alone tell us quite a bit
>about the preciousness of the Optacon and how its users feel about doing
>without it.
> The uses of the Optacon vary too widely to mention all of them.
>The overwhelming majority (but not all), use the Optacon to help with some
>aspect of mail reading and sorting. Others use the Optacon regularly to
>sign documents and to verify amounts and balances on bills, credit cards,
>checks, and statements. A more detailed description of Optacon uses
>appearing in the surveys will be posted at another time.
>ISOLATING THE UNIQUE USES OF THE OPTACON
> Many respondents have gone out of their way to tell us the things
>the Optacon does that other devices available at this time cannot. Among
>these types of uses are interpreting schematic diagrams, reading print on
>the surfaces of appliances, reading signs on walls, reading information on
>cans, bottles, boxes and jars without removing the labels, and reading any
>foreign language or code including print music and programming symbols.
>Some respondents who are deaf-blind or who have hearing loss find the
>Optacon particularly useful when devices that speak are not an option. We
>encourage deaf-blind users to tell us more.
>IMPROVEMENTS IN THE OPTACON
> All users of the Optacon agree that its greatest value is its
>ability to display print as it actually appears and to allow the human
>brain to interpret it. The users who mentioned it also agree that the
>resolution and fine-tuning available in the r1d Optacons is far better
>than that available in the later Optacon II model. Most respondents agree
>that user-replaceable batteries, and a camera that could be use at a
>greater distance (probably wireless) would be a plus. Although some
>respondents don't find this an issue, many user would like to have a
>quieter Optacon--one that does not buzz when in use. Some respondents
>mention that the noise is annoying to co-workers and some prefer not to
>use the Optacon in public places such as libraries because of the noise.
>This matter is subjective and there is no precise agreement. Many
>respondents are eager for additional lenses that will fit into small
>spaces or read additional colors and types of displays. Currently there is
>no device available to read a scrolling display, or the display which
>contain menus such as cell phones or the displays now common to tv
>screens.
> Some respondents wish that the Optacon included some type of
>memory, storage facility, speech, OCR etc. However, most of these
>respondents would prefer to do without these things if they in any way
>compromised the original purpose of the Optacon which is to read actual
>print on all kinds of surfaces in real time without any sort of
>pre-interpretation.
>UNANTICIPATED POSITIVE OUTCOMES
> Many respondents did not realize that Optacons could still be
>repaired. Some units are being repaired already and others will be
>repaired when their owners can raise the money to do so. Other respondents
>were able to increase the use they make of their Optacons because they no
>longer have to worry abut losing them entirely. This outcome is a direct
>result of our outreach to Optacon users.
> Our outreach has also located some unused and non-working
>Optacons. We need to find as many of these units as possible and get them
>back into circulation. Even badly damaged non-working Optacons have some
>parts worth canabalizing. Please direct any donated Optacons to one of the
>Optacon repairers. If somebody wishes to sell an Optacon or a special
>lens, they should be directed to an Optacon repairer or the information
>should be posted to the Optacon list. When the present project expands
>enough to have a legal corporation, employers that used to provide
>Optacons to employees as well as educational institutions and other types
>of training and rehab agencies can be contacted to donate their stock of
>Optacons.
> The Optacon is generating interest from brand-new users too. Some
>would like to see the Optacon demostrated. Others would like help with
>training. Some might consider buying an Optacon if a suitable evaluation
>period and preliminary traing instructions were a part of it. Other would
>consider buying an Optacon if it could red various types of more modern
>displays and interface with modern computer screens.
>OTHER POSITIVE OUTCOMES
> The Optacon user list which began this initiative a month ago has
>increased in size by at least twenty members. A manufacturer in the U.S.
>which sells the Smith-Corona ribbons needed for the typewriter that used
>the Optacon special lens is willing to sell small amounts of ribbons to
>members of our group. The details of how this will work are still in
>negotiation. Individuals who over the years found the Optacon a
>fascinating device are welcome to join us in an effort to preserve it. We
>already have a method to rebuild and replace damaged retina cables, one of
>the most vulnerable parts of the Optacon. All persons who repair Optacons
>or who are interested in doing so have a place to come together and expand
>their services as well as sharing parts and donated Optacons. All of these
>facts will help to preserve the Optacon.
>REDEVELOPMENT:
> Nobody knows just yet what the Optacon's future will be. Our user
>list currently includes several engineers and software experts who are
>seriously interested in developing additional accessories for the current
>units and possibly re-developing the Optacon entirely. No decisions have
>actually been made in this area. Engineers are contacting other technical
>experts to figure out what is possible. Users of the Optacon are telling
>us what is absolutely necessary, what they would also like and what they
>might like but could live without. All of this input is major to the
>success of any funding effort that will be made. We do want to make clear
>that any Optacon user or any interested person who responds to one of our
>surveys or asks any questions is in no way under any type of financial
>obligation.
>SUMMARY:
> For the immediate future the Optacon preservation effort will
>continue to seek Optacons, data from current users, data from potential
>future Optacon users, and technical expertise in various areas. We
>encourage our users to let anyone who ever liked the Optacon know about
>this effort. We encourage everyone to continue to get our message to lists
>and magazines. We need the imaginative members of our list who like to
>write or who might be interested in training users to start to think about
>new methods. Since our users are all over the world, it is no longer
>possible to congregate them in one place for weeks of training.
> We still don't have nearly enogh data to determine whether the
>Optacon can ever be marketed again. The success of such an effort would
>probably depend on what new features the Optacon contains.
> The drawbacks of the Optacon are well-known. No attempt is being
>made to minimize them or to mislead any possible new user. The surveys
>have however, exploded certain beliefs held by some Optacon users. Among
>these are the following: Not all Optacon users read Braille. Many
>respondents are interested in the Optacon because they have lost sight
>later in life. Deaf-blind persons are able to use the Optacon even though
>they cannot hear the buzz. Some diabetics who could not learn Braille were
>able to use the Optacon but others were not. Time, patience, practice, and
>motivation are the four elements which combine together to create a
>successful Optacon user. Age, previous knowledge of print, and some other
>factors thought to be a part of this success are of minor significance as
>barriers. There has also been minimal probing into whether sighted
>dyslexics can benefit from using an Optacon. The belief that these things
>could not be done are being proven false.
> During our first month we have accomplished many steps in
>preserving the Optacon. If we go on as we have begun, who knows what
>exciting things might be in store.
>Catherine Thomas
>Acting Survey Coordinator
>
>
>------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>-Catherine Thomas
>braille@xxxxxxxxx /
>
>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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