Thanks for this! What a post. I've seen promos for orbit and the new aph
graphics tool. I think I'll take one of the graphic tablets and one of the
multi line book reading displays thanks. Sign me up. :-D
Best,
Erik
On July 25, 2017 11:16:23 PM David Chittenden <[email protected]> wrote:
Ok, there are currently four different braille display technologies being
developed.
The Bristol Braille technology is the tech which is closest to market. It
is the Orbit 20 cell Bluetooth braille display. It is a little noisy and
locks the braille dots into place. The tech takes between half a second and
a second to refresh the line of braille. I briefly played with a prototype
Orbit last year. On the plus side, the dots are completely firm once the
braille line is refreshed. The display will work with iOS and Android smart
phones. On the minus side, the display is a little noisy, and it has a
significant refresh cycle. This display has a few million dollars invested
into it from several blindness organisations around the world. The Orbit
will cost less than $500 USD when sold. Note: there are two multi-line
displays being developed which utilise the same technology. APH has a
prototype of a graphical display, and says they hope their 40 by 60 dot
(not cell) display will be ready next year, and should cost under $1000
USD. I heard a podcast of their prototype which has a 2 second page refresh
speed. More interesting for me is the display's ability to allow the person
to draw on it with one's finger. This has many potential applications. So,
though I am not interested in the Orbit, I am extremely interested in this
display. Bristol Braille is also developing a 40 cell by several line text
braille display which they are stating should be released next year. This
looks to be strictly a book reader display, and I am not interested.
BliTab demoed a full-page braille display Android tablet at CES in January.
This display is based on micro-fluidics. I went by their booth several
times, but never found them whilst at CES. They were predicting a price
point of around $300 USD for their braille tablet. I requested to be placed
on their email list, and have not heard anything since CES. Their display
technology has the same speed and quietness of the current piezzo electric
displays.
Dot Corp has been demoing their Dot Watch, with 4 (I believe) braille cells
for over a year now. They are a South Korean company. Thus far, they keep
moving their launch date further and further back. Apparently, they are
having complications with braille dot cap durability. I heard that they are
planning for a 40 by 60 dot (not cell) display after they get their watch
functioning properly. Like with APH, they are targeting under $1000 USD for
the braille display.
The MIT group looks interesting. Unfortunately, their braille cell
technology still needs to be reduced by another 25% according to an
interview I heard with them recently. Again, if their concept proves
viable, they are looking at a couple hundred dollars for a single line display.
The Bristol technology is the slowest and the noisiest display tech out
there, but it is actually ready for sale. All the rest of the technologies
are in development and/or prototype stages. I have seen many refreshable
braille technologies make it to prototype stages. Thus far, Bristol is the
only technology which has made it all the way through development and real
world testing. And, there have been several attempts over the past 30
years. I have learned to believe the tech is coming when it actually is
released onto the market. Prototypes are very different from mass-produced
products, and real world testing wipes out most concepts. In the end, it
does not matter how nice and usable something is in the lab (controlled
conditions). It MUST stand up to the real world to be of any real use.
Kind regards,
David Chittenden, MSc, MRCAA
Email: [email protected]
Mobile: +61 488 988 936
Sent from my iPhone
On 26/07/2017, at 12:37, Scott Granados <[email protected]> wrote:
In the us it’s going to be about $495 I believe. The Massachusetts
Institute of Technology has a team the has developed a braille display that
should come in around $200 US or 225 pounds.
On Jul 25, 2017, at 5:00 PM, Kawal Gucukoglu <[email protected]> wrote:
The orbit reader is coming and it's going to cost £500 (nort sure what that
is in dollars) but it's a whole lot cheaper. When that comes out on the
market, braille displays, the expensive ones may be finished!
Kawal.
On 24 Jul 2017, at 17:02, E.T. <[email protected]> wrote:
Did not understand that but well, if a user is dependent on braille, that
user will not feel a solidly-made braille display to be overpriced.
Understand that concept? But here is the thing. How large a market do
braille displays have? I dare say if if you can produce fantastic displays
and sell a thousand a year, think you could sell them cheap and make a
profit? Or would a million a year be more in line?
