Marjon Tas, Author at Thinkable products for visually impaired people

04. 468Triangle

The small triangle tool is placed along the edge of the circle

Photo: 468Triangle

Detailed description

The 468Triangle is a triangular shaped frame with a width of one centimetre.
The main purpose is to serve as a template for ‘home made’ templates.
The inner space of the triangle is open.
The corners of the triangle are pointy so they fit in the indents at the edge of the circle of the framework.
The length of the sides are designed so they exactly span an arc of 45, 60 or 90 degrees, seen from the centre of the circle.
The ‘468’ refers to the number of rotations required for the triangle to return on the same position in the circle; four, six or eight times.
Pushpin markers are located at the top surface.

468Triangle Manual

The 468Triangle tool is intended to create your own drawing templates out of cardboard or other sturdy material.
Giving one side of the template a length similar to one of the triangle sides, it will fit by rotating eight, six or four times in the full 360 degrees of the CircleFrame.

Your template
Cut out an – irregular – shape from the centre of your template.
Place the template against the edge of the circle and trace the inner contour.
Depending on the chosen length, rotate the template 45, 60 or 90 degrees to obtain a symmetrical pattern.
Recurrence and/or partial overlap will give your drawing an unexpected appeal.

Alignment with indents from start to end

Because the side of your template has a specific length, it will by rotating the template eight, six or four times respectively, along the circle’s edge, end up at the starting position again.

The 468Triangle tool is placed along the edge of the circle

Photo: The 468Triangle tool is placed along the edge of the circle in the frame

05. Wedge tool

Creating a pie chart with the wedge shaped tool

Photo: Wedge tool

Detailed description

The wedge-shaped drawing tool has a rounded edge that matches the curve of the circle in the circle frame. This rounded side covers an arc of 45 degrees. Near the rounded edge grooves per six degrees (one minute) are located. A little further away from the edge a hole is present.

Radius and center
Two sides of this tool end in a flattened point. One of these sides is straight and ends in a very small point that serves as a pen blocker. This pen blocker also exactly coincides with the centre of the circle. The straight side forms the radius for the circle.
The other side of the wedge is slightly curved inward. This side has small indents at every centimetre.
The small block between the indents at 2 and 3 centimetre is used to position the compass base.

Wedge tool manual

Make sure the circle frame is placed properly on the TactiPad.

Drawing pie charts

The wedge tool can be used to draw pie charts, which are often used to present statistic information in fields such as mathematics, economics and geography. The quantity that each sector represents corresponds with an arc of a certain number of degrees. By determining the angle between two radii on the inside of the circle, you can draw the pie chart very accurately.
Keep the tool in place with one or two fingers in the hole in the tool and press it against the edge of the circle.

Many other mathematical concepts in which degrees and angles play a key role, such as vectors or polar and trigonometric functions, can be explained and drawn as well using the CircleFrame tools.

Centering the compasses in the circle frame

Another function of the wedge tool is to position the compass in the centre of the circle frame. You can achieve this by placing the wedge tool anywhere against the edge of the circle with the compass base against the flattened tip of the wedge. The centre of the compass base now hooks around the pen blocker at the tip of the wedge tool.
By slightly turning the base counter clockwise, it will catch the small protruding block on the curved side of the wedge. This way, the compass base is exactly in the middle of the circle. By removing the wedge tool and placing the compass arm into the base, you can draw a circle precisely in the centre of the circle frame.

Figure 2. Position the wedge tool along the edge of the circle (step 1), position the compass base and turn it so it rests against the wedge tool (steps 2 and 3) and remove the wedge tool (step 4). The compass is now perfectly positioned in the centre.

You can also combine the compass with the edge of the circle. The indents per five degrees are semi-circular and have the same diameter as the needle of the compass. After placing the compass base on the circle frame, you can slide the needle of the compass into one of the indents along the edge. The centre of the arcs are now exactly on the circle. By drawing multiple arcs along the edge of the circle, you can create intriguing repetitive geometric patterns.

Drawing the hands of a clock

Around the circle of the circle frame, multiples of 30 degrees are indicated by drop-shaped indentations. These make up for the twelve hours of the clock.
To draw a clock hand, you can use the wedge tool. Along the rounded side you will find grooves at an angle corresponding to 1 minute, or 6 degrees. The longer groove of 2 centimetre indicates the position of 5 minutes or 1 hour later. After placing the wedge tool with the rounded side against the edge of the circle and aligning the straight side with one of the hour indications, you can set the minute and draw the hands of the clock as radii and have it set at any desired time.

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01. Digital Pen – Introduction

Note: Since summer 2022, the Digital Pen has not been for sale anymore. This manual is for users who still own this former Thinkable product.

The TactileView digital pen is a special version of a ballpoint pen. The pen writes in ink like a normal pen, but at the same time determines the position of its tip on the drawing surface. In the pen’s tip is a small transmitter, which sends a signal to a receiver. Upon moving or clicking in the drawing surface with the pen, the receiver transmits this position to the TactileView software, just like with a regular computer mouse. Visual impaired people can operate the TactileView software using the TactiPad or TactileView ClickPad.

