[optacon-l] Re: Optacon article from January 2009 Braille Forum
- From: "Linda Webb" <rtfan@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <optacon-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 31 Jan 2009 22:00:03 -0600
Jim, let me join others in complimenting you on all of your ideas.
I'm just a bit behind in reading all of the mail from this list since it has
indeed become more active in the past couple of weeks.
I used my machine, as noted before, in many ways but don't feel I have any
more to contribute as far as uses than others have already spoken about.
From CRT lens on computers, to reading cans and bottles, 800 numbers on TV
when they don't give them as one person has mentioned to just plain reading
and scanning text, typing out my own checks, etc., I just can't imagine
being without it. A new one certainly would be in order if the price was
reachable by most. I am sure in time, as much as they can be repaired, the
time will come when perhaps one won't be able to be repaired. That would be
a loss to anyone just owning only one.
Jim, good work.
Linda and Guide Dog, Greg
-----Original Message-----
From: optacon-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:optacon-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
On Behalf Of Lori Castner
Sent: Monday, January 26, 2009 12:47 PM
To: optacon-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [optacon-l] Re: Optacon article from January 2009 Braille Forum
Jim,
I think your draft is very exciting and the specificity of detail is
important. You include much information in a compact readable format. And
where do we go from here?
Lori Castner
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jim Bliss" <jamescbliss@xxxxxxxxx>
To: <optacon-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Monday, January 26, 2009 8:43 AM
Subject: [optacon-l] Re: Optacon article from January 2009 Braille Forum
> Mary,
> Thanks for sending the Optacon article. It inspired me to write the
> following draft of new Optacon ideas. I would be interested in any
> feedback
> from the Listserv.
>
> Jim Bliss
>
> *New Optacon Design Ideas*
>
> *by James C. Bliss*
>
> *1/26/09*
>
> * *
>
> The Optacon was designed in the late sixties at the dawn of
> integrated circuits, silicon photocell arrays, and before microprocessors.
> The
> design was based on extensive experiments with human subjects, blind and
> sighted, that used computer simulation of various designs to determine the
> most effective for reading text.
>
> The final design incorporated a novel array of tactile stimulators
> composed
> of piezoelectric reeds, or bimorphs, a custom integrated array of silicon
> photocells, and custom integrated circuits of shift register/bimorph
> drivers.
>
> The custom integrated circuits and unique piezoelectric reeds,
> together with the small market, made the Optacon a difficult product to
> source parts and manufacture. However, for those that mastered its use,
> the
> Optacon filled an essential need. Even though the Optacon has been out of
> production for over fifteen years, there are still over 150 avid users
> trying to maintain their Optacons and demanding a new Optacon.
>
> Now, almost 40 years after the original Optacon design,
> advances
> in technology make possible a new Optacon design that could have greater
> resolution, be easier to learn and use, and could have features that would
> greatly extend the applications of use.
>
> To reach the widest possible market, it is important to keep
> the
> simplicity of the original Optacon while enabling new capabilities and
> applications. Below are my thoughts on design possibilities that could be
> considered. Not all of these ideas may be worth developing, but
> considering
> them to assign priorities could help the process toward a new Optacon.
>
>
>
> I. Resolution and Field of View
>
> The original Optacon was designed around an array of 24 rows
> and
> 6 columns of pixels that drove a corresponding array of 24 rows and 6
> columns of bimorph tactile stimulators. The 24 by 6 was based on tests
> with human subjects that indicated this was the minimum number of pixels
> for
> reading and tracking text at a practical speed. Actually, if you consider
> 24 pixels across a 0.1 inch letterspace, this is equivalent to only 240
> dots/inch compared to the 300 dots/inch typically considered to be the
> minimum needed for OCR. Also, the Optacon's 24 pixels across a 0.1 inch
> letterspace is equivalent to a visual resolution of only 20/40.
