Compressed air into each pin? Having the pins stay up seems more like the mind
thinks of tactile input to me.
-----Original Message-----
From: optacon-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:optacon-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On ;
Behalf Of Noel Runyan
Sent: Wednesday, July 6, 2016 2:56 PM
To: optacon-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx; optacon-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [optacon-l] Re: a new Optacon is virtually complete
Charles,
The single-handed" Optacon test TSI did back in the early days was with their
standard Optacon circuitry, so the vibration rate was nominally at 250 hertz.
That frequency was chosen because it was supposed to be the optimal frequency
for the particular tactile sensors they were attempting to stimulate on the
reader's fingers. The lengths of the piezo ceramic reeds used as the actuators
was picked for rezonating at 250 hertz as well.
The vibration rate of the Optacon reeds is evidently not what limits the
reading rate or refresh rate. The piezo electric ceramic reeds of the 1970
time frame had to be driven with an alternating voltage and at the resonate
frequency of the reeds in order to obtain strong enough vibration to be felt
well.
Several tactile display researchers, such as Dr. Jack Loomis , of University of
Santa Cruz, have suggested that a tactile image converter like the Optacon
might work better if it could be powered by a direct current signal, rather
than by a vibrating alternating current signal. In the case of a direct
current drive, the pins of the image would not vibrate and would only go up or
down as the image moved across the display. If the camera stopped moving, the
movement of pins would stop, and any raised pins would stay raised until the
camera started moving again.
However, actuators that can drive tactile points up or down need much more
force, if they are not driven at their resonance frequency. Although the
technologies for tactile drivers are today much more powerful than what could
be used in 1970, it is still a challenge to obtain enough force on direct
current drivers packed close together in the densities needed for an Optacon
display, as you are well aware.
While speaking of alternative ways of driving a tactile image display, Jim
Bliss told me that, when they tested their first Optacon prototype, it had a
square wave signal driving the tactile array, and that made the display emit an
obvious audible buzz sound which was somewhat annoying. The first test
subjects didn't complain about the noise, so TSI decided to go ahead and commit
to having their custom driver chips manufactured using square wave signal
drivers. It wasn't until it was way too late and the display driver chips were
finished and in production that other subjects started pointing out to TSI that
the buzzing noise was too noisy for many users and for many applications
environments such as quiet classrooms.
Decades later, when Blazie Engineering owned the Optacon manufacturing
responsibility, they modified one Optacon to use a smooth sine wave alternating
current driver for the tactile array. That test unit was found to work well
for tactile reading and was much quieter, not buzzing as loud as the standard
Optacon with square wave drive.
Charles, have you done any experiments in which you tried to drive your
magnetic or your electrostrictive display actuators with smooth sine waves,
instead of square waves? If so, does it have any effect on the aura problem
you've described?
If you haven't tried a smooth sine wave drive, I strongly encourage you to
consider trying it. As Blazie Engineering's tests proved, it might greatly
improve the Optacon III.
Thanks for your attention.
Cordially,
Noel
-
Noel H. Runyan
Email: Noel@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
-
At 03:31 AM 7/6/2016, Charles Pond wrote:
Noel:
Did the one-handed jig set up by TSI for testing imply a change in the
refresh rate of the display, or did it remain at between say 230Hz and
270Hz? This refresh rate implies immediately an upper limit to the
speed of optacon reading, whatever that be, or if it can be reached by users.
Both display technologies do not require the RC circuit of the R1D's
piezoelectric display in order to optimize the standard bimorph
display's operation, which is somewhat of a compromise among the 6
stacked bimorph cards which formed the display. So, for the resonating
magnetic display, given the presence of the second "Power Magnet" in
the magnetic circuit of each actuator, resonance can efficiently occur
over a wide refresh rate range. As for the more unusual
electrostrictive display, its refresh rate is affected not by resonance
but by any hysteresis; hence, the direction of experimenting with
carbon nanotubing as the conductor rather than copper, and looking at
using laminated Mu-Metal, or possibly laminated Mu-Metal foil, for the
cores. To some extent, the driving waveform reduces hysteresis concern, but I
think--I sense--we can do better.
