[Mn-abs] Fw: tablet provides graphics to vi

Fri Mar 2 00:27:20 CST 2007

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>From: "James Konechne" <j_konechne at hotmail.com>
>Reply-To: Minnesota Association of Blind Students List <mn-abs at nfbnet.org>
>To: mn-abs at nfbnet.org
>Subject: Re: [Mn-abs] Fw: tablet provides graphics to vi
>Date: Wed, 28 Feb 2007 21:52:34 -0600
>
>Hi Joe,
>Its James here.
>Could you please update my e-mail address and start sending these e-mails 
>to the following address?
>my e-mail is:
>jakon22 at gmail.com
>
>Thanks.
>James Konechne
>
>
>
>STEAK
>BACON
>LAMB CHOPS
>Hungry for some great meat?
>I sell beef, lamb, and pork.
>Locally grown by SD farmers
>Processed to your specs
>Delivery can be arranged.
>To fill your freezer and satisfy your craving call or e-mail.
>Cell 605.680.4740
>e-mail j_konechne at hotmail.com
>
>
>
>
>
>
>>From: "Joe Orozco" <jsorozco at gmail.com>
>>Reply-To: Minnesota Association of Blind Students List <mn-abs at nfbnet.org>
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>>Subject: [Mn-abs] Fw: tablet provides graphics to vi
>>Date: Mon, 5 Feb 2007 10:00:39 -0500
>>
>>Tablet provides graphics to visually impaired persons
>>
>>
>>
>>By:
>>
>>Sherry Mazzocchi
>>
>>Issue date: 2/5/07 Section:
>>
>>Karen Gourgey demonstrates the Talking Tactile Tablet, which helps the
>>visually impared with visual concepts.
>>
>>Media Credit:
>>
>>John Lee
>>
>>Karen Gourgey demonstrates the Talking Tactile Tablet, which helps the
>>visually impared with visual concepts.
>>
>>
>>
>>If you are currently reading The Ticker in its paper format, you probably
>>don't have impaired vision. But imagine, just for a few minutes, that you
>>do.
>>
>>You have a cane, or even a trained and trustworthy guide dog to help you
>>navigate the halls and find your way amidst people, elevators and doors. 
>>You
>>arrive
>>
>>at your Statistics 101 classroom. Maybe you even have a Braille textbook.
>>But what happens when the teacher puts equations, charts and bell curves 
>>on
>>the
>>
>>blackboard? What do you do then?
>>
>>
>>
>>Karen Gourgey understands this dilemma. Gourgey is the director of 
>>Baruch's
>>Computer Center for Visually Impaired People (CCVIP). Last September, she
>>and
>>
>>Steve Landau of Touch Graphics, Inc. were awarded Baruch's first ever 
>>patent
>>for a device that helps students learn visual concepts. Called the 
>>"Talking
>>
>>Tactile Tablet," it incorporates Braille, raised graphics and voice
>>technology to help students who are visually impaired.
>>
>>
>>
>>The TTT is a small, portable device that can be plugged into any PC with a
>>USB connection. Convenient and easy to use, no additional battery or 
>>drivers
>>
>>are necessary.
>>
>>
>>
>>The TTT is interactive and easy to use. It comes with a talking world map,
>>games and an authoring tool, which can be used to develop new course
>>curriculums.
>>
>>Games like Snakes and Ladders are fun and designed so students can quickly
>>grasp the concept of learning how to maneuver across the tablet and become
>>familiar
>>
>>with its graphics. "People who are visually impaired don't get a lot of
>>training in graphics. My math teacher told me to skip over them," said
>>Gourgey.
>>
>>"And I went to a high school for the blind."
>>
>>
>>
>>Because the TTT uses Braille, voice technology and raised graphics, it
>>provides a multi-sensory learning experience. The screen is a dense fabric
>>of fine
>>
>>wires, which can be thought of as a mouse. A tablet, much a like a chapter
>>in a book, is inserted into the TTT. When a user touches the screen, they
>>can
>>
>>either read Braille or run their fingers over a raised graphic while a
>>synthesized voice describes it. Feeling a pie chart or a bell curve is an
>>entirely
>>
>>different learning experience than looking at a drawing on a board or
>>textbook. Using vision to understand something can be a flat, intellectual
>>experience.
>>
>>But touching is to grasp a concept intimately and almost immediately
>>internalize it.
>>
>>Gourgey said, "People are so used to looking at things. But when people 
>>read
>>Braille, the visual cortex is involved. They are using the same perceptual
>>
>>mode, but the input stream is different."
>>
>>
>>
>>One of the many benefits of the TTT, aside from being easy to use, is its
>>wide range of applications. The TTT is being tested in Santa Monica with a
>>learning
>>
>>disabled student this semester. Applications for learning Braille in 
>>Spanish
>>are being developed. The statistics program in the TTT was based on a
>>textbook
>>
>>by Annette Gourgey (Gourgey's sister-in-law), an instructor at BMCC.
>>
>>
>>
>>The programs all have a main menu and a clear, consistent structure. The
>>statistics program has review questions on each tablet. Students can 
>>listen
>>to
>>
>>the TTT's succinct answers as well as type in their own. The TTT uses two
>>voices. One voice describes the graphics in a synthetic, digitized voice.
>>The
>>
>>other voice asks and answers questions in a recorded human voice. Landau
>>said that speech technology is advancing. "Synthetic speech is now fairly
>>human
>>
>>sounding." Recorded human speech, while pleasing, is not always that
>>practical. "It's very expensive," he said. "They are large files that are
>>slow and
>>
>>hard to load." TTT software currently sells for around $699.
>>
>>
>>
>>Gourgey, who was born blind, has been with the CCVIP since the late 1970s.
>> >From very early on in her career, she knew that fusing literacy with
>>technology
>>
>>would be the key to working with visually-impaired students. "The PC
>>revolution in the '80s had to be for everyone," she said. "You need to 
>>know
>>how to
>>
>>use a computer. There is power and freedom in information."
>>
>>
>>
>>Gourgey and Landau both say that Dr. Sally Mangold, who died of leukemia 
>>in
>>2005, was an inspiration in their work. The founder of Educational 
>>Teaching
>>
>>Aids, Mangold was considered an innovator in field of teaching visually
>>impaired students. "She was a hero in the field, a teacher of teachers,"
>>said Gourgey.
>>
>>
>>
>>The product developed by Gourgey and Landau does not exactly mirror the
>>technology advanced by Mangold, but the ultimate outcome is the same. 
>>"This
>>will
>>
>>bridge the graphical literacy gap," said Gourgey, "and make it fun."
>>
>>http://media.www.theticker.org/media/storage/paper909/news/2007/02/05/News/Tablet.Provides.Graphics.To.Visually.Impaired.Persons-2695641-page2.shtml?sourcedomain=www.theticker.org&MIIHost=media.collegepublisher.com
>>
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