Blind Bargains

#CSUNATC20 Audio: Reading And Writing Graphiti With Orbit Research


Last summer Lisa spoke to Venkatesh Chari, CEO and President of Orbit Research, during our ACB interview coverage. That interview noted some welcome changes that had come to the Orbit Reader 20 regarding upgrading the unit from the SD card slot. In November, Orbit Research released a chat app for the deaf-blind. And this month, as the doors opened to the CSUN Exhibit Hall floor, the company announced several new products and an update to the original Orbit Reader. J.J. snuck into that same Exhibit Hall before the crowds arrived in order to talk to Venkatesh about the new products, their pricing and more details about the status of the Graphiti display. To learn more about Orbit Research, or purchase any of the products mentioned in this interview, visit the company's website

CSUN 2020 coverage is Brought to you by AFB AccessWorld.

For the latest news and accessibility information on mainstream and access technology, Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Amazon offerings, access technology book reviews, and mobile apps, and how they can enhance entertainment, education and employment, log on to AccessWorld, the American Foundation for the Blind's free, monthly, online technology magazine. Visit www.afb.org/aw.

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Transcribed By Grecia Ramirez

Direct from Anaheim, it’s blindbargains.com coverage of CSUN 2020, brought to you by AFB AccessWorld.
For the latest news and accessibility information on mainstream and access technology; Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Amazon offerings; access technology book reviews and mobile apps and how they can enhance entertainment, education, and employment, log onto AccessWorld, the American Foundation for the Blind’s free monthly online technology magazine, www.afb.org/aw.
Now, here’s J.J. Meddaugh.
J.J. Meddaugh: CSUN 2020. We snuck into the Exhibit Hall before it opened just so we could talk to Venkatesh Chari, CEO, president, of Orbit Research. A lot of big announcements at CSUN.
Venkatesh, welcome back to the podcast.
VENKATESH CHARI: Thank you Jason – J.J.
JM: That’s okay. Whatever you want to call me. It all works. It’s not a problem at all.
So yeah. The big news of the conference is a whole bunch of new Orbit stuff. So why don’t we start with the Orbit Reader 20 Plus, and tell me a little bit about that. What’s the Plus mean?
VC: Sure. The Plus, basically, is an evolution of the Orbit Reader, which, at this point in time, is the widest selling Braille Display in the market. And it builds upon its capabilities and adds some enhanced features.
So the enhancements in the Plus model are an onboard translator, which allows forward and backward translation from Braille to text. And it also adds some onboard applications such as a clock, an alarm feature, a calendar with appointments, and a calculator.
JM: So these new features -- as in the previous stuff, it’s all being delivered through Braille; correct?
A That is correct. Yes.
JM: Okay. So the 20 Plus -- just to describe the physical -- it’s the exact same look as the previous one; right?
VC: Exactly. It’ll look and feel exactly the same, and all the functions that were on the Orbit Reader 20 remain more or less the same.
We also added the ability to set profiles. So through these profiles, you can choose different languages to be active for different types of operations. So you could have a certain language or a type of contraction for reading versus writing versus system messages.
JM: Oh. That’s interesting. Does it also enable, say, bilingual use or –
VC: Yes. So you could have a reading language set to English while your writing language or your system language is Spanish.
JM: And of course, you already have all the screen reader support available, so that’s going to carry over, I would assume.
VC: That is correct. So the Orbit Reader 20 and the Orbit Reader 20 Plus support all of the popular screen readers including VoiceOver, BrailleBack, JAWS, NVDA, Narrator, and Supernova, System Access, as well as ChromeVox and VoiceView for the Amazon Fire tablets.
JM: Wow. That’s a bit of a list.
So let’s unpack this for just a bit, because, of course, the Orbit Reader 20 has had a bit of history, production delays, things like that. How – tell us how you got to now, and what have you learned from the past few years?
VC: So certainly, we had a fair – more than our fair share of challenges in the early days of Orbit Reader 20. We had issues related to production and quality, mainly stemming from the fact that the volumes that we had originally planned for were not really to be had, and, as a result, we had to develop alternate vendors which took quite a bit of time and effort to be able to obtain the quality that we needed. So those issues took us some time, and we have been able to resolve all of those. We have now very good processes, a really good set of vendors that are able to deliver us consistent quality, and we now have a very high confidence in the products that we have been shipping for over the last year.
JM: Now, much more unforeseen thing is, of course, the COVID-19 going on and affecting lots of industries. Is that going to affect you at all as far as delivering product, or do you already have the 20 Plus in hand and ready to go?
VC: We have the 20 and the 20 Plus in hand and are shipping now. We don’t anticipate any impact to these products from the COVID-19 related issues.
