Author: guinyard juwan j.

The Pressure Annotating System

Introduction

For a long time, people with disabilities have not been given the same accessibility and attention, as they should. “The American Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) prohibits discrimination and ensures equal opportunity for persons with disabilities in employment, State and local government services, public accommodations, commercial facilities, and transportation” (ADA.gov). My project specifically targets the visibly impaired which in 1996, changed the copyright laws for equal production and distribution of braille text in digital and print forms.

Copyright laws before the breakthrough weren’t’ favorable for the blind. Anything reproduced for the blind, whether it was a book or an item, was taken one at a time instead of a mass production. The reasoning was because braille text was more expensive and time consuming to produce. Authors and publishers had to and still have to sign off for permission to create a braille text. Many times the process would be delayed for months or eventually, the permission would not go through.

After the law was passed, one of the requirements on copyright permission made way for the future of digital text. “All works which are reproduced or distributed in a specialized format, including Braille, audio, or digital reproductions, must contain a statement that “Further reproduction or distribution in a format other than a specialized format is prohibited.” According to the Library of Congress, this notice must appear both in print (for example, on the label of a recorded disk or cassette) and in the audio, Braille, or digital text itself” (ADA.gov). The steps taken by the U.S government has ensured the future of a universal reading experience.

Purpose

            The name of my project is called “The Pressure Annotating System,” it is a physical book that allows the visibly impaired to be able to annotate a text directly in the book and it will have the ability to read that highlighted text back to the user with the braille protruding to indicate the annotated section. I believe that this invention will have a great effect on the visibly impaired community, which can also be used in the classroom.

Audience

            As of 2014, an estimated 285 million people globally are visually impaired, and 39 million are blind. About 90 percent of the visually impaired have a low income (World Health Organization, Visual impairment and blindness,). My main audience would be visibly impaired high school and college students. Our job as English students is to be able to read any work critically and closely. What makes this work efficiently is that we are able to see the text in front of us. We can identify the structures and specific diction the author chose to use to create meaning. Around that time, students are beginning to read more text and asked to be able to close read it for a better understanding and to find meaning.

This would also have to extend to teachers who are working with the students on a regular basis. Being able to teach in general is something that has to be constantly worked on, as they have to be someone who can interact well with all students while finding methods and techniques that work. “Johnson characterized learning to teach as “a long-term, complex, developmental process that is the result of participation in the social practices and contexts associated with learning and teaching” (Kristin Davin, Francis Troyan, The Implementation of High-Leverage Teaching Practices).

Technical Specifications

What I want to mix is Text-to-speech technology and pressure sensory. How the book will look and operate is through the pressure applied by the reader. Each page will have to be thicker so that the activation technology can be used on both sides of the page. In the spine, there is a speaker for the text to be spoken. When the reader comes across a word or a phrase that feels important or useful to refer back to, the user simply presses against the braille and it will be said aloud. With the TTS, the page braille on the page will either protrude or change texture to simulate highlighting.

We see text-to-speech used in audiobooks that is accessible to everyone. We see it used in our phones, tablets, kindles, laptops, every piece of established technology. What I really want to develop is the ability to incorporate pressure technology. ”Deep touch pressure refers to a form of tactile sensory input which is often provided by firm holding, firm stroking, cuddling, hugging, and squeezing. Deep touch pressure acts as a calming or focusing agent to increase activity in the parasympathetic division, and lower activity in the sympathetic division of the Autonomic Nervous System (ANS)” (myjacket.com)

Myjacket.com is a website that makes wearable touch technology vests simulates a hugging feeling. They want to improve the quality of life for people dealing with stress, anxiety, and children with autism, ADHD, and other conditions of that nature.

The Pressure Annotating system would work something like this, but flipped. Instead of the pressure against you, the user will be applying pressure. A certain amount of pressure will have to trigger the annotating process. Reading braille now can vary depending on the individual’s finger sensitivity. Health conditions can make it more difficult to read braille. Some books and magazines have incorporated bigger dots to counteract the lack of feeling in the fingers, but it is very limited (Visionaware.org). The text used for the pressure annotating will use softer paper and dots.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yLZRPXJ8lo

A machine called the Refreshable Braille Display is a pad that goes underneath a keyboard so that it can generate braille. The user highlights the line on the computer screen and it turns into text into braille. The pad uses pins to create the dots in each cell. There are eight dots per cell. Six are for braille, and two are to identify the cursor. This technology is similar to what I have envisioned, so I would want to work with the creator to get a better understanding of how this my plan can be achieved and ultimately more beneficial.

