John Gardner developed Triangle, a computer file format that enunciates
the names of mathematical symbols to screen reader users.  It was a
breakthrough technology at the time, particularly for non-Braille
readers.  Here is his current groundbreaking endeavor.

Kelly

    The Associated Press State & Local Wire

Sunday, July 20, 2003

    Maker of computer printers expands beyond Braille

    By BENNETT HALL

    CORVALLIS, Ore.

    When you're trying to build a small company, it never hurts to have
some big friends. ViewPlus Technologies has one of the biggest:
Microsoft.

    Founded in Corvallis in 1996, ViewPlus makes computer printers for
blind people. Like other printers for the visually impaired, the Tiger
Embosser prints text in Braille characters using raised dots.

    But it's the only embosser on the market that can also produce
tactile versions of graphic images, from a diagram of the human heart to
a map of the United States to the Periodic Table of the Elements.

    It's also the only embosser on the market that runs on Microsoft's
Windows operating system.

    "Other embossers work with Braille software," said Jeff Gardner, the
company's vice president for sales and marketing and son of company
founder John Gardner, a former Oregon State University physics professor
who lost his sight after surgery in 1988.

    "None of them other than the Tiger can be hooked up directly to
Microsoft Office," he said.

    Given the fact that Windows is far and away the most widely used
computer operating system in the world, the Tiger's Microsoft
compatibility has been a major selling point.

    About two years ago, ViewPlus began working directly with a new unit
of Microsoft, the Assistive Technology Vendor Program. The program
involves 32 companies in 16 areas of assistive technology, from programs
that read text off computer screens to cursors you can point by moving
your head.

    It's a mutually beneficial arrangement, said Gary Moulton, a
Microsoft product manager involved in the project.

    "The benefit for ViewPlus is they get an early look at Microsoft
technology that's under development," Moulton said.

    "The benefit Microsoft gets as a result of that is we have a wide
variety of assistive technology manufacturers looking at products we
have under development and giving us feedback we could get nowhere else.
The bottom line is when a new Microsoft product comes out, there's an
assistive technology that's already compatible with it."

    Moulton estimates there are 5 million to 10 million disabled
computer users in the United States. That might seem like small potatoes
for a company as big as Microsoft, but Moulton says otherwise.

    "There's two reasons why the disability market is important to us,"
he said. "First of all, we can't sell our products to the federal
government unless our products are accessible to people with
disabilities.

    "The second reason is more on the marketing side. We really believe
our technology can be used by anybody to be more independent at work, at
home and at play. I think it's core to our business success."

    The Microsoft connection may help explain the rapid expansion
ViewPlus has enjoyed over the last several years.

    In 1999, ViewPlus moved out of its 328-square-foot home office into
the Business Enterprise Center, a Corvallis incubator for mid-valley
startup companies. Since then, the company has grown from three to 17
employees and now occupies about 4,000 square feet of office and light
industrial space, making it the BEC's largest tenant.

    The firm's success recently earned ViewPlus one of two Outstanding
Incubator Client awards for 2003 from the National Business Incubation
Association.

    Sales growth has been strong as well.

    "We've doubled our revenues last two years," Gardner said. "We're
well on our way to doing it again this year."

    From $68,000 in 1999, sales jumped to about $350,000 in 2000 and
nearly $700,000 in 2001, Gardner said. The company is projecting
revenues of $1.5 million this year.

    ViewPlus has built a network of dealers and distributors that
extends into Canada, Italy, India, Taiwan and South Korea and could soon
include Thailand, Germany, the United Kingdom and Brazil.

    While it's putting those distribution channels in place, the company
is also working on a new line of products that will expand the Tiger's
functionality into new realms.

    "Many of the technologies that work for blind people are helpful for
people with other disabilities," said John Gardner, who retired from OSU
this year to devote more time to his business. "Our final product is not
going to be just for blind people, it's also going to be for dyslexic
people."

    ViewPlus engineers are working on an accessible viewer program for
scalable vector graphics. SVG files make it possible to embed sound
clips into normal graphic images using computer "tags." Users can place
a printout of the SVG file on a touch-sensitive pad, then activate the
audio clips by pressing the tagged portions of the graphic.

    With the ViewPlus viewer software, users will be able to import an
SVG file from the Web and make an embossed printout on the Tiger. Then,
using a touch pad, they'll be able to get a sound-enhanced version of
the tactile image.

    "It's called tri-modal access," the elder Gardner said. "You're
going to be able to see it, you're going to be able to touch it and
you're going to be able to hear it."

    The latest version of Microsoft's Visio SVG program will support the
new viewer software.

    With new products in the pipeline, Jeff Gardner says ViewPlus is
positioned for another round of growth. So far the firm has relied on
"friends and family" financing, as well as some government grants. Now
it's time to look for venture capital.

    "We have very optimistic development goals," he said. "We can make
some giant leaps if we can really get some financing behind our
efforts."

    Not all the rewards for ViewPlus are financial.

    Office manager Carolyn Gardner, John's wife and Jeff's mother,
recalled what happened when a blind student from Louisiana first got his
hands on a map of the United States produced by the Tiger Embosser.

    "A friend of mine took some maps to a deaf-blind camp," she said.
"They were so excited." They said, "This is where I live? This is what
Louisiana looks like? And this is Texas?"

    "Now," said her husband, "blind people are realizing there's more to
life than words."


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