[Blindmath] Version 0.0.18 of SVGDraw01 with AudioTac is now available for download

[Richard Baldwin]

Although the name of the program is SVGDraw01, this is not a posting about
SVG. Instead, this is a posting about making it possible for blind people
to communicate with the rest of the world through the use of the
mathematical concepts embodied in the Cartesian Coordinate System.

Version 0.0.18 of my drawing program for blind users is now posted at:
http://www.austincc.edu/baldwin/SWT-SVG/SVGDraw01.zip and is available for
immediate downloading.

The new material in this version consists primarily of the addition of a
new feature that I am referring to as the AudioTac Display.

The name AudioTac is a combination of the words audio and tactile. The
AudioTac Display makes it possible for blind users to interpret drawings
using sound in conjunction with touch, an embossed tactile grid (paper),
and a mouse or a touchpad.

More specifically, the AudioTac Display makes it possible for blind users
to trace out the shapes in a drawing by moving a finger (or a mouse) on a
tactile grid while being guided by stereo multi-frequency sounds emitted by
the program.

The AudioTac Display is not intended as a replacement for high-quality
embossed graphics. Instead, the purpose of the AudioTac Display is to
provide an economical "quick look" alternative to the use of fully embossed
drawings in order to allow the user to form a mental image of the shapes in
a drawing.

I would never suggest that it is easy to follow the boundary of a shape or
to form a mental image of the geometry of the shape by following that
boundary. However, once you learn to do that, the results can be very
rewarding. As mentioned earlier, the combination of the drawing features of
the program and the ability to interpret drawings through a combination of
sound and touch will make it possible for you to economically communicate
with the rest of the world using the mathematical concepts embodied by the
Cartesian Coordinate System.

Practice may be required for you to succeed in interpreting drawings. I
suggest that you start by drawing and interpreting simple shapes, such as
circles, rectangles, ellipses, and simple polylines. Then progress to more
complex shapes as your skills improve.

The Instant Display feature of the program makes it possible for blind
users to create drawings and use scanning sonification software (such as
the vOICe) to obtain qualitative information about shapes. In other words,
an experienced vOICe user can gain a general idea of the geometry of a
simple shape by analyzing an image of that shape with scanning sonification
software. I doubt, however, that much in the way of quantitative
information can be obtained through the use of scanning sonification
software.

The AudioTac Display feature makes it possible for blind users to obtain
hard-core quantitative information about a shape, such as the locations and
values of the peaks and troughs in a graph showing the price of a stock, or
the distance between two walls in the floor plan of an apartment.

Both approaches have much to offer the blind user, and I encourage you to
use both approaches to glean as much information as possible from the
shapes in drawings. You can use the Instant Display for sonification, and
the AudioTac Display for a more rigorous quantitative analysis.

First, however, you need to download the zip file using the link that is
provided above.

Next, you need to extract all of the material from the zip file into an
empty folder being careful to preserve the directory tree structure. Don't
extract into the root
directory. One user has reported problems accessing the Help file when the
contents of the zip file were extracted into the root folder.

Execute the file named RunSVGDraw01.bat to run the program.

It is not necessary for you to have Java or any other special software
installed on your computer to run this program. You should even be able to
extract the contents of the zip file onto a USB flash drive and run the
program on any Windows system, Version XP or later, with 32-bit or 64-bit
hardware. Of course, you don't have to use a USB flash drive, I mention
that simply to emphasize the flexibility that you have with the program.

When the program starts, you will land on Home Base from which you can
press F1 to open the help file, or select any of the actions provided by
the menus. Instructions for opening the menus are printed on Home Base.
Alternatively, you can simply open the file named
SvgDraw01.Instructions.htm in your browser and read the instructions
without running the program. A copy of the instruction file is attached to
this message.

baldwin at dickbaldwin.com

-end-

-- 
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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