You wish: DOT VIEW SERIES TACTILE GRAPHICS DISPLAY (MODEL DV-1)($10K+?) You wish: DOT VIEW SERIES TACTILE GRAPHICS DISPLAY (MODEL DV-2) ($10K+?) To do...
An article in 2002 (10/26/02), "Display: Feeling Is Believing" anounced that NIST had created a tactile graphics display that is "expected to cost around $2,000..." Woot. But when?
Another article almost exactly 5 years later (25/10/2007), announced ""NIST Licenses Systems to Help the Blind 'See' Images" Again, but when? And for how much?
The 10th anniversary of the first announcement and the 5th anniversary of the second have come and gone with narry a peep. Meh. Anyone want to bet on the next decade or so?
The Hepatic Braille Mouse gets a "you wish, cruel tease" mention here for two reasons. First the "concept" is presented as a "design." That is, page drones on about features and functions that reel you (and seach engines!) in. You have to read pretty carefully to realize that the only "design" that went on was art. Nobody calculated if there was room for the "designed" braille cells, power for said cells, room for enough CPU power for the "designed" Optical Character Recognition feature, etc. As art it's pretty. As an actual "design" it's had zero thought put into it. Nothing wrong with that per se, fantasy drive reality often enough. But you just try to search for anything braille and mouse related and this stupid and useless "design" and it's glowing list of "features" will crowd out any hope of finding anything else on the net. Jackwagons...
Maybe: http://www.engadget.com/2005/03/12/braille-mouse-like-computer-display/ and http://www.economist.com/node/14955359
The Braille Credit Card gets a "you wish, cruel tease" mention here for the same resons as the mouse folks above only in reverse. I didn't run into them much googling for other things so that nice. But, seriously? These guys too the fantasy way too far. While there are some new braille technologies that just might go this thin, once again where is the power supposed to come from. Moreover they spew the notion that the credit card reader - note that word r e a d e r reader - is going to send information to the card, etc. Then they throw in a voice synthiser, a finger print scanner (which would send what to where), etc. It's not even particularly "pretty." A bad fantasy at that...
The "Thimble" concept device gets a "you wish, cruel tease" mention for yet another blunder. Mind you for this "device" they even made a mockup and shot a video about how it might be used. Heavy on the pretty, extra light on the "design." Yes it's pure fantasy. Yes there's not a stitch of actual "design" in there. No place for power, CPU, etc. It sports a pulled-out-of-thin-air Bluetooth capability and it relies on OCR the decades old and oft cited but never actually working technology. Mind you OCR that actaully worked would change the world. But why stop there and not go for telepathy or restored sight or something.
Where this "device" is truely and utterly flawed in a way that shows that the "designer" knows nothing about the problem domain is that it straps the users fingertip to the built in braille display. First this robs the user of all tactile input on their primary finger - that, you know, has to feel other things in the real world, maybe actual static braille. Second, and far worse, this doesn't allow the user to swipe across the braille. There's a reason that braille users don't just press their fingers into the braille but instead glide them across the braille. That's because that's how the human sensory organs work best. That skilled braille users read with more than one finger at a time is just another reason to ask, "What then heck were you thinking?" This device, even if somehow brought into existance with magic and pixie dust, is still fool's errand and an epic fail.
Yes, the BrainPort gets a "you wish, cruel tease" call out too. While the science behind it seems sound enough and the military's interest lends it "street cred" they really haven't demonstrated much more than the "Thimbles" mock up video. Until recenetly if the Thimble actually had press releases they'd be running neck and neck with the BrainPort as to which was the vaporware. It isn't reashuring that most pages of the Wicab web site are stamped "Wicab makes no representations regarding the device safety or efficacy."
That said... I believe in the BrainPort. And, according to their latest announcement from their web site, as of March 19, 2013 the BrainPort has achieved "Market Approval" in Europe. Not a peep about a production time frame. And no mention of cost either, other than to mention that they're looking for "philanthropic partners" to help make them affordable. On the upside they do mention the intention to "establish a demonstration program" so people can try before they buy. Which will be awesome if and when, with the accent on "if" assuming their usual pace and follow through.
What they get the "you wish, cruel tease" call out for is this... Look at their publications page, which starts off (at the bottom) in 1998. This technology has been 15 years in the making and still hasn't actually seen the light of day, so to speak. This August 2009 engadget.com article cites an older April 2006 engadget saying "We first saw the crazy BrainPort in 2006..." it goes on to say that "The next step is FDA approval, which is expected by year's end, meaning that the BrainPort could arrive as early as 2010." Yet Wicab's web pages are all stamped "The BrainPort V100 device has not yet been submitted to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for clearance or approval" despite their FAQ page (also saying that the device has still not been submitted to the FDA) saying, "Wicab is in the process of pursuing regulatory approval." And, according to engadget, they have been "persuing approval" for about 4 years despite not, you know, actually submitting it. Also, the article's 4 year 2006 to 2010 estimate for FDA approval would imply that the earliest the BrainPort could be available in the US is at least now, 2013, plus 4 years.)
What's really aggravating isn't the cost or delays but their apparent underlying causes. Checkout this little gem: AFRL-RH-WP-TR-2010-0049 BrainPort® Technology Tongue Interface Characterization Tactical Underwater Navigation System. Burried in that documnet is pretty much all you need to roll your own BrainPort, a Rasberry Pi ought to be a good starting point. It also proves that development and refinment is on ging. Much headway has been made to research useful voltage thresholds, increase working resolution, identifying optimal refresh rates, defining what can and can't be "seen", etc. (Though, shouldn't that have already been done before they started making promises?) What's also burried in there is the fact that instead of miniatiurizing and refining the product for market or even FDA approval they've been building bigger, badder, power hungry, multi-core, Virtual Macchine encumbered, non-portable rack mount versions to help Navy Frogmen see with sonar. Which, yes, is nifty in it's own right. But at the expense of letting a badly needed, workable technology languish for years on end? For shame! I expect this product will also - and needlessly! - see it's original announcment's 10th birthday long before we see units available.
So much potential. Such a cruel tease...