Implementation

            The target audience may be high school and college scholars, but with high tech hardware, we see today, the students won’t really be the ones to afford it. The Pressure Annotating System will have to be marketed to parents, teachers, and schools, as they are the demographic with the income to afford it. Kevin Carey of The Perkins School for the Blind wrote an article in 2007 on the “Issues of content accessibility in the digital environment” (Kevin Carey, The Opportunities and Challenges of the Digital Age).  One of his topics is on the production of print copies of braille text, as it took too long to create which hurt the blind community. “When  you think  about  it, whether  you are a student or  a voracious reader  who likes to discuss new books  with  friends,  a  two-year  wait  for  a  book  is destructively  long” (Carey, page 3).

In 2011, Carey promised to cut the price down of the Refreshable Braille Display by 90 percent. He succeeded 5 years later. The device costs $320 to manufacture, and can be bought between $1,300 and $5,000 (Alix Hackett, A low-cost revolution in refreshable braille). With the all the new ways of creating technology now, my design could be something that is quick to manufacture so that users don’t have to wait a long time. It is taking things that have already been created. Incorporating into something new shouldn’t be too difficult.

Email would be a good way of getting attention because of the demographic, and the fact that every person has one. The next big way of marketing this would be through social media and YouTube by hitting relatives and friends of people who are visibly impaired. All it takes is someone with a big enough following to start getting the attention on the product. TV ads could also work because if the individual is old enough, they will probably be more likely to come across it as opposed to the younger generation who doesn’t look at television.

Conclusion

            My project idea has a lot of potential to become the next important piece of technology for the visual impaired. The community has come a long way to have equal rights for something that is so important for everyone to know. Being able to read goes towards education, communication, personal growth, and just pure enjoyment. Having all these available outlets now is moving us as a society to becoming more empathetic to all, and hopefully, it will continue to grow with the ability to grasp a complete understanding of a text through The Pressure Annotating System.

 

 

Works Cited

Carey, Kevin. “The Opportunities and Challenges of the Digital Age: A Blind User’s Perspective.” Library Trends, vol. 55, no. 4, 2007, pp. 767-784

Davin, Kristin J. and Francis J. Troyan. “The Implementation of High-Leverage Teaching Practices: From the University Classroom to the Field Site.” Foreign Language Annals, vol. 48, no. 1, 2015, pp. 124-142.

Hackett, Alix. “A low-cost revolution in refreshable braille.” Perkins School for the Blind, March 24, 2014, Accessed 5/5/17

“All About Braille”, Visionaware.com, accessed 5/2/17

“New Copyright Law Breakthrough For The Blind” Future Reflections: The National Federation of the Blind Magazine for Parents and Teachers of Blind Children, Vol.16, No.1 1997. Accessed 5/5/17

“Refreshable Braille Displays” American Foundation For the Blind, Accessed 5/5/17

“The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and Revised ADA Regulations

Implementing Title II and Title III” ADA.gov, Accessed 5/5/17

“The Science Behind Tjacket”, mytjacket.com, accessed 5/2/17

“Visual impairment and blindness”, World Health Organization, Who.int, August 2014, Accessed 5/5/17

Photos and Videos

Williams, George. “Refreshable Braille Display” Flickr March 8, 2013, Accessed 5/5/17

“Braille Alphabet”, Wikimedia Commons, Accessed 5/5/17

HumanWareTechnologie “HumanWare Brailliant Braille Display” YouTube May 15, 2012, Accessed 5/5/17

Pitch: Pressure Annotating

Our job as english students is to be able to read any work critically and closely. What makes this work efficiently is that we are able to see the text in front of us. We can identify the structures and specific diction the author chose to use to create meaning. But what about someone who is unable to see whats exactly on the page, how will they be able to close read and annotate the text they are reading? What I am proposing and want to create is technology a visibly impaired person can use to close read any text. Now, there is technology that reads the text for you, and of course braille is used to for people to read physical copies of text. What I want to do is mix the two together.

For this to work, we would have to make new books that are connected to a smartphone. The books wouldn’t be made out of ink and paper anymore. Instead, the braille will be connected to a chip in the spine that allows for a person to apply a certain amount of pressure throughout any part of the text to create a highlight type action on the page. What will happen is that after the pressure is placed, it will turn kind of sleek to indicate that you have made an annotation. That annotation can then be read to you straight from the book.

