With the machine fully developed I set my sights on developing a tactile imaging paper that was unlike anything that existed to produce raised documents. The qualities that I strove to obtain were that the paper not only produce an excellent, easy to produc document, but I also felt that the document should be long lasting and constructed in such a manner that should the document be inadvertently folded or bent the tactile image would not be destroyed.

After about one year in development time testing various compounds and methods of constructing the paper, we introduced Flexi-Paper. This paper has worked very well and we have manufactured hundreds of thousands of sheets. But work continued on the development process to improve the quality of the tactile reproduction.

Within the last month we were able to complete development of a new method of constructing Flexi-Paper. The result is a much smoother surface that is easier to read by touch and creates much finer image contrast. The lines are sharper and the dots are better defined. This is the product that will be supplied on all future shipments.

 Since imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, there have emerged copycat enhancers who have tried to imitate the design of the Tactile Image Enhancer and tactile imaging paper. These copycats perform no function differently from the TIE and yet they cost appreciably more.

Flexi-Paper remains unparalleled in its performance standards. Other papers that try to imitate the abilities of Flexi-Paper cannot be folded or bent. If they are, either they will assume the crease thereby conveying false information to the blind user, or a crease will cause the coating to flake off and remove the tactile information from it.

It is important to note that Repro-Tronics is the only company that manufactures both the paper and the machines. This insures proper quality control of all products. Other companies marketing tactile imaging products rely on someone else to make some or all of their products.

Over these past four years I came to realize that just providing a means to produce tactile documents was not enough to properly serve the needs of blind people. There was needed a method whereby a blind person could create documents with drawings and diagrams independently. In order to do this it also necessitated a platform to teach tactile diagram reading skills. To fill this void RTI has introduced two products that are interlinked but provide the necessary tools needed.

Bumpy Pictures Software Becomes Tactile AudioGraphics

It has become apparent that the software we have lovingly referred to as Bumpy Pictures has evolved such a great extent that the name can no longer do it justice. The proper description and therefore the new name is Tactile AudioGraphics ( TAG )

The elements that comprise TAG are:

AudiCAD, AudioPIx, AudioTRIP, TraceME, PrintME and EmbossME

What does each element do?

The AudioCAD section of Tactile AudioGraphics is the only software package ever designed to provide a method for a blind or visually impaired person to be able to create a drawing or diagram completely unassisted. The program uses speech enhancement to guide a blind user through the mechanics of diagram construction. The resultant drawing can be directed to a laser printer, then put on Flexi-Paper and a tactile image obtained. There is also a facility provided using Index printers where the very finest print resolution can be utilized but the graphical output will remain a full -sized drawing.

An exciting new feature has been added to AudiCAD. It is a function called TraceME. Utilizing TraceME provides a very fast method for sighted creation of drawings. Drawings created with TraceME are PCX files. Scanned files can also be loaded in TraceME for editing . TraceME files can only be used for print output; they cannot be embossed.

AudioCAD also provide a sighted mode so that sighted people can also create drawings that can be utilized within the program.

The AudioPIX section of Bumpy Pictures is the section of Bumpy Pictures that provides for a method whereby using a Edmark Touch Window™ tactile documents can be programed to provide a speech output that refers to a particular point or object on the document.

AudioTRIP is a real time function that will allow a map ( street, building, city or whatever is necessary ) to be programed into AudioPIX. This map can then be used through its audio output to direct a blind person from place to place.

PrintME allows any AudioCAD file to be sent directly to a printer.

EmbossME allows ant AudioCAD file to be sent directly to an embosser.

Tactile Map Reading Kit and World Atlas Kit

In order to teach the skills necessarily required to read tactile diagrams and to teach tactile map reading, we have developed two kits that work in conjunction with AudioPIX. These kits are a combination of Flexi-Paper drawings combined with a disk that contains speech output files that provide descriptions for each drawing.

The first of these two kits, The Tactile Map Reading Kit, consists of 17 tactile drawings with corresponding files to guide the user first through the art of being able to decipher what is on a tactile diagram. It proceeds to teach the concept of compass, direction, clock face reading, and concepts of the longest and shortest distance between two points . It then goes into more difficult concepts, reading of contours on a map, the layout of a room plan, the layout of a house plan, then to the plans of a city incorporating the skills developed in the prior diagrams.

The second of these kits is 26 drawings that comprise the World Atlas. These drawings break the world down into hemispheres, continents and countries. They provide equal area projections as well as Mercator projections. These maps begin by being very general and as they progress they become more specific in detail about a continent or country. This set of maps provides an audio-tactile description of the world never before provided.

What is in the future

Development is under way on a number of new products. A Total Publishing System that will combine print, braille and graphics is a page, booklet, or complete book. This system will be able to generate output by using preprinted originals or by using computer files. The Total Publishing system will incorporate technology that is new and unique.

A wider version of the Tactile Image Enhancer is being constructed so that poster size drawing can be produced tactually

This issue of the Bumpy Gazette will deal primarily with art and museums and projects that have been developed to enhance art appreciation. There are three articles describing different approaches being taken . There is an additional article that is excerpted from a presentation given by Kevin Carey in England. Mr . Carey is the publisher of the British Journal on Visual Impairment.

Since our product line has increased appreciably I am including a listing as well as the prices for each.