[Blindmath] Economical tactile graphics - Microcapsule or SwellPaper in a microwave oven?

[Debbie Willis]

You might check with Karen Poppe (kpoppe at aph.org) and Fred Otto (fotto at aph.org) who are Tactile Graphics Project Leaders in the Research Department at the American Printing House for the Blind (APH).

Good Luck!
Debbie Willis, APH

-----Original Message-----
From: blindmath-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindmath-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Richard Baldwin
Sent: Wednesday, August 10, 2011 11:03 AM
To: BlindMath Mailing List
Subject: [Blindmath] Economical tactile graphics - Microcapsule or SwellPaper in a microwave oven?

I keep thinking that one of the big needs in teaching STEM courses to blind
students is the need to quickly, easily, and economically create tactile
graphics from printed graphs and images.

I have read about using Microcapsule or Swell Paper, which seems like a
reasonable approach except that the heating devices are relatively expensive
(more than the cost of an HP laptop) and not portable.

Every teacher's lounge in K-12 and every student lounge in college has a
microwave oven. Many faculty members have a microwave oven in their office.
Has anyone tried heating a printed piece of swell paper in a microwave oven
to see how it reacts?  If it doesn't react well by itself, would it help to
sandwich it between two pieces of the silver crisping cardboard that comes
with frozen pizza? Or how about sandwiching it between two of the gel-filled
pads that are designed to be heated in a microwave oven and then applied to
sore joints? That would tend to provide a more uniform heat to the surface
of the paper. I have been unable to find any specifications regarding the
temperature requirements for causing the microcapsules to swell.

What can we do to dramatically improve the availability of custom-made
tactile graphics?

Is there a group or list that concentrates on such issues.  I found a list
named Adapted Graphics for the blind and visually impaired (Adapted
Graphics) but I was unable to navigate the interface to get registered, and
in any event, there didn't appear to be any recent posts in the archives?

Dick Baldwin

-- 
Richard G. Baldwin (Dick Baldwin)
Home of Baldwin's on-line Java Tutorials
http://www.DickBaldwin.com

Professor of Computer Information Technology
Austin Community College
(512) 223-4758
mailto:Baldwin at DickBaldwin.com
http://www.austincc.edu/baldwin/
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