[Nfb-science] ideas for labeling small 3-D printed objects

Mon Apr 16 19:37:45 UTC 2018

Along this line (making QR codes findable that is) ...

Here's some good and bad news about an accessible app that "gives feedback to users so that they can center and scan QR codes". 

The good news was that the UWashington created an accessible app for the iPhone, TGV: Tactile Graphics with a Voice, http://bit.ly/tgvoice that could do this. The bad news is that the app hasn't been updated to work with iOS 11 (although it could be as I believe the source code is available).  At 32:40 in this YouTube video you can hear/see it in use: http://bit.ly/tgvdemo (Original link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZsF_jy4S4wc&feature=youtu.be&t=32m40s )

A description of it from the iTunes page: Tactile Graphics with a Voice is a joint project with the University of Washington and the DIAGRAM center (http://diagramcenter.org/diagramwebinars.html#tactile). When VoiceOver is turned on, it gives feedback to users so that they can center and scan QR codes. It is part of a larger project to allow people who are blind to access text on tactile graphics using embedded QR codes.  This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation Grant No. IIS-1116051. This work was supported by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs (Cooperative Agreement #H327B100001).  The barcode scanning code we used was adapted from ZXing's open source library (https://github.com/zxing/zxing).

There were plans to add a feature so that if there were multiple QR codes near a tactile image (each QR code having a tactile marker that indicated its presence) that it would know which one you wanted to listen to based on which QR code your finger was closest to. But that feature wasn't added by the original team. I met Dr. Richard Ladner, the professor who led this team, who has done a lot of other work in this area, and he told me the source code was available.

One more thing worth experimenting with if you decide to go in the direction of "talking" QR codes is QR code size - amount of text versus scannable distance. This is something I learned from the "Download written summary of Webinar Q & A" - found on the diagram center #tactile page linked to above:   
19. QUESTION: “Is there limitation how much information you can put on a QR code?”
ANSWER: QR codes come in different resolutions so there is no simple answer.   For a 1-inch square code, you can get about 125 characters at the highest resolution.  It would be scanned from 6 inches away. QR codes are designed to be scanned by cameras found on smartphones.

Dr. Richard Ladner, also provides the PowerPoint presentation he used for the TGV presentation - YouTube video.

Tim

-----Original Message-----
From: Nfb-science <nfb-science-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Donald Winiecki via Nfb-science
Sent: Monday, April 16, 2018 1:38 PM
To: Kendra Schaber <redwing731 at gmail.com>
Cc: Donald Winiecki <dwiniecki at handid.org>; NFB Science and Engineering Division List <nfb-science at nfbnet.org>
Subject: Re: [Nfb-science] ideas for labeling small 3-D printed objects

Hi Kendra,

You make a good point! How about this:

If the fabricated artifacts are located in little compartments or cubbies, then we could put the bar code or QR code in a particular place on the bottom of the compartment.  By placing the bar code or QR code in a predictable place within the compartment -- perhaps even providing a place to rest the phone and camera so it will focus on the code -- we make it more likely that a patron of the museum will be able to use the exhibit as intended.

Designing for interactive exhibits is really a matter of designing the space so that it is easy to do things one way, and less likely people will do things in any other way.  This makes it more certain that patrons to the museum will experience the materials as the experts want them to experience them.

Of course, one reason to not design in this way is if the goal is to get the museum patrons to `discover` their own way.  We might design an interactive exhibit like this to help people learn how archaeologists design and conduct a dig, in order to better teach the systematic science behind archaeology.

_don

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Don Winiecki
Handid Media • a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dwiniecki at handid.org http://handid.org ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~d

On Mon, Apr 16, 2018 at 12:28 PM, Kendra Schaber <redwing731 at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Hi all!
>  The problem with QR scanner apps is that they don’t always see where 
> the bar coad is located. Sure, the phone may be able to read the bar 
> code but can it actually locate it? Not as well as some people think. 
> Their window has to be either tactile for us to line up the phone with 
> the bar code or the phone app has to have some sort of audio marker to 
> locate the bar code by sound. Where is that gap being filled?
>
>
>
> Blessed be!!!
> Kendra Schaber,
> Citizen Phenologist,
> Aspiring climatology Student;
>
> Preparing to attend Chemeketa Community College for a transfer degree 
> with a climatology degree at Oregon State University, National 
> Federation of the Blind, Capitol Chapter, Salem, Oregon.
> "When the student is ready, the teacher will appear" Author Unknown.
>
>
> On Apr 16, 2018, at 09:33, Donald Winiecki via Nfb-science <
> nfb-science at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>
> If the bar code can be associated with an audio file describing the
> artifact, a certain measure of accessibility can be achieved!
>
> If the same bar code were to be associated with a BRF (or similar file)
> that could be sent to a refreshable braille display that would provide a
> different level of accessibility!
>
> Use of a bar code would require a bar code reader.  Modern smartphones have
> the capability to read bar codes, and web resources could be developed that
> allow the smartphone to use the bar code to jump to those resource, and
> then play audio, or send BRF to an attached refreshable braille display.
>
> Tactile braille labels can certainly be created for each replica artifact.
> This label could also include the bar code incorporated into the artifact
> itself.
>
> From there the work of museum design comes into play to invent a physical
> display structure that allows museum patrons to inspect and manipulate the
> artifacts while also having access to audio, electronic braille, and/or
> tactile braille.
>
> I imagine a table-height array of cubbies or compartments, with one
> artifact in each compartment.  The arrangement of compartments and included
> artifacts would allow a patron to
> move from one end of the display to the other in order to 
> experience the artifacts in a particular order
> ,
> so that important time-related cultural, material and usage characteristics
> are learned in
> the sequence that you -- as the anthropological expert -- consider to be
> important.
>
> In my professional history I have been part of the design, construction and
> installation of several cultural and military history museums and find this
> to be an exciting possibility!
>
> Hope I haven't over analyzed this, or stepped on anyone's toes.
>
> Best,
>
> _don
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> Don Winiecki
> Handid Media • a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization
> dwiniecki at handid.org
> http://handid.org
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~d
>
> On Mon, Apr 16, 2018 at 9:50 AM, Cheryl Fogle-Hatch via Nfb-science <
> nfb-science at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>
> Hello,
>
>
> I am working with a local 3-D scanning company to scan and produce
>
> replicas of artifacts.  We are working with a collection of stone
>
> spear points that are small and triangular in shape.  I am looking for
>
> ideas about affixing Braille labels to them, or embedding something
>
> higher tech into the models as they are made.  The company usually
>
> puts a bar code on the replicas, so figuring out how to access that
>
> information is also a possibility.
>
>
> Thanks in advance for any suggestions.
>
> Cheryl
>
>
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