The Development of a Universal Design Tactile
Graphics Production System BPLOT2
Mamoru Fujiyoshi1 , Akio Fujiyoshi2 , Nobuyuki Ohtake3 , Katsuhito
Yamaguchi4 and Yoshinori Teshima51

Research Division, National Center for University Entrance Examinations
2-19-23 Komaba, Meguro, Tokyo, 153-8501 Japanfujiyosi@rd.dnc.ac.jp
2
Department of Computer and Information Sciences, Ibaraki University
4-12-1 Nakanarusawa, Hitachi, Ibaraki, 316-8511 Japanfujiyosi@mx.ibaraki.ac.jp
3
Research and Support Center on Higher Education for the Hearing and Visually
Impaired, Tsukuba University of Technology
4-12-7 Kasuga, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-0821 Japanohtake@k.tsukuba-tech.ac.jp
4
Junior College Funabashi Campus, Nihon University
7-24-1 Narashinodai, Funabashi, Chiba, 274-8501 Japaneugene@gaea.jcn.nihon-u.ac.jp
5
Digital Manufacturing Research Center, National Institute of Advanced Industrial
Science and Technology
1-2 Namiki, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8564 Japan
yoshinori.teshima@aist.go.jp

Abstract. We introduce a new universal design tactile graphics production system: BPLOT2. With BPLOT2, blind persons and sighted
persons can share resources and cooperatively draw tactile graphics tobe utilized in braille textbooks and teaching materials. Present tactile
graphics design applications have only GUI (Graphical User Interface)with the need for mouse operations and thus are not usable by blind
persons. Equally inconvenient, our self-supporting tactile graphics production system for the blind, BPLOT, has only CUI (Character User
Interface), so BPLOT is not popular among the sighted. Therefore, we
implemented GUI on BPLOT and realized universal design on BPLOT2.
Key words: universal design, visually impaired, tactile graphics, GUI

1

Introduction

For a long time, it was believed to be impossible for blind persons to produce
tactile graphics by themselves. Now, it is possible with BPLOT [1]. BPLOT is
the first tactile graphics production system for the blind that enables the blind
to produce tactile graphics by themselves. BPLOT produces tactile graphics
from a source text file written in our newly designed plotter control language
for BPLOT. Because a source file for BPLOT is a text file, it is editable with
K. Miesenberger et al, (Eds.): ICCHP 2008, LNCS 5105, pp. 938-945, 2008
Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidlberg 2008.

2939

M. Fujiyoshi et al.

any text editors by any person who has learned the plotter control language.
Therefore, BPLOT enables not only the sighted but also the blind to produce
tactile graphics by themselves.
The recent development of computer software is going in the direction of enriching GUI (Graphical User Interface). Undoubtedly, the development of GUI
has enhanced the usability and productivity of computer software for the sighted.
For example, a sighted person can draw a picture on a computer screen very easily with painting software such as Microsoft Paint. For the blind, on the other
hand, great efforts have been and are being devoted to improve the usability
and productivity of computer software. Nishi and Fukuda [2] introduced graphic
editor software for the blind utilizing a tactile pin display DotView (KGS Corporation). Kopeček and Ošlejšek [3] proposed a method of creating pictures forthe blind by dialogue. We are looking forward to the development of these approaches.
Tactile graphics design applications have been available, such as BES4 [4],EDEL-plus [5] and Tiger Software Suite [6]. Like Microsoft Paint, these present
tactile graphics design applications have sophisticated GUI and enable the sighted
to produce tactile graphics easily. However, because of the necessity for mouse
operations, the blind cannot use these applications by themselves.
In this paper, we introduce a new universal design tactile graphics production system, BPLOT2. With BPLOT2, blind persons and sighted persons canshare resources and cooperatively draw tactile graphics to be utilized in brailletextbooks and teaching materials. BPLOT has only CUI (Character User Interface) and cannot display the image of figures on the display. Moreover, users
have to learn the plotter control language, so BPLOT is not popular among
the sighted. We, therefore, developed BPLOT2 by adding GUI on BPLOT andrealized universal design on BPLOT2.
This paper is organized as follows: In Section 2, the outline of BPLOT2 isexplained; in Section 3, examples of figures produced with BPLOT2 are shown;in Section 4, quality of productions is evaluated; and in Section 5, a conclusion
is drawn.

