Re: p2rd
- From: "Mike Freeman" <k7uij@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: <optacon-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 22 Jan 2005 21:43:34 -0800
Think you're right, Don; major reinvention of the wheel.
Mike
----- Original Message -----
From: "Don Bishop" <w6smb@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <optacon-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Saturday, January 22, 2005 3:19 PM
Subject: Re: p2rd
> Phil,
>
> Thanks for your very good description of this machine. All in all, I
> think I'll stick with my Optacon and put up with possible difficulties in
> obtaining any repairs.
> Also, I will stick with my Kurzweil k1000 when I do need scanning.
>
> The machine sounds like a major reinvention of the wheel to me, but maybe
> I'm just not progressive enough to appreciate modern technology.
>
> I've heard of this thing, but it really helps to have a description from
> someone who's actually seen it demonstrated.
>
> Don
>
> On Sat, 22 Jan 2005 17:31:35 -0500, philwh@xxxxxxxx wrote:
>
> Hi.
> I was able to catch up with Oleg Tretikaoff at the ATIA conference
> in Orlando fl on Friday.
> I got about an hour demo from oleg with the p2rd.
> first, I will attempt to give a discription of the hardware.
> the computer was a small laptop or notebook.
> it had a full laptop type of keyboard, with a mouse pad
> in front of hte keys.
> it had 2 usb ports, and a 30 gb hard drive, and sound.
> oleg plugged in an external speaker for the demo.
> the camera was about 6 inches long, and
> a few inches wide.
> you can get the exact specs from the catechnologies.net web site.
> the camera can be either attached to a book holder,
> mounted on four removeable legs, or attached
> to a tripod.
> the book holder comes in 2 models.
> the one oleg had was the single page model, costing about
> $600.
> the 2 page model costs about twice as much, $1200.
> now, i will attempt to describe the book holder
> and how it works.
> the book holder is about 8 inches wide, and about
> 11 inches tall. it is triangular in shape.
> it comes to a fairly thin point on top, or rahter
> a rather sharp edge on top, slopping down
> on either side to a base.
> you place the book over hte top,
> with the binding on the top edge,
> witht he 2 sides of the book handing down on either side
> or the book holder.
> the holder is supposed to handle a book 8 and one half by
> 11 inches.
> the camera is somehow attached to the front side or face of the book
> holder
> near the base, int he middle.
> the lens of the camera faces the surface of the book holder.
> at first i couldn't figure how the image fromt he book
> got to the camera, but oleg explained in some detail
> how it works.
> the front face of the book holder is transparent.
> the image of the page gets bounced down to a mirror ont he bottom of the
> book holder. then it gets bounced to the back surface or face,
> and then into the lens of the camera.
> the 2 mirrors are at right angles to one another.
> in the 2 page model, there is an additional mirror
> to get the image of the back page to the camera.
> this process is not automatic, the user has
> to move a lever to put the third mirror in position.
>
> all commands to the software are given using a menu system
> with all choices being done wthe number row of hte computer.
> when the software starts up, it gives some
> dyonastic messages, and then
> gives the first menu choice. you must press 1
> if you want to use a camera, or 0 if not.
> all commands are terminated with the enter key.
> after choosing the camera, the software gives some more
> messages concerning hte detection of the camera.
> now, the user must make a number of choices to set
> up the camera. I forget all the choices,
> but there must have been 6 or 7.
> one setting is the zoom. another is
> the choice between white on black or black on white.
> still another was the whiteness of the page.
> I don't remember all of them as I say,
> but it seemed very unuser friendly.
> next, the user must supply a name for the file
> where the image of the page will be stored.
> each page is stored in a separate file,
> which the user must name.
> next, the user presses a key to actually take a snap shot
> of the page which only takes a few seconds.
> you can hear the camera take the picture.
> after this, the user waits for a while,
> probably 30 seconds for the software to
> acknoledge that it got the image.
> the image is then manulipated by olegs software,
> and then passed to the ocr software.
> after recognization, the machine starts to read the text.
> at this point, the user has a number of commands
> to control reading.
> pressing 1, starts and stops reading.
> it does not sop reading immediately, it took
> perhaps 4 seconds for the device to shut up.
> pressing 1 again, starts reading again.
> pressing 5, puts the device into read by word mode.
> pressing 1, moves forward one word
> and speaks it.
> pressing 3, spells the word. pressing 4, moves back
> one word and reads it.
> pressing 5, puts you into a mode
> where you can type a number which skips that
> many words.
> i didn't see how to skip backwards a number of words.
> pressing 0, get out of word mode.
> I you are now back in
> a mode where you can move back or forward by
> sentence.
> I forget which number to press, perhaps 4,
> then you can type a number to which will skip
> that many sentences.
>
> when scanning a book, each page is stored separately,
> and at present there is no way to concatinate the pages
> to read the whole book at one time.
>
> now, if you need to read a single paper,
> you detach the camera fromt he book holder, and screw the legs into the
> camera.
> you can change the length of the legs, and oleg is working a
> modification to change the angle of the legs.
> I wasn't able to test this mode, he said he only
> had on mounting ring with him.
> i am not sure what that exactly meant.
> the p2rd can also be used to recognize colors.
> if you want to read a computer monitor, you would mount he
> camera on a tripod.oleg said that it would be possible to
> developt a holder for the lack of a better name
> so the p2rd could read a round object, by using a series of mirrors
> that would surround the round object which would
> reflect the entire image to the camera.
>
> as for the display, he is still working on one.
> he said he is now into phase 2 of the development.
> oleg did say something very interesting concerning the p2rd.
> he said that it would be possible to use the p2rd to read
> something at a distance, such as writing on a blackboard
> or wall. the problem is to point the camera in the right direction
> and to align it.
> he is working on a solution for this problem.
>
> all in all, i think the p2rd has
> some potential, but the user interface needs a lot of work.
> and as I pointed out to oleg, it still
> doesn't come close to replacing the optacon. he agreed with this.
> he did say however, that there was another company
> that tried to come up with an optacon like device here
> in the u.s. in the past few years, but failed completely.
> he would not give me the name though.
> oleg is trying to get the manufacturer of the camera
> to give him some info so he can load the
> software into the camera directly and eliminate the computer.
> the computer does run windows xp by the way,
> and could be used for general purpose work.
>
> i hope this gives some sense of hte p2rd.
>
> phil
>
>
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