[Reader-users] Determining The Correct Tilt: Was RE: my mom'sletter

[Pam Drake]

Mike,

Thanks for the very detailed instructions.  Without a sighted person easily
available to verify my camera position it really helps to have the extra
verbal input, especially for one who refers to the word "straight" as the
eight-letter S-word".  Sorry if that offended anybody, but that concept just
is very hard for me.  So is centering, but you have given me a reference to
work on.  



Oh yes, the parts of the machine are very easy to identify.  I even had the
two pieces come apart the day I first tried the ill-fated battery change; so
I know how important it is to make sure the camera and PDA are snugly
attached and the Velcro securely fastened.  

So I gather from your information that my definition of "tilt" isn't
accurate.  That's good to know.  I tend to take things very literally at
times, and that can of course cause mistakes.  

Thanks again.  

Pam



-----Original Message-----
From: reader-users-bounces at nfbnet.org
[mailto:reader-users-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Mike Freeman
Sent: Saturday, November 03, 2007 7:41 AM
To: Kurzweil National Federation of the Blind Reader user list
Subject: Re: [Reader-users] Determining The Correct Tilt: Was RE: my mom's
letter

Pam:

You're making this harder than it need be.

First, as elementary as it sounds, please be aware that the camera is the
oblongish projection from the PDA. The camera lens is the
glass/plastic/feeling disk that you feel through the opening in the part of
the case that holds the camera. Hence, when you "point the camera" at
something, you are aiming this disk -- the lens -- at it.

Second, you want the camera placed such that the center of the lens is
pointing straight down toward the reading material and such that it is
centered on the material (such as a piece of paper or page from a book),
i.e., the edges of the paper are  equidistant in the horizontal plane from
the center of the lens. You can learn to find this point by putting the
Reader on the surface and sliding it till there is an equal amount of paper
to the left, right, top and bottom from the lens. Now bring the camera up
*flat* till it is 16/18 inches above the reading surface. In the Field of
View Report, what you want to hear is "All Four Edges Visible". Don't worry
about how much the camera is rotated with respect to the page; while this is
useful in that the closer the camera is aligned to the page (either 0
degrees or 90 degrees off -- the software will adjust for the rotation and
will say the picture is "upside down" 
if the camera is rotated 180 degrees with respect to the page), the better
the image, the difference is slight and isn't nearly as critical as whether
you have all four edges of the paper visible or not. The software will
compensate for the rotation. You also want the printed image to take up
somewhere around 50% of the total area seen by the camera; if the camera is
too far away from the reading surface, the image may not be sufficiently
distinct to get good recognition; if the camera is too close, it  won't see
the entire surface. I've taken images with as little as 20% of the camera
image consisting of print but this is not ideal.

Third, if you can't quite get all four edges visible, take the picture
anyway; you may be surprised. However, you won't be guaranteed that the
Reader will see all the print that is there.

All this takes far longer to talk about then to do. Don't obsess over it;
just practice, practice, practice. And then practice some more. 
You'll get the hang of it. If you truly don't have the hand coordination or
steadiness to master the thing; the Reader stand works wonderfully. I bought
the Reader before there *was* a stand so if I wanted to use it, I perforce
had to get at least decent at positioning it over the printed material.
There are many who are better at it than am I; however, I'm "good enough for
government work" -- which is where I work. (grin)

I will say this; after you get good with the Reader, you'll have a much
better understanding of what it is like to look directly at something as
opposed to viewing at an angle.

Never fear; I'm quite certain you'll get it. But, as I say, less obsessing,
more practicing. (huge grin)

Warmly,

Mike Freeman

  ----- Original Message -----
  From: Pam Drake
  To: 'Kurzweil National Federation of the Blind Reader user list'
  Sent: Saturday, November 03, 2007 1:00 AM
  Subject: [Reader-users] Determining The Correct Tilt: Was RE: my mom's
letter


  I am trying to determine how to recognize and perfect the tilt.  I'm
  imagining it as a kind of downward slant, placing the camera at the proper
  height, but closer to the paper than the pda.  Is this assumption correct?
  Can anyone possibly describe what position I'm trying to find?  Is it a
  steep angle?  Shannon first told me of this privately in a phone
  conversation, and I think I have the idea, but wanted to run my idea by
the
  list to get any further clarification from anyone.  My spatial judgment is
  somewhat off, so the more possible illustrations I can get of this idea,
the
  better.

  Thanks, as always.

  Pam



  -----Original Message-----
  From: reader-users-bounces at nfbnet.org
  [mailto:reader-users-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Shannon!
  Sent: Sunday, October 28, 2007 1:52 PM
  To: Kurzweil National Federation of the Blind Reader user list
  Subject: [Reader-users] my mom's letter

  Hi James,
  I most definitely shall keep the letter, not only to show what the reader
  can do, but also to help me learn to be a better picture taker.  I was
  getting 2 and a half thirds of the letter, but no matter what I did, I
could
  not get it all.  So when my husband came home, I turned the view finder on
  so he could see and we practiced the tilt of the camera.  IN my case, I
was
  holding it high enough, but my tilt was wrong.  This is probably the
  hardest, (though not really hard), thing about the Reader, is getting that
  camera tilt right, especially if you absolutely must, or want to, read the
  full page.
  I've got the letter saved on my cf card and the original print letter,
just
  in case I need to practice the tilt some more.
  Shannon
  Don't question the gifts you have been given; just do what you can to pass
  the gifts along.