Fw: mechanical braille display

[Buddy Brannan]

While not Speakup-related (yet), and not directly Linux-related, I thought
some might be interested in the following exchange. If someone can get a
braille display out that's cheaper than the current offerings, I'm *all for
it*! Especially if it can be integrated into a cheap computer running Linux. 

>From: "Ed Meskys" <edmeskys at worldpath.net>
>
>
>This was on the NHblind-talk listserv. Ed Meskys
>----- Original Message -----
>From: Louis Gosselin <LGosselin at ED.STATE.NH.US>
>To: <NHBLIND-TALK at MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU>
>Sent: Wednesday, November 15, 2000 9:33 AM
>Subject: mechanical braille display
>
>
>I found the following exchange, excerpted from the electro-braille listserv
>extremely interesting, and remember attending the presentation on this
>device at the national convention this past July, but never found the
>device on display in the huxter room. This is an extremely well-written
>description of it:
>
>
>        From: John W Roberts <roberts at cmr.ncsl.nist.gov>
>Date: Tue, 14 Nov 2000 21:35:17 -0500 (EST)
>Subject: [Electro-Braille] Re: NIST Braille display
>
>Dear John,
>
>Your information on the NIST Braille display technology is not correct,
>though I can understand how some of the articles written about it could
>be interpreted along those lines. We do not use a plastic strip. The Braille
>text is formed using rounded-tip pins that can be moved in or out through
>holes in the reading surface, just like the existing commercial refreshable
>Braille displays. What the three actuators do is to set selected pins as
>they
>move past the actuators, to form the desired Braille text. (Three actuators
>are used for six-dot Braille; of course it would take four actuators for
>eight-dot Braille.)
>
>The pins have flat heads, somewhat like the head on a carpenter's nail.
>The pins are located in holes in the surface of the wheel, with the heads
>of the pins pointing toward the center of the wheel, and the rounded tips of
>the pins pointing toward the outside of the wheel. To set a pin, it is
>pushed
>outward, away from the center of the wheel, until the rounded tip of the pin
>sticks out of the surface of the wheel, and can be felt as a Braille dot.
>After the pins are set into the desired Braille pattern by the three
>actuators, the part of the wheel in which they are located rotates into the
>reading area, which is exposed so that users can read the Braille text.
>Under the reading area, a non-rotating retention device with slotted tracks
>is located inside the rotating wheel. The heads of the pins slide along
>these slotted tracks, which prevent any pins that are set from slipping
>down into the holes in the wheel when the user presses against them, and
>also prevent any of the pins that are not set from sticking out of the
>wheel. The final result is refreshable Braille with standard cell and dot
>dimensions, that is very "strong" (doesn't push down into the reading
>surface under finger pressure). The wheel can move continuously, or stop
>periodically, as the user wishes.
>
>When we were designing this second-generation prototype, there were three
>main issues that we were concerned about regarding the basic usability of
>the device: 1) whether Braille users would be able to read moving Braille
>(and enjoy doing so), 2) whether the curvature of the reading surface would
>be a problem, and 3) what kinds of user controls might be needed for
>convenient reading. In addition to advice from many Braille users, we have
>supporting evidence regarding the first two of these questions based on
>actual experience. First, I took a simple demo to this year's NFB convention
>in Atlanta in July. The demo consisted of a Dymo Braille label on a
>continuously rotating wheel, to show what a rotating wheel Braille display
>would feel like. (This may be where the idea came from that the technology
>uses a strip of plastic.) Of an estimated 250 Braille users who tried this
>demo, over 95 percent were able to read the moving Braille on the curved
>surface of the wheel, without a need for any sort of learning period.
>Second, since the prototype became operational on September 25, all the
>Braille users who have had a chance to try it have been able to read it
>easily, and have highly complimented the feel of the Braille. The users
>have commented that neither the motion of the text nor the curvature of the
>wheel is a problem. While obviously not everyone is going to like a new
>technology, all the results we have encountered so far strongly suggest
