[optacon-l] Re: Optacon article from January 2009 Braille Forum
- From: "Antonio Quatraro" <a.quatraro@xxxxxxxx>
- To: <optacon-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 26 Jan 2009 21:10:02 +0100
dear Jim,
your name, Bliss, has been a real myth here in Italy.
I have learned optacon in 1977 and when I could read the first word I though
I could fly!
Go ahead and be sure that we will support you
Antonio Quatraro Florence
----- Original Message -----
From: "Paula and James Muysenberg" <outofsightlife@xxxxxxxxx>
To: <optacon-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Monday, January 26, 2009 7:42 PM
Subject: [optacon-l] Re: Optacon article from January 2009 Braille Forum
> Paula
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Faith Elizabeth Cummings" <faithecummings@xxxxxxxxxxx>
> To: <optacon-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Sent: Monday, January 26, 2009 12:22 PM
> Subject: [optacon-l] Re: Optacon article from January 2009 Braille Forum
>
>
>> Dear Jim, This really sounds great! If I can do anything at all to help
>> promote this, let me know. I have used an optacon since 1982 and would
>> not
>> have graduated from Seminary without it. I believe that all of us who use
> or
>> have used an optacon should rally round this idea and do what we can to
>> convince someone to provide grants for the new Optacon's development and
>> distribution. Thanks for sharing these ideas with us. Take care. Faith
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: optacon-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> [mailto:optacon-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
>> On Behalf Of Jim Bliss
>> Sent: Monday, January 26, 2009 11:43 AM
>> To: optacon-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>> 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
>> >
>> > 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.
>> >
>> >
>>
>>
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>>
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