There are many organizations around the country that help the visibly impaired by prerecording material for people to indulge. One group called RRRB (Recorded Recreational Reading for the Blind) produces over six hours of recorded audio a week for a retirement home and communities around the West Valley of Maricopa County, Arizona. Because there are volunteers like them, it wouldn’t be a difficult task to find people that want to be a part of the project.

I want to focus this more for blind scholars. I feel that this will help aid in reading more difficult text because for someone who isn’t sight challenged, an individual will most likely mark up an entire reading because there is just so much information that needs to be carefully analyzed.

Works Cited

Recorded Recreational Reading for the Blind, https://www.readingfortheblind.org/. Accessed 25 April 2017

Career in Writing Fair

“You’ll be fine” was kind of the motto that was preached throughout the panel and during individual meetings. It wasn’t just being said to make everyone in the room feel at ease about the fear of the real world, but it was said to mean that as writers there are many jobs that need people with writing abilities. Being able to write is an important skill to have especially now with the advancement in technology. Writers are needed when there is a new software or application to help the user, writers are needed for education to produce textbooks, writers are needed to help run social media for companies, press releases, major publications. Anywhere you can think of, the ability to write and write well is a commodity that is always being looked for.

For me, it was great to hear the possible avenues writing can take me even though I know what path I want to take. Talking to Lydia Woolever, the associate editor for Baltimore Magazine was very insightful. She not only talked about possible internship opportunities, she gave me advice on writing for the newspaper and other things on publication. It was just great to hear someone talk about something I was really interested in because it made me more motivated to continue the route of publication and journalism.

Book Traces Event

The book traces activity and event was a very good experience, as it not only gave us information and an idea on past cultures, it also gave us insight on individuals. Books are very powerful as they have the ability to help us learn, find new perspective, and relate to the reader. Many, if all the writing we came across in the old books were things the writer was going through at the time; and the story or poem spoke exactly to their situation.

During the introduction of last class, one of the writings was in a poetry book. Throughout the book, we could see texting before technology as a woman and a man were having a conversation with one another and taking pieces of poems to tell how they felt about each other. They had a system of passing the book back and forth. unfortunately, it didn’t end happily ever after as we were able to see the relationship crumble and not in a way the public needed to see. That however is was makes it fascinating is that many of the books had sentimental value to the owner. Whether it was something passed down in the family, a gift from a friend or loved one, or just a personal scrape book. At the time of writing whatever came to mind at that moment, there was no thought of having random eyes on it. These books ended up having strangers read them because the owner has passed and now there belongings are sold and given away.

Some other material we came across during the hands on activity was a book called “Reveries of a Bachelor.” The notes we found were from an older gentleman wishing for the old days of being a bachelor. The end of the second Reverey was a poem he wrote about being a sad man with no one to care for him. The end of the book had notes of the man talking to other men who had the same feelings. Another book had writing on every page as they changed the story into a satire.

During the event, a lot of what Andrew Stauffer presented was share in class like the amount of hair and flowers were left in books. Placing locks of hair in books was a common practice in the 19th century. It could have been a bookmark, or just a place to store a piece of life. Flowers were also assumed to be forgotten bookmarks. Others were botany samples as the 19th century was very floral; used on covers of most anthologies. Some new information was they found was a memorial for Annie Dearing of the John Dear family where they botanical insertion and notes from a religious text. Another book discussed was called “Songs of Seven” which is about a woman’s life every seven years until age 49. The book was given to a child at the age of seven and was marked up by the person that gave it to her to indicate the next stage of life. What was also cool to find out was it gave a voice to women who weren’t able to publish during that period.

“Books have an afterlife and changes the future culture. Material books will always be relevant.”          Andrew Stauffer

Transcription of Manuscript Letter T

This would be needed for our sycamore. “Have you told your father?” “I have not yet told him sis.” That’s very hard for you, Mayem! How have you managed it then? She briefly selected her feeler, on which he made no comment, but taking her to the house as if she were a little child. He had thought the undergrowth to a shot where the trees were older and standing at wider thickness. Among them was the tree he had spoken of, an elm, huge, hollow, disheveled and heathen; with a rift in its side. “Now go inside”, he said before it gets any darker. You will live there-everything you want. At any sake, if you do not, you must do without it. I’ll keep watch and point the lawyer, then you can help she. “What am I to do, sis?” She asked the puzzled maiden. Go inside, of you will see, when you are near, wave your hand reaching at that hole. She shoved into the opening. The cavity within the tree formed a lofty circular compartment four or five feet in diameter. To which daylight entered at the foot, and also through a normal hole almost six feet from the ground. Making the shot at which a light haltered appeared in the tree’s spine. The decayed wood of cinnamon-brown, forming the inner surface of the tree, the warm evening show reflected in at the foot, swallowed the cavity with a faint mellow retinue. But Mayem has heard it was time to feed their things. Her eye has tree caught by objects of quite another quality. A layer white offering.

