[nabs-l] FW: [Blindtlk] Open Source Braille Display -- IndieGoGo

[David Andrews]

If you actually read the message3 you would have seen that there is 
not yet a Braille display.  The guy has some ideas and is looking for funding.

Dave

At 06:44 PM 12/31/2011, you wrote:
>How many cells are on this new Braille display?
>Also, why do the current ones cost so much?
>That's like the IBill!
>The IBill is small, but it costs $100.
>It's the size of a Giga-pet, like I got as a child.
>I only paid $5, for the giga-pet, but they expect me to pay $100 for
>something, the same size!
>Wow!
>They should price things by size.
>Blessings, Joshua
>
>On 12/31/11, Ashley Bramlett <bookwormahb at earthlink.net> wrote:
> > wonder when it will be ready for sale. I'd like braille displays to be more
> > affordable. Even $500 would be better than the thousands they are now.
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Humberto Avila
> > Sent: Thursday, December 29, 2011 10:00 PM
> > To: shaneread at fastmail.fm ; jessbrl at fastmail.fm ; deniserob at gmail.com ;
> > nabs-l at nfbnet.org ; GUI-talk at nfbnet.org ; villagers at gmail.com
> > Subject: [nabs-l] FW: [Blindtlk] Open Source Braille Display -- IndieGoGo
> >
> >
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
> > Behalf Of David Andrews
> > Sent: Thursday, December 29, 2011 12:03 PM
> > To: david.andrews at nfbnet.org
> > Subject: [Blindtlk] Open Source Braille Display -- IndieGoGo
> >
> > Subject: Open Source Braille Display -- IndieGoGo
> >
> > http://www.indiegogo.com/Open-Source-Braille-Display
> >
> > The Story
> >
> > This project started earlier this year when I
> > read a local author's book of life as a Blind
> > person. After contacting him, I decided I could best help by
> > designing a simple device to make low-cost
> > Braille display from a computer possible.
> >
> > So Will It Change the World?
> >
> > I hope so - or I wouldn't be working on it!
> >
> > Braille is to the Blind as the written word is to
> > us sighted folk - and so Braille literacy is
> > vitally important. Yet according to Wikipedia, while in 1960
> > half of blind American schoolchildren could read
> > Braille, in 2007, that number had dropped to one
> > in ten. To improve literacy, we need to make available
> > more ways to access and learn Braille - and an
> > important one is a tool to allow the Blind to
> > read the vast amounts of information on the Internet.
> >
> > For many years, Braille readers have done just
> > that. A Braille reader takes computer text and
> > turns it into tactile impressions of Braille characters for
> > the blind to 'read'. However, these devices are
> > expensive - thousands of dollars - and so few can
> > afford them. The goal of this project is to make an Open
> > Source/Open Hardware Braille reader: simpler,
> > easy to build, well documented, and inexpensive,
> > so people anywhere can make it themselves (or get it made
> > locally).
> >
> > But there's a second goal: to get people doing
> > more. This design is meant to be simple and cheap
> > to build. My hope is other, smarter people will step in
> > and build better, faster, and more powerful
> > devices. But nobody is doing it now, and so
> > someone has to start the ball rolling.
> >
> > With your help, this will be that ball...
> >
> > What You Can Do
> >
> > The goal is to get from the current first
> > prototype to a finished design for a 40-character
> > Braille display, complete with software, and all the details
> > people need to build it, placed online. To that
> > end, here's some of the things needed:
> > list of 4 items
> > . Small CNC machine (build or buy), to do faster
> > turnaround of prototype parts.
> > . Purchase a selection of stepper motors and
> > driver boards, to test different
> > price/performance ratios for the Braille display design.
> > . Get a low-cost netbook to prototype the exact
> > software to run a device (netbook rather than a
> > full computer so as to test the device in the most likely
> > 'real world' situation).
> > . Materials! Prototypes use up a lot of material,
> > as a part can get tweaked many times, each time requiring a new piece cut
> > out.
> > list end
> >
> > Make no mistake - the project IS going ahead,
> > whether a little or a lot of money comes in - the
> > difference is just the speed things happen! So when this
> > project is out there making the difference I hope
> > it will, ask yourself how good it will feel to
> > say 'I helped with that' - and please contribute!
> >
> > Any level is appreciated, and there's some 'thank
> > yous' listed on the right side of this page to show appreciate 
> for your aid.
> >
> > Progress will be discussed on my blog,
> > http://UtopiaMechanicus.com,
> > and designs will be made available there as they
> > are finished. All code and design will also be
> > made available for download, allowing people to make or
> > modify these products.
> >
> > What (Else) You Can Do
> >
> > Tell the world - the more people that know of
> > this project, the greater impact we can make.
> > Blog about it, tweet away, link to it, talk about it at work.
> > And please share this information with everyone and anyone.