Hello Joseph, Wow! This is sure some great work. You really know your Braille displays. That is awesome. Let me just say I do not know the names of all the components that make up a refreshable Braille display nor do I want to pretend to explain it as you did. The bit of information I do have is from two or more mechanical engineers and electrical engineers who attempted to fix an old Braille display I had. When they opened it up they said there was a very simple design in there where there was a servo that released, then using the lifting activators to raise the dots, once lifted the servo would then close over to keep them up. To drop I know gravity will either push them down and on others a spring type of device has been used. It is clear that you know about the mechanics much better than I do. The only point I was trying to make about the Braille display is that with a little competition things would become more cost efficient for the customer and higher functioning. For the mobile and non mobile devices I would like to think of myself as a PC in these terms running on 64 bit with tons of memory. Others might disagree, but I feel that I have a pretty good idea of what needs to happen for technology for the blind to become competitive amongst their sighted peers. I to am working on developing products for the blind and to this point the only stumbling block I have come across is the fact that there are products out there that should be able to perform tasks given their hard ware but the software is falling behind. This by the way does not pertain to sense products at all just to be clear. The other problem is that developing products for the blind means speech output, and Braille output is needed. Translating Braille for text is easy, back translating Braille for Nimith code is a whole other animal. Trust me when I say I understand that what Hims, GW, and HW are doing is not easy as I speak it. What I am saying is that with proper focus, time, and effort there is no way products could not become just as advanced as the products the sighted world work. Think of it in these terms, if people can fly in the air in a metal air craft while drinking a beer, and we can send people to the moon defying every law of gravity and have the ability to flip a switch to recreate gravity within the confounds of a space shuttle so that we can once again achieve the pressure we need to walk and sleep, why can we not have equal and accessible products for blind and sighted people while maintaining cost efficiency? Thanks again sir for your great post. Maybe we should talk off list if you would like to discuss some further ideas here for the future. Have a blessed day.
Bryan Duarte Blind Ambitions -----Original Message----- From: Joseph Lee [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Tuesday, May 18, 2010 1:24 PM To: [email protected] Subject: RE: [GWN] Few opinions... Hi, A mobile device is, in a sense, a companion device which you use to complete your task on the road. Laptops also fit this category, but they are general-purpose computer machines as opposed to notetakers and PDA's. In theory they are computers (anything that can calculate, load and store data are computers; humans are computers, in a sense) but the design intentions and method of interaction makes them mobile devices. For instance, a Windows Mobile device cannot render rich graphics like regular computers in Word Mobile, and we use different methods of interaction (touch screens and soft keys) for our tasks. Also, the intention was that PDA's are not designed as "PC replacements" - doing everything a regular computer would do. If that was the case, we would have skipped Windows CE 5.0 and moved directly to Windows Vista kernel with fully-fledged components. However, notetakers are classified as "special-purpose" or mobile platforms not because of its software architecture (how programs run), but the meyod we use to interact with the software within (via refreshable braille displays and special keyboard macros). As for braille displays, the cost is the components. In order to produce a braille display, there are a number of components involved - not only the eight pins which make up a braille cell, but piasoelectric components such as lift crystals which are situated below the display pins, the actuator which actuates the crystals themselves, a signal processor to detect touch cursor spring movements and touch cursor keys themselves, and a connection socket which connects these compotents to the motherboard with various compotents, among which are the CPU (Intel (now Marvell) X-Scale PXA270 CPU at 520 MHz), 256 MB RAM stick (which the half is "real" RAM and the other one is "RAM Disk" where the actual sense executables, libraryies and other ROM image things go into), an FM Radio chip, cards for graphics, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth and so forth). In other words, sometimes it is better to look at a whole picture when comparing something and other times which require a thorough scrutiny (which I don't really recommend unless if you want to "experiment" or "hack" things; yes, that's the reason why people on the other lists have done things which the Sense family are impossible, namely changing system sounds (with consequences) and modify various system attributes (with instructions from some members here).). I'm lucky that I'm studying computer science with assistive tech hardware in mind... Eventually I plan to produce programs which will bring some of the suggestions into reality (I'm working on a prototype, codenamed "Integral".) that'll run on your Braille Sense (I had to indirectly relate yet another debate, but sorry, couldn't resist...). Hope this is helpful for you here. Besides, thanks to a useful bulletin, I have the feature list (and the version number is not 6.0). Cheers, Joseph P.S. "The human brain is the world's most powerful computer - enough to create a silicon chip that can do so many things." ----- Original Message ----- From: "Bryan Duarte" <[email protected] To: <[email protected] Date sent: Tue, 18 May 2010 12:56:38 -0700 Subject: RE: [GWN] Few opinions... yes