Letterpress Workshop

The letterpress demo was a really fun experience; it was great insight on how long the printing process took. The people that did this job for a living must have been were more than likely masters at their craft. The printers obviously had an easier time putting together words and phrases then we had because they probably knew where each letter was from memory. They were also probably well accustomed to the different types and had a better grasp on which would work best depending on the print. I don’t think proofreading would have been any different, because there might have been a number of eyes looking at the work. We were able to notice mistakes even if the pieces were upside down so I feel that aspect wouldn’t be any different from our demo.

It took about 30 minutes for each group to put together 15 words or less for it to be then placed on the furniture to be pressed or roll pressed. Once on the furniture, you had to make sure each case was tightly squeezed together so that when it was rolled over, the pieces wouldn’t shift. The idea is a simple one especially because the letters were already made. We didn’t have to mold each lead type, but assembling really gave everyone trouble.

The Republic of Letters (1685-1850)

The Republic of Letters (1685-1850)

A network of letters through Europe and America was created for philosophers and scholars to share their concepts with each other. The Age of Enlightenment brought in a system would evolve into newspapers and academic journals expanding languages and culture. 

Not only did it transcend language in culture, but it brought like minded individuals together into schools and universities out of France. It is hard to know where exactly the sharing of letters started, but we do know France was in the center of it (History.com,”Enlightenment”). 

The Republic of Letters can sometimes be called the men of letters because society refrained women from participating. That did not mean however, that there were not many important women figures who were a part in the age. Salons played a pivotal role in not only bringing together intelligent individuals to educate one another, but they established order and a civil space. One salon owner was Marie-Therese Geoffrin. Her establishment became well known and most frequented as she held weekly dinners from 1749 until her death in 1777. She had inherited the salon from Madame de Tencin, who was more unconventional compared to Geoffrin who wasn’t formally educated, but had natural intelligence. Marie-Therese Geoffrin strict rule during her occasions was no talk of politics or religion. The host and hostesses of the salons were very respected among the “Men Of Letters”, it didn’t also allowed for their reputation to grow if they received enough praise (“The Kingdom of Politesse”).

These salons were a part of high society, making it possible for men to have their work be protected. Patronism and clientelism allowed for different things depending on the person. A client only institutionalized a bond between an author and a great noble depending on the political belief or literary service. A patron was eligible to receive awards and gifts. The system is different between salons, but the gifts weren’t because of specific works, they were more of a generous token of friendship. The gratitude towards one another helped solidify protection, all out of the polite nature of others (“The Kingdom of Politesse”).

The invention of printing press established communities of philosophers and scientist who were now able to communicate new ideas and discoveries through journals. These journals gave the Republic of Letters more attention as the public became more interested in the content. The ideals of the men would be published in their journals, along with debates, information, and later taking over as a primary news source (Wikipedia,”Republic of Letters”). 

“The Republic of Letters” in France and England had much influence on American letters. Many of their ideas had not existed in America, for the most part, the only way to keep the intellectual philosophies alive was to report on literature (“Republic of Letters”). The impact it had allowed for a new form of communication between individuals who needed an outlet to have intellectual conversations and grow their own knowledge. All while also educating the public on different matters of thinking.

Works Cites

“Republic of Letters.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 07 Feb. 2017. Web. 21 Feb. 2017.

History.com Staff. “Enlightenment.” History.com. A&E Television Networks, 2009. Web. 24 Feb. 2017.

“The Kingdom of Politesse: Salons and the Republic of Letters in Eighteenth-Century Paris.”ARCADE. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2017.

Photo

Lemonier Gabriel-Charles, Anicet. “A Reading in the Salon of Mme. Geoffrin.” Wikimedia Commons, 6 April 2009 Web. Feb 24. 2017

 

Movable Type (1041-1884)

Movable Type (1041-1884)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The impact movable type had on the writing process changed the amount of writing that can fit on paper; thus improving the rate of communication. Both the Koreans and Chinese discovered wood block painting around the mid 900’s out of wood and clay. The mass production of books became big even before the printing press because Korea was transitioning into Buddhism during the Goryeo Dynasty (918-1392). Religious readings of the “Tripitaka” (“Short History of Asia’s Influence on Type and Printing”) that included sutras, treaties, and laws, made it essential to create 2 complete sets. China first used movable type in the 11th century but never was really used. Created by Bi Sheng, characters were made out of clay until the mid 13th century, moving to movable wooden type. The many characters of the Chinese alphabet however, made it less expensive to use wood. By now the Europeans had perfected a much more effective method of movable type (“Short History of Asia’s Influence on Type and Printing”). 

