[nfb-db] Communication Options and Technology

[Mike Sivill]

The Braille Sense has a built in small screen and the option to have it
flipped so that you can type  and the sighted person can see it right there.
I'm not sure if you can connect with a bluetooth keyboard but you might be
able to do that. 
Mike

-----Original Message-----
From: nfb-db-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nfb-db-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of Haben Girma
Sent: Friday, May 15, 2009 9:17 AM
To: NFB Deaf-Blind Division Mailing List
Subject: Re: [nfb-db] Communication Options and Technology


John, you've really drawn out the virtues of the SBC. It does really 
seem like the best item out there so far.

My dilemma is that I already have a PAC Mate and don't think I have the 
shoulder strength to carry around both my PAC Mate and an SBC. I like to 
take my PAC Mate everywhere so that I can read books while riding buses, 
subways, planes, and when I'm waiting for a friend to arrive somewhere. 
The PAC Mate's keyboard is comfortable to use and I could just instruct 
people to type on it. Unlike the SBC, though, I wouldn't be able to read 
what they were typing until after they finished, thereby prolonging the 
interaction, which might not be desirable in certain settings (i.e. a 
long line). I also feel like the SBC's small keyboard discourages 
people, to a small extent, from communicating with the DB person. I've 
heard that the keyboard is uncomfortable to use, making it a sort of 
obstacle people desiring to communicate with a DB person would have to 
overcome. You mention that you primarily use it for brief and quick 
encounters.

It would be great if Freedom Scientific would create a device like the 
PAC Mate where the braille keyboard could be optionally maneuvered from 
in front of the keyboard to behind the keyboard. The brailel display on 
the PAC Mate is detachable, so another option would be to have the 
braille display communicate with the main part of the PAC Mate 
wirelessly, or through a reasonably lengthed cord.

So, I'm wondering whether most people in the public would rather 
communicate with me on my PAC Mate or on a cell phone connected to my 
PAC Mate. Typing on the cell phone has the disadvantage that such 
conversations could only be slow. There's also the risk you mention of 
someone wanting to steal the cell phone. My PAC Mate, on the other hand, 
has a nice keyboard that would be easy to type on. The question is: 
Would people feel comfortable not seeing what they were typing (the PAC 
Mate doesn't have a visual screen), and would it really be faster with 
the PAC Mate when I wouldn't be able to read what they typed until after 
they finished and passed the machine back to me?

Haben


John Lee Clark wrote:
> Haben:
>
> There are three other options I know of.  
>
> One is to use a cell phone and a Braille display that connects wirelessly
to
> it via Bluetooth.  You hand the other person the cell phone, which you've
> already set to the notes program.  I've done this before with my Nokia
cell
> phone and my Braille Wave.  There are two disadvantages to this, however:
> One, the cell phone may be a desirable, famililar item the other person
> would be tempted to steal from you; and two, it requires some time to set
> things up--turning on both devices, waiting for the cell phone to boot up,
> then setting up the notes program . . .  Whereas with the Screen Braille
> Communicator, you can just turn it on and it's ready to go right away.
>
> Another option is the Tabli, which you can connect to a HandyTech device
> such as the Braille Wave.  The Tabli has a Qwerty board that connects to
the
> Braille Wave through one cord, and a screen, which is separate, connecting
> to it through another cord.  The screen will show in text whatever is
going
> on in Braille.  Turning on the Wave, you go to File, then New File.  Then
> whatever you type on the Wave will show.  Whatever the other person types
on
> the Qwerty board will show up both on the screen and on your Braille
> display.  However, you have four separate things to assemble here: Wave,
> Qwerty board, a cord, and the screen.  Worse still, the screen has two
> triangles on its back that makes sit stand up on an angle.  This makes
> packing it hard, with these two large triangles pointing, and they cannot
be
> removed.  This requires a surface, on which everything can rest.  The
Screen
> Braille Communicator has a huge advantage over this because it's just one
> piece--I know it has different parts, but still it's functionally one
> piece--and you don't need a surface, and you can use it while standing on
> the middle of a sidewalk, asking someone for directions or whatever.
>
> Finally, there is the DeafBlind Communicator.  This option is almost like
> the first one I listed, with the cell phone replaced by a small pager-like
> device with a keyboard and a screen.  Since this item is not a cell phone
> and is not a familiar commercial object, I don't think it'd be a target
for
> theft.  And I believe it turns on right away, leaving only your setting
> things up on the mPower display.  However, the DBC is far more expensive
> than the SBC.
>
> What I use depends on the situation.  I use the SBC most often for
> communicating with waiters, cashiers, salespersons, et al.  Most of the
> conversations are brief, often only one turn, in which I order something
or
> ask for something, and that's all that's needed.  For others, the SBC is
> mainly an opportunity to communicate with me if they want to or need
> to--such as letting me know that they're out of something or to let me
know
> what time tomorrow the barber has an opening.  So the Qwerty keyboard
> doesn't get much use.  It's nice that I can just turn it on, anywhere, and
> it doesn't require a table or anything.  It's easy to pack or just carry
> alone.
>
> On more extended trips on which I want the Wave with me anyway, for
reading
> and texting with my wife or others, I don't need the SBC.  But the main
> reason I am bringing the Wave and the cell phone is not to communicate
with
> people, though that is a bonus.  
>
> Traveling out of the state, I usually bring both Wave/cell and SBC.  
>
> I often go out with nothing but my cane.  I can just ask for a pen and
paper
> and write.  That works most of the time.  If the other person needs to
tell
> me something or ask something, it's easy to do print on palm.  The
alphabet
> glove is also extremely reliable.  
>
> Around here, I am well known, and often Ii just walk in the place and
> everything will be ready for me without my writing anything at all.  At
some
> places, it's a simple gesture that will do.  For example, at D. Bryan's, I
> always get either a cheeseburger or a chicken cranberry almond wrap.  I
sign
> hamburger for the one and sign chicken for the other.  Most places here
have
> Braille menus, and sosme of them have print alongside the Braille, so you
> just point to the item and the waiter can see what it is.  At several
> restaurants and stores here, people can sign or at least fingerspell.
>
> Yes, I wish there was a better version of the SBC--one piece, just switch
on
> and go.  It's nice that some companies are adding stuff to their existing
> displays, but I really want a device like the SBC with just one purpose.
> But for now, the SBC is better than a lot of stuff for many kinds of
> situations.
>
> John
>
>
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