>
> In addition, reading with an Optacon requires the user to move
> the hand held camera along a line of text. The limited field of view of
> the
> Optacon camera requires this scan to be very precise; else the images of
> the
> text are cut off. So reading would be easier and faster if the field of
> view of a new design could be greater, thereby relaxing the precision
> needed
> for line tracking.
>
> Thus, for ease of tracking and reading a wider range of text
> fonts and text quality, more pixels would certainly be better, analogous
> to
> the greatly enhanced picture quality resulting from the recent television
> change from a 480 line interlaced scan to a 1080 progressive line scan.
>
> Fortunately, advances in technology make an improved resolution
> and field of view possible at a reasonable cost. Therefore, I believe
> that
> a goal of basing a new design on 36 vertical pixels to provide both
> improved
> resolution and greater field of view should be considered.
>
> Unfortunately, the Optacon II, which was designed by Canon, had
> only a 20 by 5 array. This reduction in resolution and field of view was
> one of the reasons reading is more difficult with it.
>
> In the original Optacon design, the pixels were not square, but
> rectangles that were twice as wide as they were high. This is because
> when
> camera is moved along a horizontal line of text the letterspace is sampled
> in the vertical direction, but an analog signal is obtained horizontally
> across the letterspace. All of the image information can be obtained from
> one column of pixels moved horizontally across the letterspace. However,
> tests with human subjects clearly showed that reading accuracy increased
> as
> more columns were added.
>
> Based on these considerations, I suggest that a new design have
> 12 columns across the same horizontal field of view as the original
> Optacon.
> Thus, the newly designed Optacon's pixels would be square, with the
> vertical
> and horizontal resolutions being the same. The 36 by 12 array would
> increase the number of pixels to 432, compared to the 144 in the original
> Optacon, perhaps justifying a name for the new model as "Optacon HD" for
> "high definition".
>
>
>
>
>
> II. Tactile Array
>
> In the past 40 years, there have been some significant advances
> in piezoelectric materials. Several years
>
> ago there was a study at Stanford University that indicated the bimorph
> reeds in the Optacon tactile array could be half as long as in the
> original
> design. This would allow incorporating the increased number of bimorphs
> in
> approximately the same space as before.
>
> A complaint about the Optacon has been the noise that it makes.
> This noise comes from the bimorphs, which are being driven by a 250Hz
> square
> wave, a frequency of maximum tactile sensitivity. This provides a strong
> tactile sensation. The bimorph reeds were designed to be at near
> resonance
> at this frequency to consume a minimum amount of power from the battery.
> After
> the Optacon design was finalized and production had begun, we discovered
> this noise was greatly reduced if the bimorphs are driven with a 250Hz
> sine
> wave instead of a square wave. This is because the human ear is much more
> sensitive to the harmonics of a square wave than to the fundamental 250 Hz
> frequency. However, we never had the opportunity to test whether there
> was
> any detrimental effect on the tactile sensation when a sine wave drive is
> used instead of a square wave. In a new design this should be tested and
> the sine wave used if desirable.
>
> At Telesensory the assembly of the tactile array was labor
> intensive requiring considerable skill. Modern manufacturing techniques
> including robotics could help reduce this cost.
>
>
>
> III. Retina Module
>
> When the Optacon was designed, no suitable integrated solid
> state arrays of photocells were available, so a custom design was
> developed
> in the Stanford Laboratories. Finding and maintaining sources for this
> custom part at the relatively low quantities needed made Optacon
> production
> difficult and expensive. Now integrated solid state arrays of photocells
> are widely used in digital cameras, web cams, cell phones, etc. Thus in a
> new design, a standard off-the-shelf part should be used if at all
> possible.