2

Outline of BPLOT2

2.1

The System

The system needs a braille printer and a PC which runs on Microsoft Windows
or DOS. The software for BPLOT2 was developed with Borland C++. In orderto obtain tactile graphics of high quality, we chose ESA721 (JTR Corporation)
as a recommended output device.
ESA721 is a braille plotter printer that can produce tactile graphics with very
high resolution: horizontally 73 dpi (dot/inch) and vertically 80 dpi. In comparison with ordinary braille printers (20dpi), the resolution of ESA721 is four times
more precise. The print head of ESA721 has eight print pins: six normal-sizedpins (1.4mm in diameter) and two additional pins (0.5mm and 1.8mm in diameter). The six normal-sized pins are used to print braille characters. The twoUniversal Design Tactile Graphics Production System

9403

additional pins and the first pin of the six normal-sized ones are used to draw
dotted lines.
BPLOT2 has four different execution modes: drawing mode, interactive design mode, test mode and help mode.
2.2

The Plotter Control Language

In order to design tactile graphics by text editors, we developed a plotter control
language. The plotter control language is like a computer programming language
which consists of plotter control commands. In Section 3, we see examples of
figure-drawing programs written in the plotter control language.
The plotter control commands were mainly imported from ones formerly
used to control vector-graphics printing devices. Each command consists of acommand name and parameters. Basic figures such as a circle and a straight line
can be described by a single command.
One of the biggest characteristics of BPLOT2 is that we can magnify andreduce the output tactile graphics with the same sense of touch because lines
are drawn with the same dot pitch. The dot pitch and the pattern of a dottedline are specified in the parameters of a command.
A figure-drawing program starts with the “window” command. It defines
the virtual coordinate space where figures are described, and relates the virtual
coordinate space to the real coordinate space of a sheet of paper mounted on abraille printer.
For figures frequently used, we prepared commands to describe those figuresin one line. For example, in plotting a flowchart we can use commands to describe a circle or ellipse as “terminal”, a rectangle as “process”, a diamond shapeas “decision”, and several kinds of arrows. A parabola, a hyperbola, a trigonometric function, an exponential function and a logarithmic function can also be
described by a single command.
Graphs including complicated curves can be described by means of spline
functions. In plotting graphs, the axis of coordinates can be described by a single command. To import a series of plotter control commands written in anotherfile, we use the “paste” command. Figures like a beaker and a test tube can beprepared in advance, and we can use those parts to describe equipment in alaboratory. To put a braille caption in a figure, we use the “braille” command.
NABCC (North American Braille Computer Code) and Japanese KANA code
are supported. In a similar manner to a computer programming language, comments and macros can be used.
2.3

The Development of GUI

We developed GUI on BPLOT2 for the sighted. During interactive design mode,
we can enter GUI mode. In GUI mode, a design sheet is displayed at the centerof the PC display. A sighted person can put basic figures on a design sheet in
the PC display. Fig. 1 is the screenshot of the PC display in GUI mode.

4941

M. Fujiyoshi et al.

Fig. 1. Screenshot of GUI

The figure-drawing program corresponding to a design sheet is automaticallygenerated and saved as a file.

