[Tactile-Talk] My Introduction And Remarks From 2024 Science Division Talk

[David Engebretson]

If this list is for advertising products then I'm going to have to bow out. I get enough of those!


From: Tactile-Talk <tactile-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Ken Perry via Tactile-Talk
Sent: Tuesday, August 27, 2024 5:34 PM
To: 'Tactile Talk for the discussion of the display and use of graphics on refreshable Braille platforms' <tactile-talk at nfbnet.org>
Cc: kperry at blinksoft.com
Subject: Re: [Tactile-Talk] My Introduction And Remarks From 2024 Science Division Talk




I need to also say a lot of braille is already subsidized in that the development is paid for.  If that was not true the price would be hire on all the devices.  With that said I am posting  the below because I want to show that the first 100 Monarchs went out in a program like this.  Note there will be more so keep your eyes out.  Subscribing to the APH news letter helps.  This was posted it in it months ago.:  I think there is another one on going and as soon as I ask and get the link I will post it here. Note it is not just for students.




Monarch Student Pilot Project
We recently rolled out the Monarch Student Pilot Project.<https://forms.office.com/pages/responsepage.aspx?id=CPcnAZSSjkmhc2poUynnP_VGTJgGeW5BpF5LriHlMJJUM1Q4U0FQR00wR0lSMVdPM0lYUUZDOERTVy4u> The project will give more students across the U.S. access to a Monarch. Learn more about the Monarch Student Pilot Project and nominate students today<https://forms.office.com/pages/responsepage.aspx?id=CPcnAZSSjkmhc2poUynnP_VGTJgGeW5BpF5LriHlMJJUM1Q4U0FQR00wR0lSMVdPM0lYUUZDOERTVy4u>. The deadline to submit a nomination is Friday, July 12.



On 27/8/24 18:47, Daveed Mandell via Tactile-Talk wrote:

I also think it's time to push for heavily subsidized braille products

in this country and throughout the world. They are not luxuries. How

many of us can truly buy a Monarch?

I agree with the general point. At least there's already U.S. government funding available for students that will offset the cost. I don't know what happens to the device once the student has completed secondary school and, we hope, moves on to university though.

According to an interview that I heard, APH and HumanWare are looking for public funding sources in other countries as well.

I've recently had a chance to work with a Monarch for several hours, thanks to an opportunity provided by former colleagues. I'll say it publicly: I was impressed with the Braille, the tactile graphics, and the maturity of the included software for a pre-release product. There wasn't time to try anything especially creative, but we did experiment with the tactile graphics library, the graphing calculator, the chess game (without much success), the word processor, and so forth.

I had prior experience with the Graphiti (also at the prototype stage), which of course made manipulating tactile graphics on the Monarch even easier. This is exactly the device I wish I had in secondary school calculus and physics courses. In the early 1990s when I was completing secondary school, it was all about raised line drawing kits and stereocopy machines for producing tactile graphics. Graphics-capable embossers weren't readily available at the time, at least in Australia, which is where I am from.

The Monarch should also be excellent for reading a lot of text, which I regularly need to do. 10 lines of 32 cells are better than a single-line Braille display, in my opinion.
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