I cannot easilly answer those questions on the pneumatic braille. I am not
even going to make any promisses about it ever existing. I haven't really
started designing it yet. There would be no possibility of variations of dot
height. If I ever create the device, software would have to catch up with
me. Currently, there aren't any screen readers with image support. I just
wanted to make sure that a technical description was available so that it
couldn't be patented.
>From a philosophical standpoint, all of my braille research is open source,
though I haven't yet done a great job putting it all online. It turns out
that being philosophically inclined towards open-ness isn't enough. You also
have to write down thoughts, technical specifications and documentation that
is far more clear and complete than one would do internally. It turns out
that it costs a lot of work and effort to be REALLY open.
The device that I am currently working on in full swing, the keyback, works
as follows: you have a 28 key keyboard with lever style keys (like on an old
mechanical brailler). You can type on the keyboard using braille or a
stenotype system (much faster). There is also a reading mode. In reading
mode, when you press a key down, it stays down because the keyboard also has
an electromagnetic key locking system. The keyboard can then selectively
unlock keys. So if the message you were reading was "hello" and you entered
reading mode and pressed down all of the keys, then all the keys would stay
down except for the index and middle finger key on your left hand and the
middle finger key on your right hand, this you would read as 'h'. When you
pressed those keys back down, then all of the keys would stay down except
for the index finger key on your left hand and the middle finger key on your
right hand, this you would read as 'e'. You would continue to press the keys
which popped back up down as you read along. Of course, reading this way
using a braille system would be quite slow. However, using stenotype should
be very fast.
My current conception of the keyback is that it will have a full linux
computer in it. This increases the price, but I think that it will be better
that way. Software-wise, stenotype is not well developed on systems other
than linux and this will require a lot of specialized software. Making it a
self sufficient computer will eliminate a lot of work/compatibility issues.
Linux is also cool.
The keyback (which I haven't built yet) has the current parts list:
Laser cut metal case: $20
Frame made from drilled aluminium profiles: $3
Key levers + magnets: $10
Electromagnet strip for locking keys: $20
Battery: $30
Charging circuit: $10
Computer board: $200
Buttons: $4
Touch sensor array for a menu system: $15
Camera for use as a light level sensor and color detector: $20
Speakers: $30
Microphones: $3
Glues, tape, etc: $?
Assembly: $20
Profit, liability, waranty, support: $100
Perhaps there is something I forgot there, but I'm aiming for a price around
$500.
What are APH and Humanware like? My business model is as follows. I will use
money (which I have) to buy large quantities of parts. I will then sell
"small business kits" to people, giving them enough parts to build 25-50
devices. These "small buisness" people will then sell to the consumer within
their local area. I will take a small cut. I like this model for several
reasons:
The device will require a lot of support because stenotype systems are
complex and hard to learn. I need those support personel to be close by. So
for example, I will sell devices in Prague, and I will be able to visit my
clients at their homes to help them get the device working. Being
geographically close to people is also good from an environmental
standpoint. I don't want people to buy new devices every couple of years and
throw the old one's out. I'd much rather have them come to my home, where I
can replace the battery and upgrade the electronics for them. This will
reduce waste. It also has an advantage from an open source standpoint. If a
lot of small businesses are using the same open source design, hopefully
that will mean that there are a number of people invested in it and working
on it together (like with the highly successfull open source reprap
project). It is also good from an economic standpoint. I don't have enough
money to buy batteries and computer boards in bulk. So I won't include those
standard and expensive parts in my kits. There is no cost advantage to
purchasing them in bulk anyways. It is also good from a localization
standpoint. There are not stenographic systems for most languages. It is
best that such stenographic systems are developed by people who actually
speak the language
Tim
---------- Původní zpráva ----------
Od: Devin Prater <[email protected]>
Komu: Informal discussion between users and developers of BRLTTY. <brltty@
mielke.cc>
Datum: 24. 4. 2015 7:50:10
Předmět: Re: [BRLTTY] Pneumatic braille based on balls in a tube
"Well, how much will this device cost? And how long will it last? Please
don't be like APH or Humanware. Will the device have braille keys on it? How
many cells per line will it have? Will it be able to be used with a screen
reader? Will it have USB or bluetooth or both? Will the "image arrangement"
be able to have different hights per dots, to show color of the image or
something like that? How will screen readers use this to show images? Will
you help companies like Apple build this into their systems? If you use the
sheet method, how would the sheets refresh themselves before being taken off
the machine? How big will this thing even be? Will there be different sizes,
like an 11 by 9 or however big normal print paper is? Or will you make a
"mobile" and "desktop" version, or will there just be one big unit that can
sort of fold into a smaller one for mobile use? And the most urgent question
is, how much will the thing cost? $20? $200? $2000?
Sent from my iPhone
> On Apr 23, 2015, at 1:05 PM, Samuel Thibault <[email protected]
> wrote:
>
> [email protected], le Thu 23 Apr 2015 19:52:36 +0200, a écrit :
>> that the air seeping out of them "whistles" or "pshhhhes". This
>> is really a problem of bad design or bad manufacturing.
>
> Or the device getting old? It needs to be robust.
>
> Samuel
> _______________________________________________
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_______________________________________________
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To post a message, send an e-mail to: [email protected]
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