In 1450, Johannes Gutenberg created the printing press. His creation revolutionized movable type. Gutenberg made his tiles out of metal casting, formulated with tin, lead, pewter, and later adding antimony. Making these pieces unfortunately was no task for any ole person. They relied on experienced goldsmiths (like Gutenberg) to create the three main types, the “Punch, Matrix, and Mold” (“Gutenberg and His Movable Type Process”). 

The punch was a metal rod with the letter carved backwards to be driven into the matrix, which was a softer piece of metal. The matrix was then placed into the mold, being filled with hot liquid metal, quickly hardening into a type piece. The punch and matrix would be reused so they ended up creating identical characters. The method would then be called the “Punch Matrix System” (“Gutenberg and His Movable Type Process”). 

Movable Type lasted for about 400 more years until the invention of hard metal typesetting. Movable type began to decline, but it’s impact on print and the ability to put out more information in a faster process created ideas for many of the technology in today’s world.

 

Works Cited

“Johannes Gutenberg: The Invention of Movable Type.” Johannes Gutenberg: The Invention of Movable Type. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Feb. 2017.

“Short History of Asia’s Influence on Type and Printing.” Elation Press. N.p., 09 Aug. 2012. Web. 21 Feb. 2017.

“Gutenberg and His Movable Type Process.” Gutenberg and His Movable Type Process. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Feb. 2017.

“Harry Ransom Center, The University of Texas at Austin.” Harry Ransom Center. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Feb. 2017.

Photo

Vinne De Low, Theodore. De Vinne 1904-Punch and Matrix, 1904, Web Feb 23, 2017

Bookbinding (1447-Present)

Bookbinding (1447-Present)

Bookbinding, was able to expand not only the means of collecting/storing documents, but the creation of mass print. During the 1st century, all writing was kept on clay tablets, or cloth. The turn of the century was the printing of religious codices on vellum. The next 1400 years crafted the art of bookbinding commonly by monks. By hand, these monks would copy and recopy entire libraries from their perfected craft creating a high demand. (POWIS, “History of Bookbinding). The arrival of the Gutenberg printing press in 1447 however, brought the books into the hands of the public. Making paper from wood dropped paper costs and bindery automation in the 19th century propelled manufacturing. A signature process style called “Smyth Sewing” (“History of Bookbinding’) primarily for bookbinding. The next 30 years (roughly 1868-1898) was the creation of machines mainly for making hard-covers.

Perfect binding meant using a hot melt adhesive to glue the spine of the book while at the same time placing the front cover to complete it. A German publisher named Albatross Books experimented with the idea in 1931.

Perfect binding at the time however, wasn’t used very often. The more conventional way was to sew the spines. It may have been less expensive to use glue, but it didn’t have the strength to hold books together for an extended period of time. The books to mainly use this method were ones that were light service (like a manual), and easy to dispose (Shatzkin, “Perfect Binding).

The next ten years, saw the whole world adopting the format and now reading it. As the world moved out of war times and technology began advancing, there was a wave of new binding systems for offices with a high demand of new documents. They were two step processes of punching and loading (“History of Binding”). The late 1980’s brought in a machine still used today that is fast and easy. The Fastback Binding Machine, created by Kevin Parker, the founder of POWIS. His company was able to bring binding into all and any work environment in the country (“History of Binding”).

The impact bookbinding had was major. It allowed for the collection of information to become accessible to everyone, for any purpose. Binding aided in education with mass production of textbooks and course readings. The aiding of personal construction, whether it’s a house, electronics, etc. And especially the aiding of general knowledge to be shared with people close to you, or a total stranger. It changed communication. Books will always be a timeless necessity because not only that of recent move back from digital to physical, but anything can be massed produced and stored somewhere for future reference.

 

Works Cited

“Powis: The History of Bookbinding.” Powis: The History of Bookbinding. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Feb. 2017.

Shatzkin, Leonard. “Perfect binding.” U.S. Patent No. 3,840,254. 8 Oct. 1974.

Photo

Coldwell, Doug. Open Book, 8 july, 2008, Web Feb 23 2017