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                            THE BLIND NEWS DIGEST

                                 Issue # 1054

                           Tuesday, July 05, 1994

Today's Topics:


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                               RESEARCH UPDATE
                Re: Braille output devices for PC compatibles
                        Re:  Blind News Digest # 1051
                         American Blind Organization
       International Technical Aids Seminar for the Visually Impaired
                Re: BRAILLE OUTPUT DEVICES FOR PC COMPATIBLES


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Subject: RESEARCH UPDATE
From: ICRRJ%ASUACAD.BITNET@uga.cc.uga.edu (Richard Jones)

[This is from the EASI mailing list]

*** Resending note of 06/29/94 08:19
I thought EASI might be interested in the progress of this vital committee.

from: LIB-DARLEENB@immedia.ca
To: ubc2@world.std.com

----------

                 UNIFIED BRAILLE CODE
                    RESEARCH UPDATE

The Unified Braille Code (UBC) Research Project Committee of the International
Council on English Braille (ICEB) met in Costa Mesa, California on April
24-25, 1994 to receive the interim report from Committee II on the extension
of the base code.

The report confirmed the basic rules for symbol construction as stated in the
Committee II Report of November 1992. The research committee will continue to
build a unified braille code using the traditional upper-dot numbers. Due to
reaction from braille readers a neutral position has been taken with regard to
the retention or removal of the dots 5-6 final-letter contractions, and some
dot assignments for specific symbols, such as the question mark, quotation
marks, are being reconsidered.

ICEB expects another report from Committee II in November. The committee on
contractions and the committee assigned to study the effect of the UBC upon
foreign language codes will soon begin to function in order to safeguard
against possible conflicts. When warranted, evaluations of proposed changes
will be conducted by The Braille Research Center.

As a result of the internationalization of the project in 1993, Committee II
has been expanded to eight members. The committee now consists of
representatives from each of Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and the
United Kingdom, as well as the four previous members from the United States.
The mandate of the committee includes the expansion of the base code to
include mathematical, scientific and computer notation.

The greater part of Committee II's work has been, and will continue to be,
carried out using electronic mail and Robert's Rules of Order to expedite the
decisions and reduce costs. This first face-to-face meeting of the committee
in Costa Mesa was very useful. It allowed members to get acquainted and to
have direct discussion on fundamental issues.

*Unified Braille Code Research Update




An international fundraising committee was created to augment the efforts of
the Braille Research Center in finding funds to finance this important
project.


Darleen Bogart (Canada) Chairman ICEB Unified Braille Code Research Project


DEB:as June 17, 1994




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Subject: Re: Braille output devices for PC compatibles
From: fricke@fuhainf2.fernuni-hagen.de (Joerg Fricke)
Organization: FernUniversitaet Hagen


Hi Ketil,

indeed, state of the art devices are using piezoelectric bending
strips today. They are more reliable than solenoids but even more
expensive. I guess a Braille dot driven by a solenoid takes about
3 US Dollar, and a dot driven by a piezo bender about 6 or 7 USD.
Of course, the price of the whole device contains the housing,
additional features, and basic software, too. I assume the reason
for the better reliability is just that most of the dirt and skin
particles and so on can pass through the holes guiding the pins
and can fall to the bottom of the Braille cells without disturbing
the mechanism while soleniods are closed at the bottom and have
very small gaps in order to provide high forces. These gaps can be
filled by dirt quite easily.

Some approaches with electrotactile devices were made but this way
has some disadvantages: First, 2 - 5 V is not enough, you would
feel it only with your tongue or with electrodes implanted into
the skin (nobody would like that). I know of a prototype built in
Germany using 200 V. Of course, there was a circuit limiting the
current and switching of the current if the skin is removed from
the electrodes because removing the skin while a constant current
is flowing causes a bad feeling. This circuit must be provided for
each pair of electrodes, and it contributes to the price of the
material per dot.
Second, the resolution of the fingertips with electrotactile
stimuli is about 3 mm compared to "natural" tactile stimuli with
about 2 mm. So, the Braille characters should be larger than the
usual one because it is not desirable to have a dot spacing just
matching the average perceptual resolution. However, larger
Braille characters would exceed the high resolution area of the
fingertips.
Third, I understood that one cannot read using several fingers at
the same time because there could be an additional current between
the fingers or the hands.
Fourth, most of the users just don't like the feeling of the
electrotactile stimulation.
There are several other approaches to reduce the number of dots
per device or the price per dot but none of these are already
brought to market. (At least not a comfortable one. Of course you
can read using just one usual Braille cell and a set of cursor
keys but that is usable only with small amounts of data like
addresses and phone numbers stored in an electronic notebook.)

