...and this is what User 1 remembers 40 years later

Recollections of the Development of the Optacon

I have been asked to recount my recollections of participating in the development of the Optacon. I was the original and primary guinea pig as the Optacon was conceived and as various models were developed. I demonstrated the Optacon to representatives of various agencies in pursuit of research support so the project could continue. And I eventually participated in training other Optacon users.

 My first acquaintance with what was to become the Optacon came in 1962, during a year which my family spent in Europe during my father’s sabbatical. After visiting a factory in Germany, my father told us that he had gotten an idea for a machine which blind people could use to read print directly. I was nine years old at the time. Though I didn’t understand the explanation which he gave of how such a machine would work, I loved to read, and the prospect of reading whatever I wanted was exciting.

 When we returned to California the next year, a small display of vibratory reeds, called bimorphs, was constructed. The purpose of this was to determine whether such a display could be built, and whether I could distinguish tactilely patterns which were presented on the display. The answer to both questions was Yes.  

The next step in the development of the Optacon came when my father and Dr. Bliss began working together. The question they first addressed was whether print could be read tactilely quickly enough to make a reading machine which presented print useful. I sat in an air-conditioned room filled with computers which generated print letters at a constant rate across a display. Different print styles and types of display were tried, and at one point the display presented Braille. Since it was 1964 and I was an eleven-year-old fan of the Beatles, the print material I was presented with was text from Beatle fan magazines, in order to keep me interested. These experiments proved that I could read print tactilely quickly enough to be useful, and that a display of vibratory reeds was indeed the type of presentation which was easiest for me to use.

The next iteration of the developing Optacon was a machine which included both the tactile display and a camera to read the print. The camera was large and stationery, however, so I could only read print which had been typed on cards that I slid under the camera. Next, an Optacon was built which was still quite large, but which included a movable camera. The machine’s display and design allowed me to read only specially typed pages. My job was to practice scanning with the camera and reading with the Optacon to build up speed so that the machine’s usefulness could be proved to funding agencies. My father’s assistant typed the entire text of “The Autobiography of Malcolm X” onto single pages, and I spent the summer of 1968 reading this with that large Optacon so that I could increase my speed and skills.    It was clear to me at that point that the Optacon was going to become a machine which I could really use. Also at that time other people were being trained to use that model of the Optacon. I was relieved that I was no longer the only Optacon user. It was very beneficial to have more input from more Optacon users as development continued.

By 1969, the Optacon was a small, portable machine. For me, it had ceased to be an experimental instrument, and had become something I used every day. My input into the Optacon project at that point was in the area of what refinements might make it more rugged to withstand the rigors of daily use. I took the Optacon with me to college, and one day accidentally dropped it while walking around campus. Because of that experience, adhesive pads were added to the strap to make dropping the Optacon less likely. I used it to read recipes while baking bread and the display got so clogged with bread dough that the machine had to be taken in for a major cleaning. Modifications were therefore made in future models to better protect the reading surface.

By the early 1970’s, there were many Optacon users. Children were being  trained  to use the Optacon. People from many countries who had many different professions and reading needs were using it in their daily lives. Input from these users made future models of the machine more powerful.

I was very fortunate to have the Optacon to use in my personal and professional life. In my career as a clinical psychologist and psychotherapist, I used it to read professional materials, and case notes I kept of my patients. To be able to read whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted, empowered me to do things which would otherwise have been impossible.   I also was fortunate to participate in the Optacon’s development; that participation brought me many fascinating experiences and encounters with people from all over the world.