[BlindMath] Graphiti / Graphiti Plus experiences

Sun Mar 27 03:07:05 UTC 2022

I have been involved with the development so take anything I say as I am
slightly biased since I have one and love it. That is the Graphiti. Note the
Graphiti plus. I will say though the additional 40 cell Orbit display on the
Plus excites me.  I am also 100% blind if you don't already know me.

As for using it with scatter plots. You can connect the Graphiti directly to
a TI-84 Talking graphing calculator and it shows scatterplots well. The
display on the TI-84 is a 96 by 64. So, when it graphs to the Graphiti it
seems condensed because it is since the Graphiti is 60 by 40. You can view
it that way or you can expand it and see it as is on the calculator which
means you must pan once to see everything. With that said it is amazing how
well it works. 

You can also view anything on the TI-84 TGC and be able to pan through the
graph with the cursor and values displaying on the Graphiti perfectly. It
really is like using the Calculator sighted. I can even read the x and y
values by hand even if it is not in braille, I can read the actual numbers
by feel.

Oh, another comment on scatter plots it's amazing on how easy it is to tell
how the data is trending even in a compressed 60 by 40 modes before you
expand it. You can tell if the data is trending to the positive just by
laying your firsthand the device while it graphs.

You can also get a picture of a scatter plot and put it on the Graphiti.
Graphiti will show almost all types of Image files with no problem.

I will point out one of the cool things about the Graphiti cells is the pins
can come up while you are viewing it with your hands. This made it amazing
when I wrote Tetris for it. It is fun to play Tetris again.

I am the one that made the video on the Graphiti with a Microscope, and I
can tell you, you  can see things like the cavities in an earth worm and we
even did a live demonstration of fungus growing on a slide which was
amazing. 

I am the one that made all the videos where I code with Turtle graphics with
it, and you can follow the tracks of the turtles on the screen which is as
amazing as when I did it sighted in High school. I am now 51 one and blind
so let us just say that is amazing to be able to do something I could do
sighted as good.

I wrote the NVDA plugin and with that you can send the whole screen or just
the parts you are viewing. That plugin needs to be advanced but that is
because I do not use it much attached to NVDA. I am more into using it as a
tool I can code with or an HDMI monitor with things like an Xbox or even my
raspberry PI. With that said the NVDA plugin changes how you use a computer
because you can really make the Graphiti do about anything when it comes to
showing you part of the screen.

    With what I have done as an NVDA plugin  many people can extend it if
they wish.

On that note There was also a piece of software created for a student at a
university called tactviz and it was made to study proteins here is a cut
from the read me of the software.
TactViz was designed to improve the biomolecular visualization and analysis
experience in VMD for users who are blind or visually impaired. It was
developed based on the needs of student Olivia Shaw in the Hadden Lab at the
University of Delaware. TactViz can be used with electronic refreshable
tactile display devices (e.g., Graphiti) for interactive biomolecular
visualization, 
Read more about it here.

https://github.com/jodihadden/TactViz

She also has some published papers  that also mention the Graphiti if you
search.

There are also videos of the Graphiti and desmos if you search on You tube
and you can see some of the fun, they put the Graphiti through.

Oh, one last thing. I have also used the Graphiti with Openscad to create a
dumbbell shaped thing just to see if I could. It is possible and it is
something that could be improved on if someone was a 3D nut. I am a Software
engineer and have more fun writing code than making 3D stuff, but my point
is I would have loved to have this thing when I was in calculus to be able
to make my own multi-level shell shapes that I could feel on the fly. That
is for the younger kids now that these tactile devices are coming online.  

One thing the Graphiti can do that no other device can is show things with
multi levels and when it comes to viewing images, which is a very important
feature.  Anyway, since I am a bit biased, I should end this here. I can
tell you this though. My Graphiti does not sit on my table and get no work.

-----Original Message-----
From: BlindMath <blindmath-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Robin Williams
via BlindMath
Sent: Thursday, March 24, 2022 10:56 AM
To: Blind Math list for those interested in mathematics
<blindmath at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Robin Williams <Robin.Williams at atass-sports.co.uk>
Subject: [BlindMath] Graphiti / Graphiti Plus experiences

Hello,

Does anyone on this list have experience with the Graphiti or Graphiti Plus
from Orbit Research?
http://www.orbitresearch.com/product/graphiti-plus/
I would be very interested to hear from anyone who has used one of these
devices to view graphics that are commonly used in statistical research, in
particular scatter plots involving many datapoints, as well as any other
interesting use cases.

With thanks,
Robin
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