3

Examples of Figures Produced with BPLOT2

Fig. 2 and Fig. 3 are examples of tactile graphics produced with BPLOT2. Fig. 2
is an unfolded cube as an example of a drawing constituted by basic figures. Fig. 3
is the graph of “labor force participation rate of Japanese women” as an exampleof the usage of the “spline” command used to draw complicated curves.
Program 1 and Program 2 are the figure-drawing programs for Fig. 2 andFig. 3, respectively. The line numbers were added for the sake of readability.
Program 1 consists of 7 files with only 61 lines in total including comment andblank lines. The main module is to draw the whole figure, and six sub-modules
are to draw componential figures drawn in the boxes. On line 5, the “aux”
command is used to open a connection with a braille plotter printer ESA721.
On line 6, “window 1 41 0 24” defines the range of coordinates on a sheet ofpaper; the range of a horizontal coordinate is from 1 to 41, and the range ofvertical coordinate is from 0 to 24. On line 7, the “braille” command is used toprint braille characters, where “5 22” means the coordinates to print them. On
line 9, the “window” command is used again, and the range of coordinates isre-defined. On line 10, the “dot” command is used to set the size of dots to beprinted, where 0 is the small dot, 1 the medium dot, and 2 the large dot. On line
11, the “box” command is used to draw a box, where the first two parameters “00” means the coordinates of the center, “2” the width, “8” the height, and “3”the length of intervals between dots. Similarly, on line 12, “box 0 0 2 8 3” draws
a box. On line 13, the “line” command is used to draw a line from (-2,-4) to(2,-4) whose intervals between dots is 3mm. On line 15, the “paste” command isUniversal Design Tactile Graphics Production System

942
5Fig. 2. Unfolded Cube
Fig. 3. Labor Force Participation Rate

used to draw a figure defined in a separate file, where “fig2 c.txt” is a file name,“-4 2” the coordinates, and “1 1” the magnification ratios of the horizontal andthe vertical. On line 17, the “rotate” command is used to rotate the coordinates
defined by the “window” command, where “1” means validity of the command,“0 0” the coordinates of the center of rotation, and “90” the angle of rotation. If
the first parameter is “0”, then the command is invalid. On line 29, “ff” means
the end of page.
Program 2 consists of 32 lines. On line 8, the “origin” command is used
to reset the origin of coordinates to (-6.5, -8). On line 11 and 12, the “xaxis”
command and the “yaxis” command are used to draw the horizontal axis andthe vertical axis. On line 23, the “spline” command is used to draw a splineinterpolation curve which goes along six points specified from line 24 to line 29.
“9999” on line 30 means the end of data.

4

Quality of Productions

To evaluate the quality of productions of BPLOT2, we compared productions
from the following three tactile graphics production systems: BPLOT2, EDELplus and BES4. These three are the computerized tactile graphics production
systems used in Japan to produce braille textbooks and braille test booklets.
Among them, BPLOT2 is the only system for the blind to produce tactile graphics by themselves. These three systems utilize the same braille printer ESA721.
We had the three systems to produce the four tactile graphics shown in Fig. 2,
Fig. 3, Fig. 4 and Fig. 5. We measured embossing time of each graphics.

6943

M. Fujiyoshi et al.
Program 1. Figure-Drawing Program for Fig. 2

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31

/* main module fig2.txt
Cubic Development Chart
*/

1
2
3
4

aux
window 1 41 0 24
1
braille 5 22 ,Cubic ,Development ,Chart 2
3
window -10.4 10.4 -12.5 12.5
4
dot 2
box 0 0 2 8 3
1
2
box 0 2 6 2 3line -2 -4 2 -4 3
3
4
paste fig2 c.txt -4 2 1 1
1
2
rotate 1 0 0 90
paste fig2 d1.txt 0 6 1 1
3
rotate 0 0 0 0
45
paste fig2 d2.txt 0 2 1 1
6
7
paste fig2 a.txt 4 2 1 1
1
paste fig2 b.txt 0 -2 1 1
2
3
paste fig2 t.txt 0 -6 1 1
4
5
ff // formfeed
67/// end of main module
12
3
4/// module fig2 a.txt
aux
dot 1
arrow 0 -1 0 1 30 1 0 2/// module fig2 b.txt
aux
dot 1
box 0 0 0.8 0.8 2/// module fig2 c.txt
aux
dot 1
circle 0 0 0.8 0 360 2/// module fig2 d1.txt
aux
dot 1
line -0.27 0.717 -0.27 -1 2line -0.27 -1 0.27 -1 2line 0.27 -1 0.27 0.717 2
dart 0 1 90 0 45 0.9 0 2/// module fig2 d2.txt
aux
dot 1
line -0.27 0.717 -0.27 -0.717 2line 0.27 -0.717 0.27 0.717 2
dart 0 1 90 0 45 0.9 0 2
dart 0 -1 -90 0 -45 0.9 0 2/// module fig2 t.txt
aux
dot 1
polygon 3 0 0 1 2

Although the total embossing time of BPLOT2 and BES4 were same, they
were about 1.7 times faster than that of EDEL-plus. This difference may becaused by their embossing procedure. BPLOT2 and BES4 are drawing basic
figures in due order. EDEL, on the other hand, generates dotted image of figuresin memory first and embosses one line at a time from the top to the bottom of
paper.
The quality of productions of tactile figures of BPLOT2 and BES4 werea little better than that of EDEL-plus because of the difference of embossing
procedure.

