I strongly believe the Grafiti will have a very short life.
Not stuff for end-users.
And the output, if I understand correctly, is in braille, which means
software... Software updates, and so on.
That means the product could become obsolete anytime.
and for that price... No thanks!
We're not there yet.
Ciao,
Ollie
On 18/03/2020 07:39, David wrote:
Interesting. Did hear about the Grafiti a while back, but never heardto view the list archives, go to:
anything more, so was wondering what it all had turned out to be. Now
that it has hit the market, if I understand you right, let's see what it
will change in the access for blind people on an electronic device.
Size, and technology might be an issue, should it be worth for an
Optacon-like device. Of course, the user now could scan a bigger area,
get a more 3D perception of the image, and hence be helped a long way
down the lane of an Optacon. That is, we need the Grafiti in a portable
versio, and with a camera. Long way to go. And if the price you told is
the case, 15 thousand dollars plus shipping, Dealer fees in local
countries and whatever sales taxes, I am afraid most users will be
shaking their shoulders, heads and whatever, and simply leave the whole
project.
Even if the technology was useful for an Optacon, I think they might
have to get the price worked down a whole deal. If an Optacon, being in
hard competition with modern devices, is to be ever considered by any
non-Optacon user, it will have a hard time with a price much above five
thousand. Even anything much higher than a couple of thousand, will be
struggling in today's market.
David
On 3/17/2020 11:03 PM, dan.tevelde@xxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
I'm sure Charles Pond had good intentions but his project seemed to be shortto view the list archives, go to:
on details. The good news is that there are technologies which are
available right now which could be re-purposed for a new optacon. Orbit
Research just introduced their graphics display called the Graphiti. It
costs $15,000 but it has a large display matrix which maybe could be scaled
down to make it more affordable. I suppose someone could contact them and
see if they would be interested in working with the group. Orbit Research
also introduced two new low-cost Braille displays at CSUN. The fact that
they have developed newer display technology which is already available
indicates that maybe they could be persuaded to work with us.
I don't see a reason to reinvent the wheel unless we can't find any company
who would be willing to modify their technology to meet our needs. Someone
more important than I should send Orbit Research an e-mail asking them if
they would like to start a discussion. If they are interested, then someone
would need to prepare a nice professionally-looking presentation. The
presentation could be a short brochure containing links to existing YouTube
videos about the optacon. It would also be helpful if a current optacon
user could make a YouTube video. Someone might be able to get sighted
assistance.
I'm not in a position to make any videos. I have an optacon but need to get
it looked at before I can even try using it. I also forgot the training I
had years ago when I was in high school. Right now I'm concentrating on
finding a new job by June.
Dan
-----Original Message-----
From: optacon-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <optacon-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On
Behalf Of Marco Cervi
Sent: Friday, March 13, 2020 10:46 AM
To: optacon-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [optacon-l] Re: Looking for info about new Optacon
Hello everybody,
Maybe David Godfrey in UK could help, too.
I believe he is in this list, he fixed my Optacon very well last year, so
probably he can suggest some idea for a possible new project.
Marco
Il giorno 13 mar 2020, alle ore 14:01, Milton Ota <mota1252@xxxxxxxxxxxx>to view the list archives, go to:
ha scritto:
Hello Optacon Users:
I believe Charles Pond has passed away. I don't know where anyone can
get theinformation on his research.
If this person is interested in helping developing a 21st Centry
Optacon, I suggest that the person talk story with Richard Oehm.
Remember, he is getting old and we don't know how much longer he will
be around with the knowledge about the inside of an Optacon. Richard
Oehm at one time worked for Telesensory Systems, Inc. when the Optacon
was first developed with Jim Bliss and help from Stanford University
Enginering students.
