[optacon-l] Re: Questions about tactile displays and assistive devices for the blind
- From: Bill English <english.family@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: optacon-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sat, 7 May 2011 18:38:20 -0700 (PDT)
Hi Jim,
I have seen a site where the Japanese had a mouse sized device that did
everything the Optacon does. Unfortunately, it did not arrive on the market as
expected. One never knows what is truth or bluff on the internet, but I hope
it
was legit and is forthcoming.
Yes, the blind want more resolution to "read" graphs and pictures as well as
print. That would mean more tactile stimulus points in the linear pathway.
I am leaning toward the forehead as a stimulus region. Aside from this area
being encompassed by the vegas nerve (meaning the signals would be processed
more intuitively as having autonomic functionality), a headband could hold the
tactile array in place. Aside from this, a mini-cam could also be placed on
the
headband for hands free use during daily activities. A tiny smart phone
processor could also be placed right in the headband, all powered by a pair of
9
volt rechargeable batteries.
The Optacon uses a 24 X 6 array matrix. 24 is necessary, but having 5 extra
tactile stimulators to the right of each of the 24 is redundant. You could add
these extra 118 stimulators to the linear path, for a resolution that would be
groundbreaking.
I've been saying these things since 2002 and no one has taken serious notice
except the blind. Developers might listen to what the blind wish to have, more
often. They grasp concepts like these while sighted developers cast doubts
over
"feasibility outcome" issues. Besides, they don't like pure linear delivery.
What's wrong with it? It works fine with The vOICe. Go to
seeingwithsound(dot)com for a demonstration of linear delivery.
I was going to use Optacon piezoelectric reeds, in fact already acquired many
for my prototype. I since altered the design and am now using electric
cutaneous stimulators. My prototype will deliver a 176 X 64 B&W pixel picture
with an incremented grey-scale every 1/4 second; This gives a resolution of
11,264 pixels. But that's just the prototype!
The full blown device as Patent Application describes, uses 525 electrodes. It
delivers a resolution of 367,500 pixels per picture, every 1/5 second. I know,
that requires 3500 Hz and that physical vibration does not work with touch cell
receptors. It does work however, with direct nerve stimulation by electric
charges, whereas the skin is not physically vibrated.
We had abandoned using electric cutaneous systems, due to shortcomings that
such
systems became known for. All those obstacles have been resolved and now we
can
use this technology again.
We are in early stages of development, but not so far from a prototype. Dr
Peter Meijer has graciously allowed us to borrow The vOICe to "tag" my
prototype
tactile array onto it, changing his "sound scape" into a tactile representation.
We are "Morning Star Foundation for the Blind", a Nonprofit Org., EIN #
35-2391547
All My Best,
Bill English
MSFB Org
PO Box 11
Marshall, TX
75671
________________________________
From: Jim Bliss <jamescbliss@xxxxxxxxx>
To: optacon-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx; teller@xxxxxxx
Cc: llavan@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Sat, May 7, 2011 5:30:30 PM
Subject: [optacon-l] Re: Questions about tactile displays and assistive devices
for the blind
Seth,
I was very pleased to see your post on the Optacon Listserv. I wish you
the
great success in your project. I'm not an Optacon user, but I did lead the
original Optacon development team at Stanford and SRI that involved many
people who were blind and potential users of whatever we developed.
But that was over 50 years ago and I believe that it is time for developing
new
products with tactile displays for a variety of tasks. The Optacon has been
out of production for over 15 years, and while some of them are still being
used,
we are on the verge of losing this type of product forever.
A couple of years ago I wrote a "Think piece" one what I thought a new
"Optacon-
like-device" could be. I've attached that to this email.
I think the key to new devices will be the tactile display technology. Last
year I worked
with a small company, Zone24x7, to study the feasibility of using EPAM
technology to
produce less expensive, easier to manufacture, tactile displays. We were
fortunate to have
a Phase I NSR SBIR grant for this project.
Below are some responses to your questions. If there is anyway I can help,
let me know.
Jim Bliss
jamescbliss@xxxxxxxxx
650-941-7495
1 West Edith Ave. B208
Los Altos, CA 94022
> Anyway, here are a few questions to start:
>
> 1. People use the Optacon to read text, math symbols and engineering
> plots. For what sort of other pictorial representations do you use
> the device? How well does this work for you? Where or how does it fail?
>
>The Optacon Listserv is full of tasks that Optacon users have successfully
done with the Optacon. Often the task was very important and couldn't
easily
be done any other way.
>
> 2. The psychophysics literature cites spatial resolutions as fine as
> 40 microns (25 dots per millimeter) on the fingertips, but the spacing
> on the Optacon is much coarser than that. What spatial resolution do
> you want or need?
>
>The Optacon resolution was a compromise between that needed to read
print and the expense of higher resolution with the bimorph technology.
The result was a 24x6 array with only 24 dots/inch over a letterspace field
of view, which is less than the 300 dots/inch needed for OCR. I would like
to see a 36x12 array over a larger field of view.
>Another change that I think would be a great improvement would be to make
a "one-hand device". What I visualize is a product the size of a
double-thick
iPhone. The tactile array would be along one edge, the camera along the
opposite edge. With one hand the camera could be pointed at print,
electronic
displays, and items at a distance, while the user could simultaneously feel
the
camera images on the tactile array.
>When I compare what the first Optacon users were able to do with what long
time Optacon users can do now, it makes me believe in brain plasticity. I
believe
that greater resolution would make a big difference.
>
> 3. Can you imagine other methods beside vibration (e.g., variation in
> pin height) that would effectively convey information over an area?
>
>Vibration intensity and frequency, waveform, pulse code, combine with
electrical stimulation, etc.
>
> 4. Several blind people have asked us to develop a larger surface,
> perhaps the size of a smartphone or even an iPad, which could be felt
> with 4 or 8 (non-thumb) fingers simultaneously in order to "explore"
> the user's surround. If you had a larger device and wanted to use it
> in a mobile context, where would you place it on your body? On one of
> your forearms, to be felt with the other hand? On one hip? What about
> making small, light finger pads or a glove to keep a small part of the
> display surface in contact with each finger regardless of how your hands
> move? This would get in the way of direct touch sensing of other
> things (though in the long run, perhaps we could make the tactile array
> a kind of "pass-through" device). What do you think of these ideas?
>
>The Optacon stimulators make and break contact to the skin each
vibration cycle. The finger plate is essential in making this happen
to produce a strong sensation. The fingertip has much higher resolution
than the forearm.
>
> 5. In the long run, our goal is to support many activities in the home
> and out in the world: navigation, object finding, text-spotting and
> reading (e.g. from signs at a distance), people detection, reporting
> facial expressions, shopping, taxi hailing, etc. It's a much longer
> conversation, but: what are the capabilities you would want from such
> a device?
>
>Connection to a PC, OCR and text-to-speech on the PC, Braille translation,
file storage, Apps, etc.
>
> to view the list archives, go to:
>
> www.freelists.org/archives/optacon-l
>
> To unsubscribe at any time, just send a message to:
>
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> quotes) in the message subject.
>
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>
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>
>
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