I've never studied marketing and all that but can say that if a company
does not make a profit, it cannot stay in business.
From E.T.'s Keyboard. . .
"God for you is where you sweep away all the
mysteries of the world, all the challenges to
our intelligence. You simply turn your mind off
and say God did it." --Carl Sagan
E-mail: [email protected]
On 7/24/2017 8:50 AM, Les Kriegler wrote:
And iPhone with the braille display would be much less expensive than the
blandest waited well no takers. However, I understand people like them, I
just think they are way too costly. Just one person's opinion.
Sent from my iPhone
On Jul 24, 2017, at 11:43 AM, E.T. <[email protected]> wrote:
Les,
Overpriced compared to? Is there a mainstream solution especially for the
deafblind?
From E.T.'s Keyboard. . .
"God for you is where you sweep away all the
mysteries of the world, all the challenges to
our intelligence. You simply turn your mind off
and say God did it." --Carl Sagan
E-mail: [email protected]
On 7/24/2017 8:39 AM, Les Kriegler wrote:
Hi Mary,
In my opinion, all the no takers including the ultra or overpriced. The
ultra the last time I checked for the 40 so my will cost her about
$4000. Not worth it in my opinion for what you get. Anybody who buys a
blind is no taking device is really paying premium for it.
Sent from my iPhone
On Jul 24, 2017, at 10:36 AM, Mary Otten <[email protected]
<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:
If you don't want the full blown capability of a very expensive
blindness note taker, such as the new Polaris, you might consider the
varrio ultra. That has the ability to transfer files with a USB stick.
And it also has note taking capability. It has an excellent warranty.
Some people also find it more complicated than the traditional regular
braille displays such as the edge. They do have excellent US customer
support, as well as an online manual, and an active helpful email
list. This display comes in 20 or 40 sell links. It has a text reader,
word processor, PDF reader, spreadsheet viewer and others. What it
does not have our things like the ability to fetch email or connect to
the Internet. That is where you would need the full note taker, but
then you're also going to be paying a whole lot more. And if you're
good with your iPhone and your Mac, really, who needs that?
Mary
Sent from my iPhone
On Jul 24, 2017, at 3:08 AM, Caitlyn Furness
<[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:
Hi,
Personally, I love any of the Hims devices, so these are things like
the new polaris and the U2, braille sense line of products. The
braille is nice and crisp, and the devices themselves are just very
well made.
I can’t speak about anything made by humanware except the brilliant,
but that’s a full sized display and doesn’t have the capability to
store files, just access what’s on the computer when you are hooked
up to it.
I think the braille edge from Hims also works somewhat like a braille
note taker, but am not sure on that.
I’ve had no troubles getting files from the mac onto the braille
sense. when I attach it to my mac with a USB cable, the device comes
up like any other drive, and I can copy and paste things from one to
the other, although it takes a long time. Of course, you can also
use a usb stick to transfer files, or the sd card.
HTH, and I’ll be interested to see what others have to say on this as
well!
Cait
On Jul 23, 2017, at 6:26 PM, Sarah Amelia Sackville McLauchlan
<[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:
Hi all!
So am looking for some advice/guidance before I go out and start
applying for assistive tech grant money. I used to use the
BrailleNote, but mine died a long time ago. And even before it did,
I was starting to run into compatibility issues between it, the
program I used to transfer files to my old computer (a PC in those
days), and the computer itself. Plus, of course, I've since
switched to Mac, which I don't think my BrailleNote was compatible
with anyway. So now I'm without a Braille device! But I really
want to get another one. What's compatible with Mac, though?
Basically, what I'm looking for would be a portable, refreshable
Braille device that I can easily transfer files to from my computer
and back. Because, although I might use it for writing sometimes,
what I'd mainly be using it for is reading. For example, I'd use it
to read my papers when I present at conferences, or my
poetry/fiction at reading events. Though, I might use it for
private reading too. So are there devices in the Mac compatible
world that will allow me to do that?
Anyway, thanks. :-) I figured that, if anyone would know, it'd be
folks here!
www.phantomfemme.com <http://www.phantomfemme.com/>
Sent from my iPad
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