Learning More About ViewPlus Technologies and What They Do

Who knew that one company could have so many cool products. I just finished my first week at ViewPlus, and with all jobs, my first week was spent learning. After all, how am I supposed to represent them on the web if I don't know about their products? So if I do it right, everyone will know as much as I do about ViewPlus when you're done reading this post.

ViewPlus Technologies sells two kinds of products. Their hardware line includes the different Tiger Braille Printers, and their software line includes braille translation suite, IVEO, and Audio Graphing Calculator.

The company offers 9 different choices of braille printers. They all are designed to do high-resolution tactile graphics as well as braille. The printers range from smaller desktop models like the Cub Jr. to the Premier, which is designed for production level jobs. Here is just a little bit of information about each printer and their specs.

Desktop Models:

Cub Jr.: This is the slowest and least expensive Tiger printer. It prints at 30 characters per second and it can handle paper up to 9.5 inches wide.
Cub: This is similar to the Cub Jr., but it prints at 50 characters per second.
Max: This printer prints at 60 characters per second, and it holds paper up to 14 inches wide.

The Pro:
This printer prints at 100 characters per second, can use paper up to 17 inches wide, and has the ink attachment option. Using ink and braille allows the graphics to be usable by both sighted and non-sighted people. Using the ink attachment slows down the printing, but not by much.

Production Models:

The Elite and Premier printers are designed for high production braille and tactile graphics. They all can print on both sides of the paper in one run which makes them faster. They range from 80 characters per second to 200 characters per second.

Emprint:
This is the first and only color ink jet and braille printer in one. It uses HP ink and looks very much like an ink jet printer. The reason why this is so useful is that it allows sighted and non-sighted people to enjoy the same images and information on the same piece of paper.

During my week I got to do all of my testing on one of their Pro models. I was really impressed, and I am enjoying trying to figure out what graphics look like tactile.

Now that you know about their printers, I'm going to tell you about their software that works with the printers. Every Tiger printer comes with their braille translation software. This software is the only braille translation program that works in Microsoft Office. Anyone can use it, and you don't have to know braille to successfully translate a document. You simply decide what braille code you want to use in your preferences and select translate. I've been able to translate some documents and print them out myself which would be more difficult with any other braille translation software.

One of their new software offerings is IVEO. This system is designed to allow teachers to present their material using sight, touch, and sound. Here is a link to their great video demonstrating how the system works.

Their final product I want to tell you about is the Audio Graphing Calculator. This is a fully functioning, self-voicing, scientific calculator for all those smart people who are good at science and math. It is the only computer based software of its kind, and the only graphing calculator that connects to a Tiger printer for high-resolution tactile graphs. This product is probably the best solution for visually impaired people either taking high level math and science, or those working in the Science, Math, and Technology fields.

So now you know about the great products ViewPlus has to offer. Please feel free to ask any questions, and please follow them on Twitter: @ViewPlus