The pen functions as a drawing tool and transmits to the computer what has been drawn, or as a cursor by transmitting on which location has been clicked. This way, the digital pen enables the user to make a digital version of a tactile diagram or to explore a tactile diagram with speech and sound.

TactileView Digital Pen

02. Digital pen – Parts

The TactileView digital pen consists of three parts: a digital pen, a receiver and a holder for the receiver.
The tip of the digital pen is an exchangeable pin. Upon drawing, the tip gets pushed slightly into the pen, activating a tiny transmitter in the pen. Two small batteries in the pen power the transmitter.
The holder, which keeps the receiver of the digital pen in place, magnetically clicks to the side of the TactiPad or the TactileView ClickPad. The receiver is connected to the computer with a USB cable and sends the pen’s signal to the TactileView software. The software on the computer processes the pen’s position every time it clicks or moves.

03. Digital Pen – Combined with TactileView Drawing Board or TactileView ClickPad

The TactileView digital pen is combined with the TactiPad or the TactileView ClickPad. The TactiPad is mainly meant to enable the user to make a digital version while drawing a tactile diagram, whereas the TactileView ClickPad is only meant to explore audio-tactile diagrams with speech and sound.

This is how it works

The TactileView digital pen’s receiver is attached to the side of the TactiPad or ClickPad, overseeing the whole drawing surface. The pen transmits a signal, and the receiver receives it when there are no obstacles such as fingers in the way. This means that the receiver needs to have a clear sight of the pen’s tip to work properly.
The transmitter only sends out signals when the tip is pressed. The TactileView software calculates and processes the position of the pen’s moves and clicks. Every function in the TactileView software can be operated using the TactileView digital pen. Using the keyboard is not needed.

04. Digital Pen – The holder for the receiver

The holder is made of black plastic, and has two protruding magnets on both sides of the front side of the holder. The receiver is inserted into the holder from the front side. At the back the receiver is held in place by two small blocks. When the receiver is pushed against both of these blocks, the receiver is straight in the holder. The mini-USB cable can then be attached to the rear of the receiver.
For accuracy, the receiver has to face straight forward and has to be placed in the exact same position in relation to the upper left corner of a drawing. The magnets in the sides of the TactiPad and TactileView ClickPad attract the magnets in the holder, pulling it to the correct position. The receiver’s paper clamp is not needed when using the magnetic holder.
The receiver ‘sees’ almost a semicircle to its front side. The receiver cannot see the full 180 degrees, and is therefore placed slightly outside of the drawing surface. This way, the upper edge of the drawing sheet lays a little in front of the receiver.

05. Digital Pen – Specification of the pen

A cover at the end of the pen closes the batteries and can be removed. The batteries have a flat side and a rounded side. They have to be placed flat side up in the battery compartment.
The pen’s filling is replaceable. A plastic filling and a normal filling are included with the pen. These fillings are placed in the pen’s top and firmly lock in place. Quite some strength is needed to pull them out again.
The plastic tip can be used best when exploring an audio-tactile diagram, to prevent ink from spilling on the diagram. The normal ballpoint tip is advisable for drawing tactile lines on the TactiPad, so these lines instantly become visible.
The button on the side of the pen does not have any function. Every option of the TactileView software can be operated with the pen, using only short and long clicks.

06. Digital Pen – TactileView software

Preferably, the receiver is connected to the computer by a USB-cable before the TactileView software is launched. A notification reports this. When the software has informed that the receiver is connected, it does not necessarily mean that the digital pen transmits a signal when its tip is pressed. Place the pen on the drawing surface and lightly press down. A tinkling sound is played when the pen has made contact. This sounds indicates the pen being ‘stand-by’. When there is no sound played while pressing the pen, its batteries could be empty or the receiver cannot receive the pen’s signal.
From the menu ‘Settings > TactileView digital pen’ the pen function can be checked using the option ‘Test’.

07. Digital Pen – Calibration

To draw a digital diagram or to explore an audio-tactile diagram it is strictly necessary to have the physical position matching that same position in the related file in the TactileView software. The process of matching the physical and digital positions is called ‘calibration’. Guided by spoken messages, this calibration process can be executed from the menu ‘Settings > TactileView digital pen’.
Every design is made either in landscape or portrait orientation. Upon opening a new file or switching between design mode and explore mode, the orientation is announced, so that the user can choose the easiest position for the receiver. Depending on page orientation and drawing preferences, the receiver can be placed on one of the three positions on the TactiPad or the TactileView ClickPad. This way, left-handed use of the pen has been taken into account.
The base position for the receiver can be chosen in the menu ‘Settings > TactileView digital pen’.

08. Digital Pen – Sound support

To inform the user about the pen’s status or to indicate the effect of the pen contact, a number of different sounds are used. These sounds can be heard in the dialog box found in the option ‘Settings > TactileView digital pen’ in the software.