Yeah.

First off, when items about really cool-sounding ideas hit the list, I 
so appreciate a little more detail about how to find the original so 
that when I repost to increase the buzz and maybe help attract research 
$$$ there is a trackable source I do not have to go look up.

I think the interesting thing about this proposal is that it would be 
an application of technology being worked on for other reasons as well. 
In the best case, this can help leverage the R&D investment needed to 
get the thing off the ground.

Speaking only for myself, I would much prefer a multi-line braille 
device because I think that would make it easier to read faster, 
something that HAS to happen for me to want to make a huge investment. 
I also have interacted with enough different discussions of maps for 
the blind that a device which could render tactile content other than 
braille would make me really, really happy. I am price-conscious, and I 
want a device small enough to be portable but big enough to support 
meaningful tactile content. I know this involves a few different areas 
of R&D and I really prefer to make use of technoloty tools already on 
the shelf.

So I am intrigued, but not signing up for the advance purchase plan.

Dorene Cornwell
Seattle WA



-----Original Message-----
From: BLIND_MAN_JACK <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Sat, Sep 5, 2009 10:30 am
Subject: Re: [VICUG-L] new braille displays in the works!

Ok. I might get my backside charred for what I'm about to say here but
i'ma say it anyway. There have been a number of valid and very workable
ideas for redesigning braille displays. no ne  of the ideas have flown
for
the simple fact that no  one can raise any research and development
money. There was the nest display. A fellow worked for Nasa designed. 
It
used a wheel and only one actuator. Didn't go anywhere.  There was the
mims display. It used used air to form the braille symbols. once  again
it went no where. There has been talk of a full page display for years
now.  Well I haven't seen one and will believe it when I do! Also the
powers that be WILL NOT HELP with any of these projects as  far as they
are concerned it's not broken so why fix it?? Who cares if we pay 8 9
grand for a braille display. Then are quite pleased with the status quo
and will not do anything to change that.
OK do your worst.
Grin



On Sat, 5 Sep 2009, David Poehlman wrote:

> Date: Sat, 5 Sep 2009 07:38:31 -0400
> From: David Poehlman <[log in to unmask]>
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: [VICUG-L] new braille displays in the works!
>
>
>
> we'll see.
>
> On Sep 4, 2009, at 11:29 PM, Harry Brown wrote:
>
>
> Hi all,
> Here's a hugely important article from the accessible devices, what's 
new in
> the past month page.
> enjoy, and we need to be involved.  I don't know about you all, but a 
full
> page braille display is and would be a tremendous thing!
> Harry
> Braille Displays Get New Life With Artificial Muscles
>
> Braille Displays Get New Life With Artificial Muscles
> Braille Displays Get New Life With Artificial Muscles
>
> Research with tiny artificial muscles may yield a full-page active 
Braille
> system that can refresh automatically and come to life right beneath 
your
> fingertips.
>
> Yosi-Bar Cohen, a senior researcher at NASA's Jet Propulsion 
Laboratory in
> Pasadena, Calif, was inspired during a business trip to Washington, 
D.C.,
> where
> a convention for people with visual impairments was taking place.
>
> Bar-Cohen came up with an idea to create a "living Braille," a 
digital,
> refreshable Braille device using electroactive polymers, also known 
as
> artificial
> muscles. He wrote up a technology report and included information in 
a
> related book that he published. His writings inspired other 
scientists and
> engineers
> to create active displays using this technology, and prototypes are 
now under
> development around the world.
>
> "I hope that sometime in the future we will have Braille on an 
iPhone. It
> will be portable and able to project a picture of a neighborhood 
popping up
> in
> front of you in the form of raised dots," said Bar-Cohen. "A digital 
Braille
> operated by artificial muscles could provide for rapid information 
exchange,
> such as e-mail, text messaging and access to the web and other 
electronic
> databases or archives."
>
> According to the World Health Organization, about 314 million people 
are
> visually impaired worldwide; 45 million of them are blind.
>
> Recently, Bar-Cohen was contacted by the Center for Braille 
Innovation of the
> Boston-based National Braille Press to reach out to the Electroactive 
Polymer
> community and take advantage of his role in this field. The National 
Braille
> Press is a non-profit Braille printing and publishing house that 
promotes
> the literacy of blind children through Braille.
>
> Current Braille Display Technologies
>
> The challenge for creating an active Braille display is in packing 
many small
> dots into a tiny volume.
>
> Unlike hardcopy Braille, a refreshable display requires the raising 
and
> lowering of a large number of densely packed dots that allow a person 
to
> quickly
> read them. Currently, commercial active Braille devices are limited 
to a
> single line of characters. A full page of Braille typically has 25 
lines of
> up
> to 40 characters per line. Characters are represented by six or eight 
dots
> per cell, arranged in two columns. To produce a page of refreshable 
Braille
> using electroactive polymers requires individually activating and 
controlling
> thousands of raiseable dots.
>
> Developing New Braille Technologies
>
> Some of the leading-edge work in Braille technology was developed at 
SRI in
> Menlo Park, Calif. Richard Heydt, a senior research engineer there 
who was
> involved
> in developing a prototype says, "The electroactive polymer technology 
seems
> to be a natural fit for Braille and tactile display applications."
>
> The Braille display developed at SRI is based on activating a type of 
polymer
> consisting of a thin sheet of acrylic that deforms in response to 
voltage
> applied across the film. The individual Braille dots are defined by a 
pattern
> on this film, and each dot is independently activated to produce the 
dot
> combinations for Braille letters and numbers.
>
> In currently available active refreshable Braille displays, each dot 
is a pin
> driven by a small motor or electromagnetic coil. In contrast, in the 
SRI
> display
> the actuators are defined regions on a single sheet of film. Thus, 
while each
> dot is raised or lowered by its own applied voltage, there are no 
motors,
> bulky actuators, or similar components. Since the system has far 
fewer
> discrete components for a Braille dot array, it would be potentially 
much
> lower
> in cost.
>
> "The contributions of the developers of electroactive materials to 
making a
> low-cost, active Braille display would significantly improve the life 
of many
> people with visual impairments, while advancing the field to benefit 
other
> applications" said Bar-Cohen.
>
> Looking for the 'Holy Braille'
>
> The Boston-based National Braille Press has recently established a 
Center for
> Braille Innovation. They're looking for the "Holy Braille," a 
full-page
> electronic
> Braille display, at a low cost.
>
> "We feel that the exciting field of electroactive polymer technology 
has
> matured to the point where it can provide real solutions for Braille
> displays.
> We welcome and encourage anyone who wants to take part in Braille
> innovation," said Noel H. Runyan, National Braille Press, Center for 
Braille
> Innovation
>
> In the spring of 2010, Bar-Cohen is including a special session on 
tactile
> displays at an SPIE conference. SPIE is the international society for 
optics
> and photonics. Tactile displays will be presented and possibly 
demonstrated
> at the conference. He hopes these baby steps may someday lead to a 
full-page
> Braille system that will allow people to feel and "see" the universe 
beneath
> their fingers.
>
> JPL is managed for NASA by the California Institute of Technology in
> Pasadena.
>
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