I agree with you on a few of these points but on another point I would have to ask one question. if we are talking on a "mobile" and "non Mobile" term here what is a true guide line for a mobile device and non mobile device? you can say a mobile device is anything that runs on a mobile platform such as a windows mobile phone (Samsung Epix). but then there are things like the Iphone and Ipad that are considered a mobile device but can do the things that defy the law of a quote on quote Mobile device. so that begs the question what makes a mobile device a mobile device? is it simply what the device cannot do that makes it a mobile device or what the device can do? I like to think a mobile device should stand on the premise that it will allow me to perform tasks while on the go and still fit into a pocket or comfortable side pouch without having to carry around a lap top. in other words it should be one device that will handle the latest word processor, not just to read but also to edit, handle the latest script weather Java Flash or graphics, and to finish it off these devices should be ever up dating and evolving for changing times. now prices for this kind of device can range from the price of a mobile device such as the Iphone, all the way up to the price of the Braille Note with a Braille display if you so choose. I would hope for the former but we all know that is a tall demand. the money to be made needs to be made based on the productivity and performance of the device and people will purchase the device simply because it is the best and there are no debates whether it will work for them today, or ten years down the line. one thing that bothers me is sighted people have to use an LCD screen to use a computer or PDA, blind people must use speech synthesizers or Braille displays. I have had a Braille display taken apart by an engineer and they said the concept is there, it is a pretty simple design but our refreshable Braille displays are so expensive. now the part that confuses me is Braille does not show in color, we cannot watch High Definition on it, it does not show high quality pictures, and have to light up, yet it is twice as much as a lap top for just a refreshable display. how in the world is it that 32 cells of 6 dots popping up and down is twice as much as a complete device containing 500 Gigs of memory, 6 Gigs of Ram, CD driver, speakers, and a LCD screen with High Definition capabilities? that is crazy if you ask me. someone has to step up to make this market more competitive or our devices will continue to grow with the cost of living and continue to lag way behind in performance. Bryan Duarte Blind Ambitions -----Original Message----- From: Joseph Lee [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Sunday, May 16, 2010 1:32 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [GWN] Few opinions... Hi folks, For those who have seen me inn other lists would remember this style of message. I've enjoyed the debate here - just like I've enjoyed similar ones coming up on other lists. In light of our discussion, I'd like to present few opinions: I would say that what ultimately makes us buy this type of equipment is what we can do with it in the first place. We all have different needs and live in different circumstances. But there's a universal (almost universal, I should say) reason why people bought Braille Sense family: in the hopes that it'll help us complete our tasks efficiently and accurately. Also, we can use braille (an effective communication medium for the blind, I should say) to perform our tasks - reading, writing, scheduling appointments, surfing the web and even chatting innline. However, due to the nature of the devices, not all tasks that we want to do cannot be done on the Braille Sense. Braille Sense and its derivatives are so-called "embedded system" or mobile devices, which means that they have limited resources when it comes to doing their computing work. Unlike a PC, mobile devices are noted as "PC companion" devices - being a "mobile friend" and an information manager when a computer is not availible. As Terri said, Braille Sense fkmily cannot perform processor-intensive tasks that is arormally performed by a computer, such as intensive graphics, support for advanced web elements and so forth. Also, just because we bought an equipment with much money does not guarantee that it will meet all of our expectations. Look at a competetor's product's price range and user stories and you'll notice that there are bugs and features which the users want but are not installed in ROM image. Most of the expenses comes from braille displays (as Mike pointed out); for instance, a longer display would cost more than a shorter display, and the unit without a braille display would cost even cheaper. So, in my opinion, it is not a good idea to judge the performance and expectations of a product just because it is expensive - the product might have bugs and may suffer limitations imposed by the underlying operating system. Also, when choosing a product, it is better to look at a unit's potential rather than outside appearance and specs alone. Braille Sense, although lacking quite a few applications, still hosts a number of potentials, including powerful media applications, useful web browser and support for MSN. Still, there are bugs to be fixed and features which the users hope to see in the future. But there's one drawback (a huge one I should say that HIMS should address in the end) is the limitations imposed by the Windows CE version in use (version 5.0). I hope that HIMS would use plenty of opportunities to upgrade the OS and be done with memory problems (still compatibility should take its place, as we've seen before on another list). Well, just a few opinions, that's all. Hope this helps. Cheers, JL If you wish to unsubscribe from this list, visit: http://www.gwmicro.com/listserv If you wish to unsubscribe from this list, visit: http://www.gwmicro.com/listserv If you wish to unsubscribe from this list, visit: http://www.gwmicro.com/listserv If you wish to unsubscribe from this list, visit: http://www.gwmicro.com/listserv