JM: Okay. Great. So the 20 Plus is available now, and what’s the pricing on that?
VC: The 20 Plus retails for $699 in the U.S., and it’s available to ship now.
JM: So the original 20 is still available as well; correct?
VC: That is correct, yes. The Orbit 20 is still available. It’s priced at $599 in the U.S., and that’s the same price as it’s been over the last year.
JM: Is the difference entirely software-based, and is there an upgrade path?
VC: The difference, actually, is in the hardware as well as the software.
JM: Okay.
VC: So there is an upgrade path. Folks who have an Orbit Reader 20, we will introduce an upgrade plan, and they’ll be able to send in their Orbit Reader 20, and we will upgrade the hardware and ship it back to them.
JM: Is there pricing for that yet?
VC: Pricing for that has not been set yet, but it will be set over the next week or so.
JM: Okay. Well, this in itself would be exciting, except that’s just one of several products that you have here.
Let’s move over to the 40, which has a lot of the similar features. Someone thinks that’s really funny in the background. I’m not sure if the mic’s picking that up. You – there’s a 40-cell that’s also being shown here at the show. It has a few additional features. Talk about that.
VC: Sure. So the 40-cell has many of the features that we just introduced on the Orbit Reader 20 Plus. The – obviously, it has 40 cells instead of 20. It also has cursor routing keys. And the onboard translator, as in the Orbit Reader 20 Plus, is there on the 40 as well. It can translate back and forth from Braille to text. It also has onboard apps such as a clock, a calendar, alarms, appointments, and a calculator. And it has a USB host port which allows plugging in a flash drive or thumb drive or whatever you want to call it, and a USBC charging port which is also used for communication, instead of being micro-B USB port, which was on the Orbit Reader 20 and the 20 Plus.
JM: Got you. So you can charge or connect to external devices using the USBC?
VC: That’s correct.
JM: Okay. So why cursor routing on this one and not on the 20?
VC: So the 40 is a – the Orbit Reader 40 is a 40-cell display, obviously, and we understand that cursor routing is more important in a 40-cell display. On a 20-cell display, even, the cursor routing might be desirable, it is – since the display size is short, it’s relatively easy to navigate using the cursor control keys that are already on the device. And this being a completely new design, we designed in the cursor routing keys from the very start and – so that’s really the reason.
JM: Sure. Okay. And what’s the pricing for that and the release timeline?
VC: The Orbit Reader 40 is priced at $1399 in the U.S., and the release time line is in early July.
JM: And you anticipate these products – you’re going to sell them, and they’re going to be available through some dealers as well; right?
VC: That’s correct. We are going to be selling these products direct, as well as through our network of distributors in the U.S. and worldwide.
JM: Okay. Great. And that would be amazing, but -- except we’re not done.
Another one – this one really caught my attention, and a lot of people have been talking about it: A 99 dollar, essentially Bluetooth input device, a little Braille keyboard called the Orbit Writer. Tell me more about that.
VC: So the Orbit Writer is a very compact device, roughly the size of a typical smartphone, it’s very slim. It’s intended to be pocketable and easy to carry in a purse or in your pocket, and it has six keys in a Perkins-style layout. It's got a spacebar; keys for dots 7 and 8 as well; and a cursor pad with up, down, left, right arrows and select button. And the intention is to pair it with your smartphone or computer, and the way – it works exactly the same as a Braille device would, except that it is for input only. So it connects using the screen reader, so you can use it with all of the screen readers that we talked about earlier – VoiceOver to JAWS – and allows you to not only input text in Braille, but also control your smartphone or computer using shortcut keys.
JM: Let’s describe the layout a little more. Where is the cursor pad and where is, like, the spacebar and the keys all in relationship to each other?
VC: Sure. So the dots 1, 2, 3 and 4, 5, 6 are towards the end of the device, that is – that would typically be away from the user.
JM: Yup.
VC: And then below that and in the center are the cursor keys in a circular type of configuration. And the spacebar and dots 7 and 8 are next to the spacebar. The spacebar is sort of at the bottom of the unit towards the user. So it’s a very similar layout to the Orbit Reader 20.
JM: Okay. Another feature of this that caught my attention -- and I thought was pretty unique for the price point -- is haptic vibration feedback.
VC: Yes. So we have vibration feedback for various events. So – such as turning the device on or off or to obtain feedback on the battery level, to indicate when pairing has been accomplished. So those are all conveyed through vibration.
JM: And different patterns for –
VC: In different patterns.
JM: -- for different things. I’m in – what is the charging and port situation?
VC: So it has a USB micro-B port, and the battery is a fast-charging battery. It charges in less than two hours and provides a usable life of at least three days. In most cases, it will be a lot more than that.