>
>
>
> IV. Lens Modules
>
> The original Optacon lens is not a true zoom lens because only
> the lens is moved to change the magnification. This meant that the image
> is
> only in true focus at two points along the zoom range and out of focus at
> the ends and middle of the zoom range. The amount of out of focus is
> sufficiently small to not be a problem given the low resolution of the
> original Optacon retina. Because of the increased resolution I'm
> suggesting
> in a new design, a better zoom system will be required. Actually, one of
> the Optacon prototypes built at SRI and Stanford did have a zoom system
> that
> moved both the lens and the retina to keep the image in true focus. This
> did not change the size of the camera and would not be a significant
> increase in cost after tooling for production.
>
> Various lens modules, such as the typing attachment and CRT
> screen module, were very important for the Optacon market because they
> increased employment applications. While these particular accessory lens
> modules are not as important today, others could be developed for
> producing
> handwriting, reading LCD screens, viewing and taking pictures at a
> distance,
> etc.
>
> In addition to image signals from the Optacon camera, an
> independent signal indicating camera movement should be considered. While
> sometimes this can be derived from the camera images, there may be
> situations in which it may be desirable to have signals from the lens
> module
> rollers.
>
>
>
> V. Electronics
>
> Since the original Optacon was designed before microprocessors,
> the electronics did not include a microprocessor, however Optacon II did
> and
> any future designs most certainly would. In addition, a new design could
> include some image storage as well as a port for an external memory
> stick. This
> would enable camera scans to be stored for later retrieval and/or further
> processing on a PC.
>
> OCR and synthetic speech capability could be built into the
> Optacon electronics. These capabilities, together with the storage
> capability, means that the new design would need to have file handling and
> other software built-in.
>
> A very important control on an Optacon is the threshold, which
> determines the photocell signal level between black and white. Especially
> for poor quality print and for different colored print, how the threshold
> is
> set can determine whether the text is readable or not. For precision
> threshold setting, I think this part of the circuitry should be analog
> with
> a high resolution potentiometer. Unfortunately, in Optacon II this
> control
> was digital with too few bits for precision.
>
> In addition to threshold and tactile stimulator intensity,
> there
> would need to be some additional controls, or buttons, similar to those on
> a
> "point and shoot" digital camera, for deleting images from storage,
> cycling
> through a menu, etc.
>
>
>
> VI. Ports
>
> A new design could have a port for the camera (possibly
> wireless), a port for power (batteries could be charged in the Optacon or
> on
> a separate charging station), a port for a memory stick, and a USB port
> for
> sending camera images to a PC, for enabling the PC to write on the tactile
> array, and for enabling new software to be installed in the Optacon.
>
>
>
> VII. Battery
>
> The Optacon II design was an improvement in battery convenience
> over the original Optacon and a new Optacon design could improve things
> further. A system with readily available batteries that the user could
> easily replace and charge should be the goal.
>
>
>
> VIII. Packaging
>
> The Optacon II design was an improvement in packaging over the
> original Optacon and a new Optacon design could improve things further.
>
>
>
> IX. PC Software for the Optacon
>
> By providing a new Optacon with a USB port where camera images
> can be transferred to a PC and the PC can write tactile images on the
> Optacon means that the basic simplicity of the Optacon can be maintained
> while providing the possibility of adding many new features for expanding
> Optacon use. Some examples are:
>
>
>
> A. Optacon Reading Lessons and Speed Building
>
> Optacon training was essential in producing so many people that
> were successful in Optacon use. Teaching someone to use an Optacon
> effectively was a labor intensive process. The most successful Optacon
> training programs involved one teacher full time for every student for
> several weeks. Since the seventies when these programs started, labor
> costs
> have dramatically increased relative to the cost of technology.
>
> However, with the widespread availability and increased
> capability of PCs, it is now feasible to develop software that could
> automate at least part of the training process. The PC could write
> letters,
> words, and text on the Optacon tactile screen, build speed by presenting
> these at various rates, test student progress, and provide feedback
> through
> synthetic speech.
>
>
>
> B. Speech and Braille Output
>
> By OCR processing the images from scans from the Optacon
> camera,
> the PC could provide speech or Braille output. Several tactile
> stimulators
> could be combined to simulate a Braille dot on the Optacon's tactile
> screen.
