overview of methods and available hardware for making tactile graphics materials for blind users is discussed in a paper, Tactile Graphics, An Overview and Resource Guide by John Gardner, director of the SAP.
When DotsPlus was first developed, it seemed likely that the wax-jet printer used in the original research could be improved and that in time it would become an affordable tool permitting high-resolution tactile computer printing. That hope has not yet been realized. [Contact Mr. Robert Jaquiss for the latest information on Tektronix and National Federation of the Blind wax jet printer projects.]
In recent years the only practical method for making tactile graphic materials from computer applications has been through use of swell paper. One must transfer a black image to this special paper and then pass it through an infrared heater that causes black areas to swell. Making good swell paper images is as much art as science, but with practice one can make decent tactile graphic images with it. The braille is not pleasant to read if much text is printed on swell paper, and the process is cumbersome and expensive. Swell paper costs a dollar or more per sheet typically.
Mr. Peter Langner, a former MS student in the SAP, developed a new technology that permits high resolution embossing. The TIGER (TactIle Graphics EmbosseR) technology now allows high-resolution tactile graphics (20 dots per inch) to be embossed on standard braille paper and plastic media. In principle the TIGER technology is capable of producing smooth lines in the vertical and horizontal direction as well.
This invention was named "Collegiate Invention of the Year" in the 1996 B. F. Goodrich competition, and Mr. Langner was awarded a $5000 prize.
A TIGER prototype was first exhibited at the 1997 International Conference on Technology and Persons with Disabilities, Los Angeles, March, 1997. This TIGER printer has a Windows 95/98/NT printer driver that automatically converts fonts to a user-selectable DotsPlus or computer braille font.
TIGER is a practical realization of the SAP philosophy of making information accessible by controlling the display, not the information itself. TIGER is just a standard computer printer, except of course that the output is a tactile image instead of an ink image.
The TIGER technology is being patented by Oregon State University and has been licensed to the company ViewPlus Technologies. They have announced that the TIGER 1000 TactIle Graphics EmbosseR will be commercially available later in 1998 at a price of $6000.