One of TRIANGLE's features is the Touch-and-Tell figure viewer. The viewer allows the user to browse specially created figures using an external digitizing tablet. A digitizing tablet is an external device connected through the computer's serial port. The tablet sends the computer information depending on where it is touched. TRIANGLE uses this information to tell where a figure has been touched and then displays any text associated with that part of the image.
In order to access the digitizing tablet, a special driver must be loaded into the computer's memory before starting TRIANGLE. The drivers occupy about 2k of conventional memory and may be loaded into high memory with the loadhigh command.
The Science Access Project has written drivers for three digitizing pads, the Nomad, built especially for use by blind people and sold by the American Printing House for the Blind, and two less expensive touch screen adaptations, EdMark's TouchWindow, and Keytec's MagicTouch pad. These three pads and loading their respective drivers are described below.
The NOMAD pad is a special product for the blind and is sold by the American Printing House for the Blind, Louisville, KY. It includes a built-in speech synthesizer and costs over $1000. The speech synthesizer is not used by TRIANGLE, although Nomad's speech synthesizer can be used as the external synthesizer by the speech screen reader. The Nomad can hold paper as large as 12 by 17 inches with an active touch area of approximately 10.5 by 16 inches.
The Nomad driver is NOM_DRV.EXT and is loaded from the DOS prompt in the
TABLET subdirectory. To load the driver, type:
NOM_DRV <n> <ENTER>
where <n> represents the number of the serial port to
which the Nomad is
connected.
As an example, suppose the Nomad is on serial port 2 and the main TRIANGLE
directory is TRIANGLE. One can change to the TABLET subdirectory from any
DOS prompt by typing:
cd \triangle\tablet
Then to load the NOMAD driver, type:
NOM_DRV 2
Now change to the TRIANGLE directory and start TRIANGLE:
cd \triangle
ta
The Nomad driver was written at Oregon State University and is copyrighted by the Science Access Project, 1996. We are happy to distribute technical instructions for interfacing with the Nomad tablet through the use of this driver, which provides an interface to both the digitizing tablet and the speech synthesizer. For technical details contact the Science Access Project or via e-mail to: triangle@dots.physics.orst.edu.
The EdMark TouchWindow is a touch screen mounted on a frame to be used as an external digitizing pad. It holds an 8.5 by 11 inch page - an ideal size for small Braille paper. This size is adequate for all figures that have been used thus far with TRIANGLE test materials. It is available from the EdMark Company for about $275 and at a somewhat lower price from a number of supply houses serving technical needs particularly in the education community.
The TouchWindow driver is TWIN_DRV.EXT and is loaded from the DOS prompt
in the TABLET subdirectory. To load this driver, type:
TWIN_DRV <n> <ENTER>
where <n> represents the number of the serial port to
which the
TouchWindow is connected.
As an example, suppose the TouchWindow is on serial port 2 and the main
TRIANGLE directory is TRIANGLE. One can change to the TABLET subdirectory
from any DOS prompt by typing:
cd \triangle\tablet
Then to load the TouchWindow driver, type:
TWIN_DRV 2
Now change to the TRIANGLE directory and start TRIANGLE:
cd \triangle
ta
The TouchWindow driver was written at Oregon State University and is copyrighted by the Science Access Project, 1996. We are happy to distribute technical instructions for interfacing with the TouchWindow through the use of this driver. For technical details contact the Science Access Project or via e-mail to: triangle@dots.physics.orst.edu.
The MagicTouch pad is a touch window mounted on an external frame for use as an external digitizing pad. It is manufactured by Keytec and is available from the manufacturer. We have used their largest size pad whose list price is $365. This pad holds a page of approximately 13 by 10.25 inches - almost large enough for standard 11 by 11 inch Braille paper. However to use this size paper it is necessary to cut off or fold up about half an inch from one of the sides. For most users, the 8.5 x 11 inch size is just as usable, and is less expensive.
The MagicTouch driver is MT_DRV.EXT and is loaded from the DOS prompt in
the TABLET subdirectory. To load the driver, type:
MT_DRV <n> <ENTER>
where <n> represents the number of the serial port to
which the MagicTouch
is connected.
As an example, suppose the MagicTouch is on serial port 2 and the main
TRIANGLE directory is TRIANGLE. One can change to the TABLET subdirectory
from any DOS prompt by typing:
cd \triangle\tablet
Then to load the MagicTouch driver, type:
MT_DRV 2
Now change to the TRIANGLE directory and start TRIANGLE:
cd \triangle
ta
The MagicTouch driver was written at Oregon State University and is copyrighted by the Science Access Project, 1996. We are happy to distribute technical instructions for interfacing with the MagicTouch through the use of this driver. For technical details contact the Science Access Project or via e-mail to: triangle@dots.physics.orst.edu.
Still have questions about TRIANGLE? Send e-mail to: triangle@dots.physics.orst.edu