Joerg




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Subject: Re:  Blind News Digest # 1051
From: pcwood@cyclone.mitre.org (Philip C. Wood)

Hi Recordings for the Blind in in Rochester, NY , not Princeton as mentioned.
We use them extensively
Pc Wood




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Subject: American Blind Organization
From: davros@bga.com (Buddy Brannan)


OK, here's some info for you:
The National Federation Of the Blind has affiliates in all tfifty states.
For Louisiana's affiliate, call:
1-800-234-4166
The phone will answer "Louisiana Center For the Blind", but that's OK
cause the Center is run by the Federation. I wish i knew the name of the
chapter pres in New Orleans but I don't. But they will if you call. Hope
this helps.


--
Buddy Brannan, KB5ELV        | Mary had a little lamb.
(512)441-3246 (Home)         | Her father shot it dead.
Internet: davros@bga.com     | Now Mary takes her lamb to school
davros@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu    | Between a piece of bread.




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Subject: International Technical Aids Seminar for the Visually Impaired
From: t94303mn@sfc.keio.ac.jp (Masafumi NAKANE)
Organization: Keio University Shonan Fujisawa Campus, Kanagawa Japan

            INFORMATION OF INTERNATIONAL TECHNICAL AIDS SEMINAR

Sponsored by Japan Optacon Committee
             Vocational Development Center for the Blind in Japan, Inc.
             Information Device Access Support Association for the Blind
             (IDAS)

Supported by Ministry of Health and Welfare
             Ministry of Education
             Ministry of Labor
             Japan Association for Employment of the Disabled
             National Committee for the Welfare of the Blind in Japan

Corporation with Canon Inc.

Date        July 23 (Saturday) & 24 (Sunday), 1994
            9:00a.m. - 5:00p.m.

Place       Nishi-shinjuku Seven City Hall
            4-34-1 Nishi-shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 160, Japan
            Telephone: +81-3-3376-5101

Traffic     Nearest Station: Shinjuku
            Keio-bus for Nakano Station: Yodobashi Dai-roku Shogakko Mae

Interpretor Japanese/English (simultaneous)

Lunch       Prepared by Sponsor

Fee         one day  1,000 yen.-
            all days 2,000 yen.-
Application 1) Request Date
            2) Fee
            3) Name, Company Name
            4) Address, Phone No., Fax No.
            5) You need Braille Information ?

Please contact with above matter to the following address, and also applicate at
tendance.

Office of Administration
          Vocational Development Center for the Blind in Japan, Inc.
          10-3 Honshio-cho, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 160 Japan
          Tel: +81-3-3341-0900 Fax: +81-3-3341-0967


                                1994

                        INTERNATIONAL TECHNICAL
                              AIDS SEMINAR
                        for The Visually Disabled

ANNUAL TOPICS  '94 "Graphic Information"
               '95 "Man-Machine Interface"

Date          July 23 (Saturday) & 24 (Sunday), 1994

Place         Nishi-shinjuku Seven City Hall
              4-34-1 Nishi-shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 160, Japan
              Telephone: +81-3-3376-5101

Sponsored by  Japan Optacon Committee
              Vocational Development Center for the Blind in Japan, Inc.
              Information Device Access Support Association for the Blind
              (IDAS)

Supported by  Ministry of Health and Welfare
              Ministry of Education
              Ministry of Labor
              Japan Association for Employment of the Disabled
              National Committee for the Welfare of the Blind in Japan

Corporation with CANON INC.



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Office of Administration:
Vocational Development Center for the Blind in Japan, Inc.
           10-3 Honshio-cho, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 160 Japan
           Tel: +81-3-3341-0900   Fax: +81-3-3341-0967


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                               PROGRAM


July 23, 1994 (Saturday)

 9:00- 9:30 REGISTRATION
 9:30-10:00 OPENING CEREMONY
                  General Chairperson:Mr. Bunji Watanabe, IDAS Association,
                                       Nanasawa Light Home
                  Opening Address:Mr. Hirotsugu Jitsumoto
                                   Chairman, Japan Optacon Committee
                  Addresses from Guests


10:00-12:00 KEYNOTE SPEECH
                  Chairperson:Mr. Shinjiro Matsui
                              Chairman, Vocational Development Center for the
                              Blind in Japan, Inc.
                  "Access to Graphics and Graphical User Interfaces"
                            Mr. Eugen Schaefer  President, METEC GmbH
                            Dr. Gerhard Weber  Stuttgart University