> Speech and Braille files could be stored in the PC in addition to image
> files.
>
>
>
> C. Optacon Screen Reader Software
>
> Optacon screen reader software could be developed in which
> images from the PC screen were displayed on the Optacon tactile array.
> The
> PC mouse could be used to move the field of view of the tactile image
> around
> on the screen. This could be particularly useful in understanding screen
> layout, viewing graphics on the screen, and in formatting documents.
>
>
>
> X. Conclusion
>
> I believe that developing and disseminating a new Optacon along
> the lines described here would significantly enhance the educational and
> vocational opportunities, as well a personal independence, of blind people
> around the world. I've described a design that would preserve the basic
> simplicity of the original Optacon, greatly improve the quality of the
> tactile image, and make tracking along a line of text easier. By adding
> the
> capabilities of memory storage and communication with a PC, new features
> could be developed to make reading easier and faster through speech and
> Braille, and that would expand Optacon applications. These design ideas
> need to be evaluated by the blindness community.
>
> My guess is that the development of this basic Optacon alone
> could cost several million dollars. (The PC software and other
> accessories
> could be developed later by third parties.) However, the relatively small
> market coupled with the cost of development and the difficulties of
> selling
> to this market will discourage private companies from taking on such a
> project. The situation is analogous to that with low incidence diseases
> where biopharmaceutical companies don't develop treatments unless there is
> some consideration such as "orphan drug status".
>
> The hope for bringing back a new Optacon might rest on
> obtaining
> grant support for development and dissemination from private foundations
> or
> government. For this to be viable would require strong support from the
> blindness community and leadership from an organization with the
> capability
> of accomplishing the task.
>
>
>
>
> On Sun, Jan 25, 2009 at 5:40 PM, Mary Emerson
> <maryemerson@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>wrote:
>
>> Here it is, below.
>> PLEASE BRING BACK THE OPTACON!
>> by Pam Coffey
>>
>> For many years, my faithful print-reading aid was the Optacon,
>> distributed
>> by Telesensory Systems, then in Palo Alto, Calif. For those of you who
>> are
>> relatively
>> new to blindness issues, this was a tactile scanner. Weighing about four
>> pounds, it was extremely portable. It had a rechargeable battery pack and
>> AC
>> adapter,
>> making it usable when the power went out or you were far from an
>> electrical
>> outlet. It was unusually dependable (my Optacon had to be repaired only
>> three
>> times), and it was incredibly versatile.
>>
>> To use this device, you placed the camera, which wasn't much larger than
>> a
>> finger, onto what you wanted to read. The camera, connected to the main
>> unit
>> by a long cable, picked up what was directly underneath it, and the
>> electronics within the main unit converted it into tactile vibrations
>> according to
>> the shape of the character under the camera. The vibrations registered on
>> a
>> little plate, called the array, which was in the main unit. You moved the
>> camera
>> with your right hand and read the vibrations with your left index finger.
>> The reading was quite slow -- you read only one character at a time --
>> and
>> considerable
>> training was required in order to use the device. But increased
>> proficiency
>> came with experience, and the rewards were great, because you had
>> absolute
>> control over what you read.
>>
>> Because the camera rested on the material to be read, you could read
>> things
>> that were curved, such as labels on soup cans or medicine bottles,
>> without
>> first
>> removing the label. You could make adjustments for the size, color, and
>> boldness of the print, as well as for the intensity of the vibrations. If
>> the text
>> was complicated by graphics, insets, sidebars and other such things,
>> you --
>> and not the machine -- decided how best to deal with them. While you
>> might
>> not be able to decipher the minute details of a picture, you could
>> determine its size, shape, and other basic characteristics. Because the
>> device did not
>> talk to you, your imagination gave voice to what you read, as it does
>> when
>> you read braille or a sighted person reads print.