Universal Design Tactile Graphics Production System

9447

Program 2. Figure-Drawing Program for Fig. 3
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16

// Labor force participation rateaux
window 1 41 0 24
braille 5 23 ,Lab—r =ce ”picip,n rate
braille 8 22 ( ,Japanese wom5
window -10.4 10.4 -12.5 12.5
origin -6.5 -8
dot 0
xaxis 0 15 3 2 2yaxis 0 15 1.5 2 2braille -2.3 16.2 7p}c5t7
braille -2.3 15.2 #ajj
braille -1.8 0.2 #j

17
18
braille 1.5 -0.5 #be-#bi
19
braille 7.5 -0.5 #de-#di20
braille 7.5 -1.5 7age721
22 dot 1
23
spline 0 15 0 15 2 0 0 2
24
0 3 // point 1
25
1.8 11 // point 226
4 7 // point 327
9 10 // point 4
28
12 6 // point 529
15 2.5 // point 6309999 0 // end of data
31
32 ff // formfeed

Fig. 5. Concentric Circles

Fig. 4. Inclined lines

5

Conclusion

The universal design of BPLOT2 enables the blind and the sighted to shareresources and cooperatively draw tactile graphics. Since tactile proofreading bya blind person is necessary to ensure the quality of tactile graphics, a system
which enables a blind person to proofread and revise tactile graphics was strongly
requested. With BPLOT2, a blind person can edit a figure-drawing program
generated from a design sheet drawn by a sighted person with GUI mode of
BPLOT2. Likewise, a design sheet generated from a figure-drawing program
formerly made by a blind person can be revised by a sighted person with GUI
mode of BPLOT2.

8945

M. Fujiyoshi et al.

Actually, BPLOT2 has been utilized to produce all tactile graphics of brailleformat tests for the National Admission Test for Law Schools and some tactile graphics for the National Center Test for University Admissions in Japan.
Examples are shown in Fig. 6 and Fig. 7.

Fig. 7. (Chemistry) An Equipment ofFig. 6. (Biology) Morphologic Characteris- Chemistry (Forked Test Tube and Gas coltics of Acorn
lecting Bottle)

We think figure-drawing programs are superb in reusability and circulation
because they are text files. We are preparing public domain figure-drawing programs usable for classes in mathematics, chemistry and physics.
Recently, the development of tactile graphic displays for the PC is remarkable. GUI is useful not only for the sighted but also for the blind. We want tooffer GUI to the blind so that they can make use of a tactile graphic display inthe near future.

References
1. Fujiyoshi, M.: The Development of Plotting System That Enables People with
Visual Disabilities to Produce Tactile Graphics (in Japanese). Technical Report of
IEICE, WIT, Vol. 103, No. 746，7-12 (2004)
2. Nishi, A., Fukuda, R.: Graphic Editor for Visually Impaired Users. In: Proceedingsof the 10th International Conference on Computers Helping People with Special
Needs (ICCHP 2006), LNCS 4061, pp.1139-1146 (2006)
3. Kopeček, I., Ošlejšek, R.: Graphic Editor for Visually Impaired Users. In: Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Computers Helping People with
Special Needs (ICCHP 2006), LNCS 4061, pp.61-68 (2006)
4. BES4 (in Japanese), http://www.ttools.co.jp/product/eyes/BES4.html
5. EDEL-plus (in Japanese), http://www7a.biglobe.ne.jp/∼EDEL-plus/
6. Tiger Software Suite, http://www.viewplus.com/products/braille-embossers/
braille-software/TSS/