What ever became of the excellent Baum braille displays and their fine
screen-reader software cobra now that Baum in Germany has gone belly up
and therefore their U.S. branch also??? Are their products being handled
and developed by anyone?
Charles
On 2020-07-21 9:12 a.m., dan.tevelde@xxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
I believe American Thermoform here in the U.S. sold KGS displays. I don'tto view the list archives, go to:
know if they are still available or got rebranded under a different name.
Handytech now Helptech of Germany had some kind of graphics display and I
don't remember the name of it or ever saw it.
Dan
-----Original Message-----
From: CHARLES POND <wpg67@xxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Tuesday, July 21, 2020 4:06 PM
To: dan.tevelde@xxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [optacon-l] Re: Investment
KGS of Japan came out with the Dot-View display, the DV-1 and the DV-2 some
years ago. The DV-2 has 32 dots * 48 dots = 1536 dots in a work area of
perhaps 4 or 5-inch * 6 or 7-inch or so. I don't know the price, or its
driving technology. The pins are more densely packed than the DV-1.
A German company is working on the Tactonom display, about 10500 pixels,
quite a large machine it appears, but not something which can behave like an
optacon. I don't know its status at this tine.
Charles
On 2020-07-21 8:43 a.m., dan.tevelde@xxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
I think the videotim is dead. I've spoken to the developer once and
e-mailed him once in a while and he says he is working on a new
version but didn't indicate whether he could sell it. He said that it
was hard to create an interest in it in Germany. That's sad because
in Germany blind people usually get whatever Braille display they
want. Assistive technology is considered part of the German health
care system and a necessity not a luxury.
Dan
-----Original Message-----
From: optacon-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <optacon-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
On Behalf Of sonshines59@xxxxxxxxx
Sent: Tuesday, July 21, 2020 10:29 AM
To: optacon-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [optacon-l] Re: Investment
Hi,
I haven't heard any more on the Video TIM developed by Germany either,
and I think they were running close to a ten thou price tag.
What person or agency is going to spend that kind of money on a
reading machine, no matter how great it is? Just my thoughts is all.
Judy
-----Original Message-----
From: optacon-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <optacon-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
On Behalf Of dan.tevelde@xxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Tuesday, July 21, 2020 6:56 AM
To: optacon-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [optacon-l] Investment
Hi Charles,
Yesterday when you were reporting your progress in developing a new
optacon you quoted a $10,000 figure. Is that amount the total cost of
developing a new optacon, or the cost of each individual unit which
would need to be sold to break even or make a small profit? the total
amount seems modest compared to other projects for other technologies like
Braille displays.
I see an interesting parallel between the possibility of developing a
new optacon and the recent development of new Braille displays. New
Braille displays often come to the market because the assistive
technology companies can't get parts for existing products. An
example is the Humanware Brailliant. They said they are introducing a
new model at the end of the year. Another reason new Braille displays
come to the market is that enough users request a new design and the
developers implement it. Cases include the Hims QBraille which has a
Braille keyboard and windows modifier keys.
Humanware has a new Braille display sold by APH which has a qwerty keyboard.
Then there is the impetus for developing Braille displays using new
and cheaper technology. Despite all the hiccups in the development of
the orbit Reader, Orbit Research has succeeded in bringing a new
technology to the market and developing products which have staying power.
I don't know if this could be done with the optacon but it is always
possible. The first step is promoting the use cases and that is
difficult as there needs to be more awareness about the optacon than
what we have in our group of people who subscribe to this mailing
list. This would be difficult as no major blindness organization or
assistive technology company has expressed an interest in developing a
new optacon. It might be possible to bypass established organizations
and use social media to promote the optacon. There are already videos on
YouTube demonstrating the optacon.
The videos are copies of old presentations from the time the optacon
was new. I don't know if they are visually attractive though. Then
we need start-up capital to create prototypes which would also be
difficult. Then we need a reliable supply chain. This would have to
be done carefully. In the beginning of the development of the Orbit
Reader, Orbit Research made promises it couldn't deliver. the Orbit
Reader was not widely available and people ended up buying it on eBay
or from notices on blindness mailing lists. Now Orbit Research has
straightened out this issue which is lucky for them. They didn't
alienate enough people to remove the product form the market.
I think the awareness of the need for graphics displays is growing due
to changing computer technology and the need to provide graphics to
students who are learning remotely. It's not practical to send
students embossed graphics as they would never keep up with their
assignments. this is a unique situation. It would be necessary to
persuade enough people that the optacon could fill a need and should
be an option for people who need graphical information in real time.
APH submitted a request for proposal looking for partners to develop a
graphics display. that will take a while.
Among other things the only currently available graphics display is
the Graphiti which is financially out of reach for individuals.
Dan
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