
         COMMENTS ON HOT DOTS AND THE ARKENSTONE READER
                        by David Andrews

     David Andrews is the Director of the National Braille and
Technology Center for the Blind. As a regular part of his daily
activities, he will be making analyses of technology for the
production of Braille, voice output, and related matters. The aim
is to help consumers decide whether the product would be of value
to them. 

                      Arkenstone Reader II

     The reading machine market was created by Kurzweil Computer
Products in the late 1970s and early-to-mid 1980s, but it has
been made competitive by the arrival of Arkenstone, Inc. in the
late 1980s. Arkenstone markets a line of PC-based reading systems
to blind people. 
     In January of 1991 it introduced new software for its
Arkenstone Reader line. Primarily the software upgrade offers new
and improved interfaces, but it has at least one superb feature--
the ability to determine if a page is on the scanner sideways or
upside down. Further, even if the page is improperly oriented,
the system will still read it.
     The Arkenstone Reader II features three user interfaces:
EasyScan, ArkScan, and Scanall. EasyScan, originally written by
Noel Runyan of Personal Data Systems, has been bundled with all
Arkenstone Readers for about a year. The latest version has a
number of new commands, including ones to control the orientation
identification process and the new Quick Speech feature. This
generates speech while the machine is still scanning. Though it
means that you start reading sooner (as little as fifteen 
seconds after scanning commences), the speech is a little choppy.
Some users report liking the new feature; others do not. Finally,
the Quick Speech may not read all columns in a multi-column
document although the data are present and can be read with
EasyScan's normal browser program.
     The EasyScan software is an interactive command-driven
program. You generally type in one-, two-, or three-letter
mnemonic commands, such as "CN" for "Contrast Normal."  Once you
learn them, they are fast; but with the new software, there are a
lot to master. The list of commands in the help facility is four
screens long. Other new features include improved document
structure analysis, expanded prompting and messages, the ability
to save to devices such as VersaBraille as well as to files,
support for additional word processor formats, user-definable
dictionaries to improve scanning accuracy, and more. 
     The second interface is Arkscan, a modified version of the
standard Calera TrueScan software. Calera makes the optical-
character-recognition software/hardware that Arkenstone uses. The
Arkscan software works well with screen review programs and is
easy to use. The menu-driven program allows you to control all
features of the system and to set up configuration files that all
three interface programs use. If you like to experiment, this is
the software for you.
     There is also a command line program Scanall, which can be
used by itself or in conjunction with batch files. This program
allows you to perform routine scanning chores easily and quickly
from the DOS command line.
     I am asked, almost daily, which is better, the Arkenstone or
the PCKPR from Kurzweil (now Xerox Imaging Systems). The quick
answer is that they are pretty close. The PCKPR, will run on an
XT-class computer, has a very easy and straightforward user
interface, and starts reading quickly. The Arkenstone is slightly
less expensive, offers a choice of interfaces, gives the fiddler
more to fiddle with, and offers the automatic orientation
identification option, which alone may be enough reason for some
people to choose the Arkenstone. Its value to a blind person
can't be overestimated. Further, although we have not conducted
exhaustive, scientific comparisons yet, the Arkenstone Reader
seems to be slightly more accurate in day-to-day use, although
the differences are minimal. The PCKPR does have a Learn feature,
which probably improves its accuracy as it scans a multi-page
document. We plan on doing more thorough tests of all scanning
systems later this year. Finally, the Calera/Arkenstone system
offers an applications program interface that others are starting
to exploit. In a future issue we will review Personal Data
Systems' money identifier and Braille graphics programs for the
Arkenstone called BUCKSCAN and PICTAC, respectively. 
     For further information or an opportunity to see different
reading systems, contact the National Braille and Technology
Center for the Blind at (301) 659-9314. For information from the
two companies, call (800) 444-4443 for Arkenstone, Inc., at 1185-
D Bordeaux Drive, Sunnyvale, California 94089; or call (800) 343-
0311 for Xerox Imaging Systems, Kurzweil Reading Machine
Division, 185 Albany Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139.

                      Hot Dots Version 3.0

     Hot Dots Version 3.0 is a Braille translation/formatting
program for IBM and compatible computers. Though the program has
been around for a number of years, it has not been a major force
in the translation field, which is ironic because its maker,
Raised Dot Computing, has the lion's share of the market in the
Apple II world with its BEX and TRANSCRIBEX products. 
     Most of the components in Hot Dots have been rewritten with
version 3.0, and the program works much more smoothly and
accurately than previous versions. Rewritten components include
both the back and forward translators and the manual.
     One of the program's most notable new features is its
ability to import files DIRECTLY from some thirty word
processors. It accomplishes this feat by incorporating a
commercially available conversion utility into its innards. I was
only able to test WordPerfect, WordStar, and ASCII files. The
program worked well with all except WordStar files. I had a
WordStar Version 5.0 file, but Hot Dots only handles files
through Version 4.0. It also did not seem to handle WordStar 4
files quite as well as the other tested types, but most well-
known word processing programs are supported.
     Hot Dots can be run from a menu, directly from the DOS
command line, or by using batch files. Translation and formatting
a file is a multi-step process, so some assistance, a menu or
batch file for example, is helpful. The program first imports a
file and inserts its formatting commands. These are the dollar
sign commands which will be familiar to all old BEX users. This
file is then converted into an unformatted Braille file and
finally into a formatted Braille one. If you need precise control
of translation or formatting, the first file (called the HD$
file) can be edited.
     Most of today's Braille translators provide some level of
automatic formatting assistance. Hot Dots Version 3.0 does this
by producing its HD$ files. In general translators tend either to
underformat by throwing out too much of the information from the
original file or overformat the Braille output. Hot Dots leans
towards overformatting, but not badly so, and you can always edit
the HD$ file. It also handles hanging indentations well,
something that several other programs have problems with.
Further, there is a pre-processing batch file to handle files
with tables of contents, sometimes a problem.
     The program can also back-translate Braille files into print
files, and the dollar sign commands are designed to facilitate
the production of print and Braille files from the same master
file. Hot Dots also supports Dipner Dots, a method pioneered by
Raised Dot Computing, of producing draft quality Braille on a
daisywheel printer. Dipner Dots can also be printed on regular
paper by an ink-print printer to facilitate viewing by a sighted
person. Hot Dots Version 3.0 also features a new view function
which allows anyone, sighted or blind, to direct the ASCII
Braille output of a translation to the computer's screen. With a
little practice a person could learn to read this output to check
formatting without wasting paper.
     The manual for the program is clear and well written  and
features a tutorial to take you through all basic procedures and
interface instructions for all commonly used printers. 
     Raised Dot Computing is a major player in the Apple world,
and Hot Dots Version 3.0 is definitely a competitive product. The
company offers some of the best customer support in the business
and has an ongoing commitment to Braille. Anyone interested in
Braille translation should seriously consider Hot Dots.
     For further information contact the National Braille and
Technology Center for the Blind at (301) 659-9314 or Raised Dot
Computing at (608) 257-9595 or write the company at 408 South
Baldwin Street, Madison, Wisconsin 53703.

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