Charles
-----Original Message-----
From: Noel Runyan
Sent: Tuesday, July 05, 2016 7:57 PM
To: optacon-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx ; optacon-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [optacon-l] Re: a new Optacon is virtually complete
Charles,
The reason we are so interested in having a one-handeded Optacon comes
from an early experiment done at Telesensory Systems, where they
strapped a tactile array on top of one of the cameras. They found that
a reader was able to double her reading rate after using the
piggy-backed unit for about two weeks. Additionally, when TSI was
working with their system that recorded the camera images as someone
read with the Optacon, and then played it back for them to read again
on the tactile array, users complained that the image seemed to be
"jumping all over" and their reading rate and accuracy dropped
drastically, even though they were rereading the paragraph they had
read a few minutes before.
These experiments made it clear that there was a lot of camera tracking
feedback information flowing across the brain, from the side controling
the camera hand to the side of the brain that was recognizing the
tactile image felt on the other hand.
The assumption is that the corpus callosum in the middle of the brain
is delaying and adding noise to the image tracking data, hence
complicating the camera tracking/control and image recognition process.
Optimizing the tactile image recognition rate and accuracy depends
critically upon keeping the camera tracking on the center of the text
line and keeping the camera from tilting too much. This requires the
brain to juggle a lot of information back and forth across the brain of
a two-handed Optacon user.
Charles, I'm sorry that you haven't been able to get hold of me through
the NBP CBI, so I'll send you my contact information off-list.
Thanks for your interest and efforts in the challenge of improving the
Optacon design.
Cordially,
Noel
-]
Noel H. Runyan
Email: Noel@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
-
At 02:52 PM 7/5/2016, Charles Pond wrote:
Hello Noel. I tried without success to contact you and others
through the CBI about several tactile technologies.
Your neuropsych question is an interesting one. Although the optacon
is more of an haptic device than tactile, there is no reason for
having the camera in one hand and the tactile array on the other. I
suppose it is a matter of training. Yes, this could be done. At
this tage, the optacon's dedicated camera is small, something like a
plastic lego block with the four round dots atop. It can get into
those nifty tight places where the sun never shines, so I defaulted
to a standard two-handed design to keep the camera small and agile,
but that can easily be changed since the optacon III is modular at
this point for bench work. Interesting studies might have to be done
regarding one-handed optacon use vs two-handed. If we can read
braille with one hand and excite the stretch and the pressure
receptors of the reading finger within several levels, then it stands
to reason that one can learn to use a one-handed-based optagoner. My
only concern is that the tiny camera/tactile part would then of needs
become slightly bigger than our traditional optacon camera. One of
the features on the wish list is that an optacon camera would fit
into small places. At this point, one can take a picture of an
object to be read if the camera cannot sit atop it directly, or for
display scrolling as with some modern household appliances, and go
through it with the optacon in non-real time, or use the optacon in
real-time. Perhaps the good people in Ottawa west here can come up
with an even better camera design to take a one-handed optacon into
account. Let me work on it. The challenge is not a camera; it is
the housing needed to fit a display and a camera which can still
squeeze into refined, haptic dances
This "aura" I feel using the electrostrictive display is not air moving.
It
likely has something to do with the heavy magnetic and electrical
fields used in what one might loosely call the very specialized and
peculiar type of "electric Halbach Array" and its associated,
specialized "Screen Electrode". I have felt a simular aura around
magnetic equipment and ultrasonic equipment, for just two examples.
If it is harmful, well, there goes that. Hopefully it is just an
artifact like coil whine in CRT monitors, TVs, in some optacons for
that matter, even in some laptops of today. Some people and our cats
can hear it and it drives us nuts, while others cannot hear it and so
are unaware or indifferent to the coil whine; so it might be with
this aura. If I cannot factor it out, then I'll use a ferrostrictive
barrier as one of several ways to eliminate it if it becomes
necessary. Hard to get any reading on it using any type of RF or Tesla
probe.
