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

[Joshua Lester]

Hopefully he'll get it.
I'd like to know how many cells he's going to have on it, though.
Blessings, Joshua

On 12/31/11, David Andrews <dandrews at visi.com> wrote:
> 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.
>
>
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