I'm enjoying this discussion but I think there is some confusion about where a new optacon should go. I don't see how an electro-mechanical device could be justified if all it did was convert light into pixels on a tactile array. Even if a sufficiently cheap tactile array could be developed, it would be hard to find some non-digital camera which would evaluate light an contrast, and then convert it into the corresponding pixels. I would think this would be slow and impractical. Such a device would need to be sent to a company which would provide maintenance and firmware upgrades. I think a digital camera solution would be much faster, cheaper, and with a higher degree of resolution. The trend in computing is toward many types of tablets and phones. In fact, phones and tablets are almost identical in terms of their size, shape, and overall footprint. To say that the iPhone has been overhyped is simply not true. I admit the Braille interface could be better but this keeps changing all the time. Android phones and tablets are getting better Braille support. In addition, people with hearing loss are using iPhones with Braille displays though there are many challenges. I mention this because the tablet would have to be the nucleus of any type of optacon. The camera could be used to take a picture if a person needed to save an image. Perhaps some kind of moving camera peripheral could be developed for someone who would want to read print under their fingers on a hard surface such as a page in a book or newspaper, or a surface like a box or bottle where there might be writing or images. An image in real-time could be either saved or just read without any further action. The experience would be tactile even though the process to acquire the image would be digital. Using a tablet as the nucleus of a new optacon would also add the advantage that software and firmware could be updated by the end user. Because tablets already have speech chips it would also be easy to install a screenreader which already exists onto the tablet if that is what the end user wanted to do. As far as converting information into various types of Braille, that might be possible but I don't know how practical. I heard a demo of the TopBraille on the internet and I thought the whole process was laughable. The device was loud and slow. A better approach might be for the end user to use an existing Braille display since the process of converting text to Braille using a tablet already works. I mention all of this just to point out that know matter what type of tactile array would be developed, the process of operating it would be digital and accomplished by a tablet since tablets already have the capability to acquire text and images with an ever-growing rate of resolution. The end user might need to carry around multiple devices, but sighted people are already doing this anyway. A portable Braille keyboard with a display and a tablet don't take up much space. I'm using my iPhone and Braille display to write e-mails, and sometimes posting to Twitter or Facebook. The addition of an optacon-like device as a peripheral, wouldn't take up that much more space in my backpack. There doesn't need to be a one size fits all optacon. I'm just pointing out that the direction assistive technology is taking is for smaller mainstream devices and Braille displays or other peripherals. This has also shrunk the notetaker market but that is an entirely different issue. I'm just pointing out that people need to evaluate all of the available options and not be Luddites. Dan 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.