JM: Three days, like, how many hours per day or what’s –
VC: Eight hours per day.
JM: Okay. Got you. So 24 hours, essentially. If you’re typing –
VC: -- if you’re typing continuously.
JM: -- a lot. Yes.
VC: Okay.
JM: And because you already have the screen reader drivers and everything for the reader, these are going to work straight out of the box, so you don’t have to wait for screen reader support later on.
VC: Exactly. It works right out of the box with all of the platforms, and it allows a completely seamless connection, and can be connected to multiple devices, and you can switch using hot key combinations between multiple devices. So you could pair it with your phone, your tablet, your computer, and be able to switch between them.
JM: I do think the price is key here. You know, there was one other Braille keyboard device several years back, the BraillePen Slim, but it was priced much higher and didn’t really gain a lot of traction. But I think a 99-dollar -- right? That’s – might even be one of the big selling points for this.
VC: We certainly hope so. Our goal, as with all our other products, has been to bring high quality -- a really good set of features and functionality at a price that is very affordable.
JM: And for anyone who remembers that device, this – and no pun intended – is slimmer than the Slim was slim. There you go.
VC: Yes. Yes. This device is only about a quarter inch in thickness and about 6 inches wide and about 2 and a half inches from front to back.
JM: So again, $99. And the release time on this --
VC: -- is also in early July.
JM: Okay. One more thing even, to talk about as far as Braille, the reappearance – you have a Graphiti sitting here in the booth. Talk about the development of that and what the future holds for the Graphiti.
VC: That’s right. So we have been working on the Graphiti. It has been in development for over five years now. And we’re now at a point where we’re able to launch it for sale. So –
JM: So let’s review quickly, just to review. It’s a 40 by 60 tactile tablet that – it can display images, and you can also draw on it.
VC: That’s right. It’s an array of pins that are arranged in 40 rows and 60 columns. Each pin is independently settable to multilevels and multiple heights, and this is very unique in our field. There is no other technology that can permit multiple levels for each pin. And this allows – this multilevel capability allows you to feel attributes such as color or texture by setting the pins to different heights to correspond to those. So things like topographical maps can be seen, visually experienced.
JM: Okay. What’s the pricing looking like on the Graphiti?
VC: So the Graphiti, at the moment, we are pricing it at $15,000. Our intention is to get higher volumes in sales, and the target price is to get below the 5 thousand-dollar mark.
JM: Okay. And those are – can someone order one of those now –
VC: Yes. We’re accepting orders. They will be delivered in about eight weeks’ time.
JM: Okay. Before we go, I just wanted to do a brief mention, since there are other products that you’ve created over the years that are still available, the talking calculators and the graphing calculators, things like that. So what else is still currently available?
VC: So we – yes. We – actually, some of our early products were a line of calculators that we developed in partnership with Texas Instruments. Texas Instruments have been a long-time partner of ours in the calculator product line. And we currently have the ever-popular Orion TI-84 Plus, which is a talking graphing calculator. And this was developed in a partnership with Texas Instruments and the American Printing House. And this is in production, in stock, and ready to ship. It’s available directly through us, through our website or also through our distributors in the U.S. and worldwide. We also have the Orion TI-30XS MultiView talking scientific calculator, and this is also available through us and through our distributors. Both the products are in active production. Texas Instruments continues to manufacture these products. They are fully accessible, and we continue to produce and support them and have no intention of discontinuing them. So customers can buy them directly from us or through our distributors.
JM: Great. A lot to unpack, and I’m sure people will have additional questions, so what is the best way to contact you?
VC: The best way is to contact us through Email at info, I-n-f-o, at orbitresearch.com and all of the info – information that we talked about today is also on our website. That’s WWW.orbitresearch.com.
JM: And we’ve also posted on Blind Bargains a pretty detailed summary of all the new products from Orbit Research, so go over to Blind Bargains. You can find that and learn even more.
Thank you so much, Venkatesh, for coming back on the podcast. We really appreciate it.
VC: Thank you, J.J., for having me. It’s always a pleasure.
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Copyright 2020.


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Joe Steinkamp is no stranger to the world of technology, having been a user of video magnification and blindness related electronic devices since 1979. Joe has worked in radio, retail management and Vocational Rehabilitation for blind and low vision individuals in Texas. He has been writing about the A.T. Industry for 15 years and podcasting about it for almost a decade.


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