[Tactile-Talk] Comparison between graphiti and Monarch
Jason J.G. White
jason at jasonjgw.net
Wed Aug 28 17:25:56 UTC 2024
Just to clarify further, the 96 by 40 array on the Monarch can be used
for tactile graphics, or for 32 cells by 10 lines of Braille. The
tactile graphics can include Braille labels - that is, mixed Braille and
tactile graphics on the same display area are supported. It has touch
input, a Braille keyboard, and controls for panning and zooming the
display's contents.
I've also been given a demonstration of the Cadence display from Tactile
Engineering at a conference, so I can discuss that if it comes up on
this list. I've read about the metec displays, but I haven't used one.
There are (or used to be) graphics-capable displays from KGS, one of
which I was shown at a conference in 2003. The NFB's International
Braille and Technology Center has a KGS device. It wasn't working when I
visited on behalf of my then employer, but that may have changed since then.
I suppose the Canute 360 Braille display is somewhat graphics-capable,
but it doesn't have the equidistant pins as the Monarch does, which are
better for tactile graphics in my opinion. I found the Graphiti to be
very good for graphics, but I also found trying to read Braille on the
device to be difficult, due to the size and spacing of the pins.
On 28/8/24 13:03, Ken Perry via Tactile-Talk wrote:
>
> I will not go deep into this but I can clarify a misconception. The
> Monarch has 96 by 40 dots and they are the same cells as the Dot
> displays. They have an up and a down. They have a rubber cover over
> the cells that keep them from getting dust in the mechanics. You can
> not have your hands on it as it refreshes. It does not have a
> separate line of braille but the separation from pin to pin center is
> 2.6 mm. The graphiti has a 60 by 40 set of pins. They have 5
> different heights from 0 to 2 MM you can have your hands on it as it
> refreshes. The pin to pin center is 4 mm. There are two current
> Graphiti’s. One is the Graphiti you saw in 2019 and has just the 60
> by 40 panel. The other is the Graphiti Plus that has the 60 by 40
> panel and a line of 40 cells below it the same type cells as the Orbit
> 40. They also now have the two slates the 5/20 and the 3/40 as well
> which can be considered a slight tactile display because one has 5
> lines of 20 and one has 3 lines of 40 but they have large separations
> between the lines like Canute.. For those who don’t know the Canute.
> It is a 9 line braille display that also can be considered a tactile
> display its cells are totally different and they rotate like old
> spinning adding machines. As they spin the cells are created from two
> sides of Octagonal rotating discs. Both the slates and the canutes
> have at least a line separating each row of cells. We should also
> mention there are as many as 60 companies working on technologies like
> this the ones that already have released items other than the ones I
> have mentioned are the Dot and the metech displays. There are also the
> Holy braille and the Kadence. But I won’t go into all that.
>
> *From:*Tactile-Talk <tactile-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org> *On Behalf Of
> *Rich Caloggero via Tactile-Talk
> *Sent:* Wednesday, August 28, 2024 11:46 AM
> *To:* 'Tactile Talk for the discussion of the display and use of
> graphics on refreshable Braille platforms' <tactile-talk at nfbnet.org>
> *Cc:* Rich Caloggero <rjc at mit.edu>
> *Subject:* [Tactile-Talk] Comparison between graphiti and Monarch
>
> I got a demo of the Graphiti in 2019 when I believe it was still a
> prototype. However, I've not seen or heard a clear description of the
> Monarch. So, my question: how do these two devices compare?
>
> From what little I know, the Monarch has both a tactile area, and a
> separate area containing discrete braille cells, somewhat like a
> typical single-line display, but multiple lines of same. The graphiti
> has one single display, which can display graphics, and braille using
> font technology similar to how visual displays work. To me, the
> graphiti seems like a much better solution because it works just like
> a visual display, and looks like one (albeit it very low resolution)
> to the host computer. WHen I checked out the graphiti, I did notice
> that the braille font had odd spacing between the dots that made it a
> bit difficult to read. I was told that this was because I was looking
> at version 1 of the display, and that the next version would have
> higher resolution, which would decrease the spacing between the dots,
> and thus make a more normal feeling braille font.
>
> Would love to hear other's thought ...
>
> -- Rich
>
> On 8/27/2024 8:29 PM, kperry at blinksoft.com wrote:
>
> The first of these videos is a 15 minute brochure from Orbit but
> the rest I did when were working on it. I was the first Blind
> person to use the Graphiti with a Microscope. I even used it with
> growing fungus in one of my presentations. The one here is with a
> pre-prepared slide. In the videos I made I tried to talk through
> them so they would be good for blind and visual. Of course the
> best way to see the graphiti is by touch. I unfortunately do not
> have a set of videos like this for the Monarch because I am less a
> Project lead on that and more just a app developer and tester.
>
> This first 15-minute video is a video brochure the CEO of Orbit
> made using some of the following videos.
>
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSsoIomrjF0
>
> These other videos I made and some of them are used in the above
> video, but these show how I have done it. So, you can see that a
> blind guy did them. I will mention I wrote the Tetris game shown
> here and the library for Graphiti all in python.
>
> Compound Stereo Microscope
>
> https://www.dropbox.com/s/6b4oyzci7tuqisl/MVI_0093.MP4?dl=0
>
>
>
> Note
>
> After I made that video. We realized that I didn't have it zoomed all the way out. You can get it entirely on one screen but I had enlarged it and changed the filter so I could look at the regions better.
>
>
>
> Orion TI-84 Plus
>
> https://www.dropbox.com/s/a2jgm5mlktx90k8/MVI_0094.MP4?dl=0
>
>
>
> Watching a video
>
> https://www.dropbox.com/s/rchodldswyzvato/Eclipse-slower.MP4?dl=0
>
>
>
> Turtle Graphics
>
> https://www.dropbox.com/s/q8axbzz59k25zxx/MVI_0099.MP4?dl=0
>
>
>
> Drawing with Graphiti
>
> https://www.dropbox.com/s/ds2mixkcvo9fsj4/MVI_0101.MP4?dl=0
>
>
>
> NVDA Plugin (NVDA is a free screen reader for Windows written in python)
>
> https://www.dropbox.com/s/eh0yg725291hy0a/NVDA-plugin.MP4?dl=0
>
>
>
>
>
> OpenScad 3D design for use with 3D printing
>
> https://www.dropbox.com/s/4wia6vwktgipmex/OpenSCAD%20with%20Orion%20Graphiti%2020181012.mp4?dl=0
>
>
>
> Tetris
>
> https://www.dropbox.com/s/tos1oy4i8rsp2d0/tetrus.MP4?dl=0
>
> --
> Rich Caloggero
> Accessibility Specialist
> Disability and Access Services
> Massachusetts Institute of Technology
>
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