Fortunately, using both displays show no actuator cross-talk: neither
the resonating magnetic display, nor the electrostrictive display
(the latter is essentially a solid state display), albeit I have
built in the necessary logic to remove any possibility of actuator
cross-talk for the drivers of the resonating magnetic display. So, I
believe this aura is not something analogous to Mach's interference
patterns. The aura is another interesting subject in and of itself,
and it does open up certain strange mysteries.
As for the high current, medium voltage use of the display (the
electronics is not really an issue), I still have not properly
researched beyond the standard charge pump supplies and switch mode
supplies, so I am sure the 4 D-cell pack can be replaced by something
smaller and more discrete when God, failing health and time permit me
to tackle the power issue. In addition to a well-designed power
supply, I have several ideas of how to fundamentally reduce power
usage by the displays, albeit this will take some serious nuts and
bolts work bench stuff. I wouldn't mind attempting it on the
simulator (the engineers say wryly, never trust the simulator), but
at this point where I am located it has been all but impossible to
find someone who is photon-dependent and who can actually do the
stuff as so instructed because they know how.
Charles
-----Original Message-----
From: Noel Runyan
Sent: Tuesday, July 05, 2016 4:56 PM
To: optacon-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx ; optacon-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [optacon-l] Re: a new Optacon is virtually complete
Charles,
If the large battery and other elements of your current design force
the unit to be in two packages, wouldn't it be best to package the
battery in a cable-tethered unit and package the camera and tactile
display in a second unit? That way, it would have the advantages of
having the camera tracking and tactile display in one hand and using
the same side of the brain?
Much as I'd like to have a single package for the whole system, I
wouldn't mind too much having a two unit system, as long as one unit
housed both the camera and the tactile display.
Frankly, I think it would be mostly a sad waste of effort to develop
an Optacon III that doesn't integrate the camera and tactile display
into a single unit, whether or not there is a second unit cabled to it.
Can you describe a little more about the aura effect you've
encountered with the tactile display? Is it perhaps something like
Mach bands that human retinas and some other image systems have,
showing fine fringes along high contrast borders of images?
Does the aura maybe come from interference between adjacent actuators
when packaged close together?
Cordially,
Noel
-
Noel Runyan
Phone: (408) 866-7564
At 08:01 AM 7/5/2016, Charles Pond wrote:
Thank you, Susan. As it is now, an optacon III can be easily
assembled, which is like a fancied up, slightly smaller optacon II
with improvements and refinements. The display's tactile pixels
are closer to gether than the R1D, and there are more of them. To
a point and to a limit, more is better.
Two differing display technologies have been developed. One uses
tiny resonating solenoid-like devices (like small needles) for the
actuators.
The other is a more-or-less solid state display which uses an
electrostrictive surface on which the tactile image is created. I
looked at using ferrostrictive surfaces, but returned to the
electrostrictive. The electrostrictive display can exhibit odd
effects at times such as an aura which can be felt. Not sure if
this is good.