>that the wheel-based technology will result in a new, very low cost addition
>to the refreshable Braille display market that will provide pleasurable
>reading for a large percentage of Braille users.
>
>We are currently trying to arrange opportunities for more Braille users to
>try the prototype, to get more feedback on how people like it and on what
>could be improved, and to encourage research on this technology within
>organizations outside of NIST.
>
>We are also trying to get Braille user input on the third usability issue:
>what kinds of user controls and display protocols are needed for this
>kind of display for optimum usability. Of course adjustable speed is
>necessary, and commands to jump back or forward various distances in the
>text. It may be useful for the display to introduce special control
>characters into the stream of Braille text to indicate new line, jump
>in text, current position in the text, and so on.
>
>We have received some comments that the moving-text display may actually
>have some advantages over conventional line-type displays for reading large
>texts such as e-books, since the users will not have to perform the many
>thousands of repetitive hand motions needed to read a novel using current
>displays or printed Braille. With practice, using some future
>high-performance
>commercial wheel-based display (not our simple prototype), reading speed
>for books may actually be higher than with current displays. Of course, it
>will require actual tests by users to determine whether this is true.
>
>John, if you have specific things you don't like about the technology, I
>would appreciate if you would let us know. Advice from Braille users has
>been of great help in the course of the project.
>
>Regards,
>John Roberts, Project leader, NIST Braille project
>john.roberts at nist.gov
><http://www.itl.nist.gov/div895/isis/projects/Braille/>
>
> From: John W Roberts <roberts at cmr.ncsl.nist.gov>
>Date: Wed, 15 Nov 2000 05:06:18 -0500 (EST)
>Subject: [Electro-Braille] Re: NIST Braille display
>
>
>Hello John,
>
>Our prototype has about 16 cells exposed and feelable simultaneously.
>Of course, a person designing a display using this technology can determine
>the number of cells exposed and the curvature of the surface by choosing
>the diameter of the wheel and the percentage of the wheel that's exposed.
>An interesting effect of the moving text and the extended reading area:
>the second time we showed the working prototype, two Braille users, using
>one or two fingers each, read the display simultaneously! We certainly
>hadn't planned to create a multiple-user display, but I suppose there are
>applications such as reading news reports where that capability might be
>useful.
>
>Thanks for your suggestion on the speed control. Right now, speed is
>controlled using a twistable knob. Some people have suggested a foot
>pedal speed control. We are putting together a list of recommended design
>features, including both user suggestions and ideas we have on the design.
>The list is intended both for our own use, and to pass on to companies
>that decide to manufacture the display, to hopefully give them a good
>starting point on design and market research.
>
>I have a general question for the members of the Electro-Braille
>mailing list: does anyone know of good references (online would be easiest)
>to the conventions used and formats in electronic Braille files, and their
>display on refreshable Braille devices? We would like to do what we can to
>make sure our prototype is compatible with existing practices, and only
>add new display behaviors needed for a wheel-type display if there are not
>any existing practices that will do the same job.
>
>Regards,
>John Roberts
>Project leader, NIST Braille project
>john.roberts at nist.gov
>
>From: "John J. Boyer" <chpi at execpc.com>
>Date: Tue, 14 Nov 2000 21:21:06 -0500
>Subject: Re: [Electro-Braille] Re: NIST Braille display
>
>Hi John,
>Thanks for your explanation. I am now eager to try the prototype myself. My
>one question is how many cells are "feelable" simultaneously. Since I read
>with both hands and use three fingers on each, I would like to see at least
>eight cells at a time, and I don't think I would mind the curved surface.
>One suggestion is to have the speed controlled by a pressure-sensitive
>device on the front of the display that could be pushed more or less firmly
>by a thumb.
>John
>Computers to Help People, Inc.
>
>
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>
>
>
>
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--
Buddy Brannan, KB5ELV
Voice mail: 877-791-5298
Email: davros at ycardz.com