[Blindmath] Announcing SVGExplore01 from the creator of SVGDraw01

Fri Oct 28 21:59:45 UTC 2011

Hi,

Part of this may have to do with my inexperience with a mouse. It seems it 
will take some practice to master. I haven't yet embossed a grid but was 
first testing it on the cover of one of my math books. I was also using the 
vOICe in order to sometimes be able to see where my mouse pointer was. 
Starting in the top left corner of the math book, I worked my way down 
through the circle, found a shape underneath it, lost it, and found a shape 
to its right. As I was near the bottom right corner of my math book, I 
noticed that the mouse pointer was near the top of the screen and near the 
right. I have no idea how this happened. Also, should a standard sized 
Braille book or embossed page be large enough so that an edge of the page 
corresponds to an edge of the screen?

Thanks,
Amanda
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Richard Baldwin" <baldwin at dickbaldwin.com>
To: "BlindMath Mailing List" <blindmath at nfbnet.org>; 
<accessibleimage at freelists.org>
Sent: Friday, October 28, 2011 12:45 PM
Subject: [Blindmath] Announcing SVGExplore01 from the creator of SVGDraw01

> SVGExplore01 is a program designed to allow blind users to explore 
> drawings
> created using SVGDraw01 by using sound in conjunction with an embossed 
> grid
> system on a computer touchpad. This message describes a prototype "mouse"
> version of the program.
>
> Version 0.0.1 20111028
> Table of contents
>
>    Welcome to the prototype version of SVGExplore01
>    This is a mouse version of the program
>    User instructions
>    This is not an SVG drawing
>    Packaging
>    Downloading and running the program
>    Please provide feedback
>
>
> Welcome to the prototype version of SVGExplore01
>
> This is a prototype version of the program.
>
> The program is posted at
> http://www.austincc.edu/baldwin/SWT-SVG/SVGDraw01.zip and is available for
> immediate downloading.
>
> This program makes it possible for blind users to trace out the shapes in 
> a
> drawing by moving a finger on an embossed grid system while listening to
> stereo sounds emitted by the program.
>
> Audio hints are provided to help the user acquire the different shapes in 
> a
> drawing. Once the user has touched a location on the touchpad that
> corresponds to the border of a shape, a series of stereo audio pulses 
> makes
> it possible for the user to trace out the shape with the finger on the
> embossed grid.
>
> My hope is that this will provide an economical "quick look" alternative 
> to
> the use of fully embossed drawings for the purpose of allowing the user to
> form a mental image of the shapes in the drawing.
>
> Each shape in the drawing emits pulses with a different audio frequency.
> This is the mechanism by which the user can distinguish one shape in the
> drawing from the other shapes in the drawing.
>
>
> This is a mouse version of the program
>
> A fully operational touchpad version of the program is still in 
> development.
> I am providing a mouse version at this time to allow potential users of 
> the
> program to get a taste of how it works. I am hopeful that those users will
> try it out and provide feedback and suggestions for improvement.
>
>
> User instructions
>
> I will explain how to download and run the program later in this document.
>
> In addition to a Windows computer with stereo speakers or headphones, you
> will need a mouse and (optionally) a sheet of paper embossed with a
> rectangular grid system. Emboss horizontal and vertical grid lines on the
> paper at approximately one-half-inch intervals. If you don't have an
> embosser, use a tracing wheel, a straight edge and an ice pick, or 
> whatever
> works for you to create tactile grid lines. It will probably work best if
> you tape the grid paper to the tabletop to keep it from moving.
>
> Start the program running using the instructions provided later in this
> document.
>
> Grasp the mouse in your right hand with your thumb touching the upper-left
> corner of the grid. Try to hold the mouse so that the front-to-back axis 
> of
> the mouse is parallel to the left edge of the grid.
>
> Press the 'h' key with your left hand. That will position the mouse 
> pointer
> in the upper-left corner of the drawing. Any time you feel lost you can
> repeat that procedure to reposition the mouse pointer in the upper-left
> corner to get your bearings again.
>
> If you move the mouse to the right while dragging your thumb along the top
> edge of the grid (or along any horizontal grid line), you will (sometimes)
> hear a deep rumble in both ears similar to a motorcycle idling. Whenever 
> you
> hear that sound, it means that there is a shape somewhere along a vertical
> line that is parallel to the left edge of the grid and below (or above) 
> the
> mouse pointer. Note that you will only hear sounds when the mouse pointer 
> is
> moving.
>
> To acquire a shape with the mouse pointer (when you hear the motorcycle),
> slowly move the mouse in a zig-zag pattern from the top of the grid 
> towards
> the bottom of the grid. Pay attention to the position of your thumb in the
> grid system in order to identify the location of the shape.
>
> When you have acquired the boundary of a shape with the mouse pointer, you
> will hear a series of pulses with a frequency or pitch that is higher than
> the motorcycle sound.
>
> There are three pitches associated with each shape. In addition, the three