For now, until I pay off my medical debt and to some extent from
church complications (whether it be heart or heart take your pick),
and I have the legal and administrative framework for the optacon
III projec properly set upt I can do little more work on the
optacon III. If I have spent one tenth of my optacon time at the
work bench, I have spent nine tenths of my optacon time attempting
to do what others formerly here said they were actually doing but
were not; so, although these administrative matters are certainly
necessary, they distract the work bench guy from actually working
on the nuts and bolts of an optacon III where my experience is best
used. The owners of Tactile Vision Graphics--Rebecca and
Emanual--were supposed to be setting up financial and
administration for the optacon project so I could give my attention
to design and development, but although they wanted credit, they
usurped resources an valuable time and so work on holding up their
own slipping businessk while having pretended to have been working
on optacon III matters, and now to support their lifestyle they are
engaged in a mis-representative public money-raising campaign for
their own use; not illegal activities, simply irresponsible,
unwise, less than honourable and at the cost of other people
amounting to many thousands of shekels. If their business is
slipping, it is not for obsolete technology and the need for a
paradigm shift; it is the way they have mis-used resources, and in
not treating customers nearly as well as those who owned the
business before them--Ed and Cecile who were fine, gentle and
excellent people. There was a conference scheduled here in Ottawa
in late 2014 early 2015 which was to have considered focusing on
optacon research and focusing money on the project. However,
knowing this, Rebbeca and Emanuel (and another engineer on the side
here) in effect, had the money and research cancelled so the
community would not be distracted by an optacon porject, and
ultimately focus more on their present, slipping Tactile Vision
Graphics business rather than the intended optacon project. In
fareness to the dismissed engineer here, he simply presented his
view as a sighted person honestly that an optacon device was
obsolete at best; to his credit he was not involved at all in the
less than straight tactile tactics of Tactile Vision Graphics Inc.
Therefore, for now I can move forward very little on the optacon
III until at least next February 2017 to improve it and refine
aspects including the challenging portable power aspect.
If I had someone upright who could take the optacon III project and
make it happen (a number of people and groups have tribed to steel
the display technology and make it their own--don't know why
exactly--they care not for the optacon user community), I would
hand it over to them. No one, however, is working successfully on
an optacon III project, let alone having reached this far on it.
There are a few research attempts, and I wish we could simply join
forces to make the optacon world a reality and a better place.
It is not so. People have said the display has been the barrier.
I say that the display has been the "easiest" aspect by far
compared to other optacon project aspects.
In order to appeal to several user groups, the optacon III has
speech output and OCR capabilities. It also has a media player.
So, one can take this device around, use it for any type of reading
including something like the KNFB Reader function, and certainly as
the good ol' optacon itself by default, and also use it to listen
to media files--a minor feature overall.
Although I have barely made a start on this, I am looking at
building in remote and computerized tutorials so people can learn
to use the optacon and of course their print characters. Early
education is one key. It is a multi-facted, large project for just
one to handle, and it is not healthy project-wise generally for
just one person to be responsible in all of its aspects for an
entire project such as this type. The artificial heart implant for
example--developed here at the Hart Institute--would have never
depended on one person.
Best regards, Susan,
Charles
-----Original Message-----
From: Susan Webber
Sent: Tuesday, July 05, 2016 9:43 AM
To: optacon-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [optacon-l] Re: a new optacon is virtually complete
Hi Charles
Great to see your post since somewhere in last year if memory
serves me right. All the best with the project.
Kind regards
Susan Webber, Pretoria South Africa
For your financial wellness
Susan Webber
Audit: Momentum Client and Intermediary Service Retail Insurance
Cell +27 (0)82 492 2004 Tel +27 (0)12 675 3102
Susan.Webber@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
268 West Avenue Centurion 0157 PO Box 7400 Centurion 0046
www.momentum.co.za
Momentum, a division of MMI Group Limited, an authorised financial
services and credit provider Reg. No. 1904/002186/06
-----Original Message-----
From: optacon-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:optacon-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
On Behalf Of Charles Pond
Sent: 04 June 2016 06:12 AM
To: optacon-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [optacon-l] a new optacon is virtually complete
A new and feature-rich optacon is now virtually complete. Although
it is two-handed because of the chunky battery for now, a
one-handed optacon can be built. The over-worried-about process of
rendering a megapixel image down to a few hundred tactuators was
easily solved over lunch in a few intuitive flash minutes, and so
that was that. The main area now, if one wishes to persue it, is
automated tutorials and remote and in-built teaching where personal
instruction is not available. Two specialized display technologies
have been developed; both work just fine for the optacon
application. So, beyond the years of our own needs in the here and
now, the optacon can indeed tontinue.
Happy finger fuzz,
Charles in Ottawa
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