12:00-13:00 LUNCH

13:00-14:00 KEYNOTE SPEECH
                  Chairperson:Mr. Shinjiro Matsui, Chairman,(VDCBJ)
                  "On the Centrality of Images in Our Thinking, and Computer
                   Assitance"
                              Dr. Hisao Yamada
                              Deputy Director General
                              National Center for Sience Information Systems

14:00-14:40  RESEARCH PRESENTATIONS
                  Chairperson:Mr. Hideji Nagaoka
                              Tsukuba College of Techonology
               1. Various Use of Optacon
                      Mr. Mitsugu Sakamoto
                      Student, Attached School for the Blind to Tsukuba Univ.
               2. Haptics Shape Recognition in the Blind
                      Dr. Yosio Muranaka
                      Chairman, IDAS Association

14:40-14:50 BREAK
14:50-15:30 RESEARCH PRESENTATIONS
               3. Computerized Tactile Graphics for Blind and
                  Visually Impaired
                       Mr. Masaki Tauchi
                       Okayama Prefectural University
               4. Study of Tactile Maps for Visually Disabled by Geographical
                Survey Institute - Development of Drawing System of
                  Producing Tactile Map with Digital Geographic Data -
                       Mr. Junichi Fujisaku
                       Geographical Survey Institute


July 24, 1994 (Sunday)

 9:00- 9:30 REGISTRATION

 9:30-11:00 PANEL DISCUSSION  "How to Provide and Use the Graphical Data"

                  Chairperson:Mr. Tetsuya Fukui,
                              Tokyo Metropolitan Kita Medical Rehabilitation
                              Center for the Handicapped
                  Panelists:  Mr. Toshikazu Kato, Nippon Lighthouse
                              Mr. Kozue Handa
                              Mr. Yoshiko Toriyama, Attached School for
                                              the Blind to Tsukuba Univ.

11:00-12:00 EXHIBITION

12:00-13:00 LUNCH

13:00-14:45 RESEARCH PRESENTATIO
      USA                  "Graphics Access in the work Environment"
                            Mr. Gregory Fowler, Cisco Systems, Inc.
      Germany              "DMD 120060- an Interactive Device for Graphics and
                            text"
                            Mr. Eugen Schaefer  President, METEC GmbH
      Germany              "Access to Windows"
                            Dr. Gerhard Weber  Stuttgart University
      USA                  "Access to Maps and Location Information through
                            Virtual Reality Techniques and GPS Satellite
                            Receivers"
                            Mr. James R. Fruchterman
                            President & CEO, Arkenston
      JAPAN                "(Pseudo-)3-dimensional tactile display"
                            Dr. Masami Shinohara
                            National Institute of Bioscience and Human-
                            technology

14:45-15:00 BREAK,


15:00-16:30 PANEL DISCUSSION  "Present Status & Future Prospect for the
                               Visually Handicapped  Part 2"
                  Chairperson:Mr. Jun Ishikawa, University of Shizuoka
                  Panelists:  Mr. Gregory Fowler
                              Dr. Eugen Schaefer
                              Dr. Gerhard Weber
                              Mr. James R. Fruchterman
                              Ms. Julie Lovins
                              Dr. Masami Shinohara

16:30-16:40 CLOSING CEREMONY
                  Mr. Noriyuki Mitsuoka, Director, Vocational Development
                  Center for the Blind in Japan, Inc.


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----
--
          Masafumi NAKANE, Keio Univ., Dept. of Environmental Information
E-Mail : t94303mn@sfc.keio.ac.jp / HFC03131@niftyserve.or.jp




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Subject: Re: BRAILLE OUTPUT DEVICES FOR PC COMPATIBLES
From: sinha@lobby.ti.com (Arun Sinha)
Organization: Texas Instruments

In article <32745@handicap.news>, mikeg@beaux.ATWC.teradyne.com (Mike Goldstein)
 says:
>
>Index Number: 32745
>
>I missed the start of this thread.  I would like to know
>about any braille output for any computers.
>
>thanks-
>mike goldstein
>

I would too. So, please post it on the network. What I would be
interested in is if some one could post a complete system
configuration for printing books for the blind, ie. which scanner,
which PC, which printer, how much disk is needed, what is a good
scanned data recognition s/w pkg. etc.

So if any of you can recommend a good configuration, I would very much
appreciate it.

Regards,

Arun Sinha




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                 End of Issue # 1054 of the Blind News Digest

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