>>
>> When you turned the machine on, you didn't have to wait for it to warm
>> up,
>> and you didn't have to wait for it to scan an entire page -- it was "read
>> as
>> you go." There was even an optional magnifying lens for extremely small
>> print, and an optional typewriter attachment which enabled you to read
>> what
>> you
>> were typing.
>>
>> When, in October of 2003, my 26-year-old Optacon let me know that it
>> needed
>> a fourth repair, I discovered that not only were they no longer being
>> made,
>> but also that no one was servicing them. Therefore, because I am always
>> needing access to printed materials, my only choice (since I am not a
>> computer
>> geek) was to invest in one of the new-fangled speech-output stand- alone
>> scanners. I finally decided on one that was relatively small (about 14
>> pounds),
>> and that didn't require a technician to set it up. This was important, as
>> I
>> would soon move from a fair-sized house into an apartment, and because I
>> am
>> not much of a techie.
>>
>> I soon found myself at the mercy of the machine. I waited for it to boot
>> up, then waited for it to scan a whole page, then, once I was reading, I
>> hoped
>> it didn't decide to power down by itself or the power wouldn't go out and
>> I'd lose what I was reading. Because the material lays on a flat screen,
>> it
>> must
>> be perfectly flat in order to be read properly -- which means peeling the
>> label off the soup can. If the material has those complications mentioned
>> above,
>> you either endure a considerable wait for everything to process, or you
>> are
>> given an announcement such as "no text is recognizable." Also, you have
>> no
>> way of knowing how the material is laid out on the page, and things
>> really
>> get interesting if the page is larger than the screen. In that case, I
>> scan
>> part of it at a time, then jump back and forth between the segments --
>> possible, but often exasperating. This was not an issue with the Optacon.
>> As
>> long
>> as the cable would reach, it made no difference.
>>
>> True, you can read faster with the newer machines, but only when no
>> quirks
>> appear and no scanning delays occur. And yes, you can save material for
>> later
>> use with these machines, which is nice and often convenient, but if the
>> power surges while you are feeding the material in, you lose it. In
>> addition, you
>> cannot use them without electricity. While, overall, the reading voices
>> of
>> these scanners are very good, they sometimes have difficulty dealing with
>> regional
>> dialects, foreign words, and abbreviations which can be used for several
>> different words (e.g., Dr. can mean "doctor" or "drive"). The machine
>> chooses
>> one interpretation for an abbreviation, when the text might refer to the
>> other. In addition, you may get the same announcement when a page is
>> utterly
>> blank
>> as you do when it is totally covered by a non-captioned picture. With the
>> Optacon, on the other hand, if the page was blank, the array didn't
>> vibrate
>> at
>> all. If the page was covered by a graphic, the whole array might vibrate.
>>
>> Finally, there is the dependability issue. Because the newer, more
>> computer-like scanners are so complex, there are more things that can go
>> wrong with them.
>> After less than two years, my speech-output scanner had to go across the
>> country for repairs, and then two more times over the next seven and a
>> half
>> months.
>> In light of this inconvenience, I invested in a second scanner (of a
>> different brand) in order to have a backup. This second scanner then
>> became
>> my main
>> one. Three months after the warranty expired, it had to go to a
>> neighboring
>> state for repairs -- then again after another six months. Because these
>> scanners
>> are larger, shipping them for repairs is quite expensive. My Optacon, on
>> the other hand, only needed its first repair after seven years.
>>
>> Now don't get me wrong; I am grateful for any means of being able to read
>> print, but as one who always preferred braille over talking books, I feel
>> that
>> I (and others of the same persuasion) should be given a choice as to how
>> we
>> all read printed materials. My plea: Someone out there with the know-how
>> to
>> do so, please bring back the Optacon!
>>
>> to view the list archives, go to:
>>
>> www.freelists.org/archives/optacon-l
>>
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>>
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>>
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>> quotes) in the message subject.
>>
>>
>
>
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