,
Original message:
Caterina,to view the list archives, go to:
Sounds interesting if anyone wants to consider the development of a
new Optacon. Yes, Charles Pond used to tell us inthusiastically about
his project. From what he described near the end of his time, was
that the Optacon would be rather close to completion. Yet, far as I
got him, it seemed noone ever saw the actual prototype he was working
on. At least I can't remember anyone telling that they had experienced the
model, hands on.
In one of the last messages we saw from Charles, he informed us that
he had told someone in his circle, what to do about the whole
project. But he never seemed to tell anything further what that all would
include.
Noone ever have followed up on the project, if we are to judge from
the trafic on this list.
Summing it all up, what we are left with from Charles' project, seems
to be the messages he left on the list. There would be a few of them,
and they tended to be rather technical every now and then. He said
that it would all be there, his whole description of the project. But
you will need to read through an untold amount of listings, and
derive the technical essense of it. At the end of each message posted
on the list, you will find the link to the list archives. I suggest
you scrolling the archives, searching for his name, and see what you can
get out of that.
Then again, we had a few discussions, as to what a new Optacon
desirably should be like. These too would be in the archives. If you
don't mind me saying so, I just am not all that sure the requirements
we had for an updated Optacon, a handful years ago, would still apply.
Have a feeling that even the most intense Optacon user, might see his
or her daily activities slightly different today. That is, electronic
devices have become more frequent, and more services are moving out
of the paper-world, and into the electronics. At least in some parts
of the world. The potential new user of an Optacon, will come from
such already existing devices, and may not want an Optacon that
basically does what they already can get from their cell phone,
tablet or computer. Things like audio and recording capabilities,
just to mention a few. Who knows, maybe the very best project, would
be to re-invent the Optacon as it is, a completely analog device,
that leaves all the thinking to the human brain.
Charles along with a couple of other knowledgeable people, gave us
quite a number of informations as to the history of the Optacon's
development, from the early ages, and how and why it ended up the
design it stands currently. The list archives will also hold info
about what challenges were overcome when attempting to design a new model.
From memory, Charles told how he had been struggling to find a way to
protect the reading display from dust and dirt; testing different
materials that would provide the right tactile feeling, as well as
the needed flexibility and durability. He further informed about the
camera, again from memory, I think he said the model he had landed on
was the size and shape of a 4-knobbed lego brick.
As stated, the postings used to get rather technical, and not always
totally logical in their layout. And specially so, if the ones you
have in mind for a new project, would happen not to be natively
English-speaking. Guess the best thing would be to read through the
postings, and have the main-points arranged in a sorted order,
leaving out all the messy blah-blah. Smiles.
So my final suggestion would be, to leave the people you have in mind
the chance of browsing the list archives. Then let them join the
list, asking their questions to the community. Whoever is still on
the list, might have a portion of ideas and feedback, once we know
what they need for info. Hard to give too much, long as we do not
know what technical level they are on, or how serious they are about
getting the development going.
I do wonder if one of the places Charles stranded, just as much as a
few others who have tried to get on with a new Optacon model - was
that they tend to want to do everything themselves. Projecting,
developing, testing, financing, marketing and manufacturing. Have a
hard time in imagining that to be ever possible. You, or rather they,
will need a team for all of that. Charles said he had a couple of
people assisting him, hand-crafting certain of the parts. But he
stranded when came to legal stuff, as well as the programming part of
the project. Just to illustrate why it might be a good idea to let
them know, that they might want to set up a staff on an early state,
should it ever have a chance to become reality - that new Optacon model.
David
On 3/12/2020 8:54 PM, Caterina Avoledo (Redacted sender catery81 for
DMARC) wrote:
Hello everyone,to view the list archives, go to:
I met someone that, maybe,, could be interested to consider to
develop a device like our beloved Optacon.
I remember that Charles Pound wanted to share his project, isn’t it?
If so, where can I find information about it? I’m sure that the
intention is to realize something usefull for visually impeared
people and not for personal profit.
Thanks to everybody can give any information.
Greetings,
Caterina
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