[Blindmath] using tactile graphics

Tue Jul 28 20:04:30 UTC 2009

HI,
  First, thank you for this information. It is quite interesting and sounds promising. I would also be interested in the opportunity to try out this prototype if that opportunity becomes available.
many thanks,
Christine

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Dianne T Pawluk/FS/VCU 
  To: blindmath at nfbnet.org 
  Sent: Tuesday, July 28, 2009 2:32 PM
  Subject: Re: [Blindmath] using tactile graphics

  I would like to thank everyone for replying!  I am very excited to get feedback.  Also, I should say that I am sorry that right now I am only sporadically reading my e-mail as I am on holidays.  However, I would like to respond to everyone so far.  (And please bare with me if I'm not doing things right, this is the first time I've been on a mailing list.)

  Rich asked me to describe the device in more detail, as well as the need for printed graphics.

  The device uses the case of a regular mouse (approximately 4.5 by 2.5 inches): it does not actually use the circuitry of the mouse.  Where the scroll wheel is, we have replaced it with a commercially available Braille cell which is 2 by 4 pins, spaced 2.5mm apart.  In order to obtain accurate position information, we have put our own circuit into the mouse that interacts with a graphics tablet (since a graphics tablet has much more position accuracy than a mouse).  So the whole system is a graphics tablet, with the device components inserted into the case of a mouse.  We are also able to move the pins of the Braille cell much faster than is typically done in a Braille display.  As for how big the display is, this is limited by the graphics tablet that is used.  We are currently using a tablet which has an area of 6 inches by 10 inches (made by Vistablet).  We chose this tablet because it is inexpensive and is very thin, making it easy to carry.  As we are currently using line graphs that are produced as a result of data, we automatically scale the lines so they can maximize the display size.  So at this point, it really isn't based on pixel number.  However, in other work in the lab, we are working in allowing the user to controllably zoom in on a graphic, which would allow the user to control how detailed a graphic they want to see.  I should add, another feature of the software we have working with this device (which is actually implemented as a MATLAB function similar to "plot" for those familiar with MATLAB) is that you are able to use one of the mouse buttons to read off where you are on a graph.  We thought that this would be preferable to making grid lines which can interfere with interpreting the data.  However, we would be interested in everyone's feedback on this.

  As for the printed graphics: rereading my message, I realize I wasn't very clear.  In order to evaluate the effectiveness of our system, we would like to compare our developed device to whatever is the "most typical" way of displaying and using graphics in an educational or work environment.  Or whatever you feel should be the benchmark to judge whether our device is successful or not.  For this study we are particularly looking at line graphs.  We would like to see if our device is as easy or easier to use than by using the "most typical method".  This would include most importantly performance in using the display to analyze the graphs, but also, time to generate the graphic for the data and how much noise it makes.  As I said earlier, I know there is more than one method to display line graphs, we are just trying to make our experiments tractable.  I am also trying to figure out how to more formally get information from potential end users like all of you.

  Christine asked about whether the product was marketed yet.  We are currently working on that.  Right now the $400 is an estimate based on what things cost for our prototype.  As for what the device works with.  Currently it can work with data in MATLAB that will be displayed as line graphs, allowing for multiple lines per graph.  However, it can be made to easily work with a graphic that is displayed as an image too - i.e., it can be made to work with pixels.  Currently we have an older prototype in the lab that works in this manner and we could easily modify the program.  I should also say that we have one prototype completed that we hope that we could pass around among you to try.  We already have our first potential user, who was the one who wanted access to line graphs in MATLAB, but we can figure out how to get it to everyone, if people are interested.  I will also have to check with our Technology Transfer department (which deals with commercialization of devices) at VCU to see if they will allow it.

  Marsha, I will definitely keep you in mind (see immediately above).

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