> pitches associated with one shape are readily distinguishable from the 
> three
> pitches associated with each of the other shapes.
>
> When you have placed the mouse pointer squarely on the center line of the
> boundary of a shape, you will hear a series of pulses at a pitch that I 
> will
> refer to as the center pitch. When the mouse pointer is slightly below the
> center line, you will hear a slightly higher pitch. This means that you
> should slowly move the mouse toward the top of the grid to place the mouse
> pointer on the center line. When the mouse pointer is slightly above the
> center line, you will hear a pitch that is slightly below the center 
> pitch.
> This means that you should slowly move the mouse toward the bottom of the
> grid to put the pointer on the center line.
>
> You will also hear the pulses in your left ear, your right ear, and evenly
> in both ears. When the mouse pointer is positioned squarely on the center
> line, you should hear the pulses with equal intensity at the center pitch 
> in
> both ears. If you hear the sound in your left ear only, you need to move 
> the
> mouse slowly to the left in order to place the mouse pointer on the center
> line. Similarly, if you hear the pulses in your right ear only, you need 
> to
> move the mouse slowly to the right to acquire the center line.
>
> Once you acquire the center line of the boundary of a shape with the mouse
> pointer, your task is to move the mouse on the grid in such a way as to
> follow the boundary of the shape that you have acquired, while feeling the
> embossed grid with your thumb to form a mental image of the geometry of 
> the
> shape. As you move along the boundary, use the pitch variations and stereo
> variations to keep the mouse pointer centered on the center line of the
> boundary.
>
> In order to help you maintain your orientation, all shapes are forced to 
> be
> closed, even if they weren't originally closed when the drawing was 
> created
> in SVGDraw01. By this I mean, for example, that if you plot a series of
> points using the Polyline action in SVGDraw01, a line will be drawn that
> automatically connects the last point back to the first point in this
> program. That will help you to identify the ends of a curve and avoid
> falling off the end of a curve only to search in vain for the rest of the
> curve.
>
> On the other hand, this is not completely without its problems. The return
> stroke can sometimes cross the curve and create a crossroads where there 
> is
> no difference in the pitch of each of the four directions of travel at the
> intersection. (Think of the center of a figure 8.) I'm still thinking 
> about
> how to solve this problem and suggestions are welcome.
>
>
> This is not an SVG drawing
>
> This prototype version does not make it possible to explore an actual SVG
> drawing. Instead, this prototype draws the following four hard-coded 
> shapes
> for the purpose of giving you an opportunity to evaluate and provide
> feedback on the process.
>
>    A circle with a wide border near the upper-left corner.
>    A rectangle with a very thin border in the lower-left quadrant.
>    A clipped and rotated ellipse in the lower-right quadrant.
>    A cubic Bezier S-shaped curve that begins in the lower-left corner and
> ends in the upper-right corner. (Note that the return stroke on this shape
> is a straight line from the upper-right corner to the lower-left corner 
> that
> crosses the Bezier curve near the center of the drawing. The curve and the
> return stroke will sound the same so make sure to distinguish between 
> them.)
>
> The borders on the ellipse and the Bezier curve are thicker than the 
> border
> on the rectangle but not as thick as the border on the circle.
>
> The overall drawing is a rectangle that is 1000 pixels wide and 700 pixels
> high. Therefore, it should fit on most modern computer monitors
>
> See how many of the shapes you can find and trace out with your mouse. In
> doing so, try to keep the front-to-back axis of the mouse parallel to the
> left side of the grid.
>
>
> Packaging
>
> As mentioned earlier, the program is posted at
> http://www.austincc.edu/baldwin/SWT-SVG/SVGDraw01.zip and is available for
> immediate downloading. I elected to encapsulate this program in the same 
> zip
> file with the program named SVGDraw01 in order to share libraries and
> conserve disk and server space.
>
>
> Downloading and running the program
>
> Download and 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 for the program named SVGDraw01 when the contents of the zip file 
> were
> extracted into the root folder.
>
> Execute the file named RunSVGExplore01.bat to run the program named
> SVGExplore01.
>
> As before, execute the file named RunSVGDraw01.bat to run the program 
> named
> SVGDraw01.
>
> As of the date of this writing, this document contains all of the Help
> information that is available for the prototype version of SVGExplore01.
>
>
> Please provide feedback
>
> Please let me know if you find errors in these instructions, or you find
> areas that deserve a more thorough explanation.
>
> I would also like to know if there are features that you would like to see
> added to this program, or hear suggestions for better ways to accomplish 
> the
> existing features.
>
> Dick Baldwin
> baldwin at dickbaldwin.com
>
> -- 
> 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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