1. 1
Trend of DAISY playback device
in the world
Shinano Kenshi

2. 2
DAISY and PLEXTALK
• “During the early development of the DAISY Consortium
in the mid 1990's, Plextor Corp. and its parent
company, Shinano Kenshi Co., Ltd., was among the
early supporters. Plextor products have always had an
excellent reputation for being the highest quality
products on the market. The early founders of the
DAISY Consortium welcomed Plextor's knowledgeable
participation in DAISY developments. Without this early
support, we would not be where we are today. The
DAISY Consortium and the millions of blind and print-
disabled people we serve will be forever indebted to
Shinano Kenshi for their involvement.”
– DAISY Consortium website
(http://www.daisy.org/policy/patent.html)
http://www.daisy.org/stories/shinano-kenshi.shtml
Please also see ‘Your Story’ – DAISY Consortium

3. 3
Innovative History of PLEXTALKInnovative History of PLEXTALK
• Worldwide field trial in 1996-1997. Contributed next
generation digital talking books standard
• World’s FIRST DAISY player in May 1998 (TK-300)
• World’s FIRST DAISY recorder in Aug. 2002
(PTR1)
• World’s FIRST DAISY network software player in
Apr. 2004 (Net-Plextalk)
• World’s FIRST DAISY network player (hardware
prototype), in Jan. 2007

4. 4www.plextalk.com
PLEXTALK Products – 1990’sPLEXTALK Products – 1990’s
• PLEXTALK Leads the Digital Talking
Book Player
V1 1995/Apr.
V2 1995/Aug.
V3 1996/Mar.
V4 1996/Aug.
V5 1996/Dec.
Field trial model
V6 1998/May. TK-300/B
2000/Mar. TK-200
Commercial model

5. 5www.plextalk.com
PLEXTALK Products – 2000’sPLEXTALK Products – 2000’s
PTN1 2004
Recording tool
Player
PTR1 2002 PTR2 2005
Net Plextalk 2004
- PC software
- Hardware
PLEXTALK Recording Software
2004
DR-1 2007
Pocket PTP1 2008
PTX1 2009

6. 6
Media and services on DAISY
Transition period
Audio only Multi media
Network/DownloadCD media

7. 7
History of network products development
• Launched the first network DAISY player,
NetPlextalk in 2004
• NetPlextalk was adapted by Japan Braille
Library, RNIB, TPB and NLB.
• Developed prototype of hardware online DAISY
player in 2006
• Co-operated field trial in Japan, UK, Australia,
Sweden since 2006 (still on going in Sweden)
• Experiences were reflected to online protocol
and product development

8. 8
DAISY online delivery
• DAISY online WG has started DAISY
online protocol development
• The standard is expected to be
approved by DAISY consortium in April

9. 9
System Design
Backend (Database, Archive)
Web portal
for PC
Web portal
for PC
Copyright SHINANO KENSHI CO., LTD. All rights reserved.
Web portal for
Mobile phone
Web portal for
Mobile phone
Web portal for
DAISY online player
Web portal for
DAISY online player
Catalogue and User
Information
Catalogue and User
Information Book archiveBook archive
Web server (Library service) DAISY online server

10. 10
Library support
Library server
BookshelfBookshelf
Copyright SHINANO KENSHI CO., LTD. All rights reserved.
Request Bookshelf
information Title list
Librarian
Add/Delete books
User Telephone request
CONFIDENTIAL

11. 11
Operation
• DAISY online server provides catalogue information
of the contents and menu to find title
• PTX1 user connects to DAISY online server via
internet (DSL/FTTH)
• Selecting book and put in my library (bookshelf)
• Alternative assistance from Local Library
• PTX1 streams/downloads the book
www.plextalk.com

12. 12
Additional features by DAISY online
• Share bookshelf
Bookshelf information is managed by server
and available for each user. Bookshelf
information is shared by multiple players
such as PTP1 and PTX1.
• Share bookmark
DAISY online specification defines a function
to transfer bookmarks. This function makes
possibility to share the bookmark information
between PTP1 and PTX1.

13. 13
The first network DAISY player – PTX1
PTX1/RNIB PTX1 Pro

14. 14
Recent & Meaningful Achievements of Shinano Kenshi
 Partnership & co-branded PTX1 Product
Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB), U.K. – Joint
designing of PTX1
 Numerous joint development with…
 Vision Australia (VA) co-branded product
 Royal New Zealand Foundation of the Blind (RNZFB)
 Idea collaboration…
 Swedish Library of Talking Books and Braille
 Finnish Federation of the Visually Impaired (FFVI) and
Celia Library for the Visually Impaired of Finland

15. 15
www.plextalk.com
BenefitsBenefits
User Library Service
CD, SD, USB,
Online (LAN, WiFi)
Network
capability
(LAN, WiFi)
Speech
Synthesizer
(TTS)
Robust Design
Low Rate of Failure,
Reuse of Media,
No Disk Delivery
= Cost Effectiveness
Quick Delivery
= Quality of Service
Shorten Time to Wait
= Access More Information
Store and Carry All You Have
= Time Saving
Low Rate of Failure
= Cost/Time Saving

16. 16
Network player – PTP1
 PTP1 is sold as an
portable DAISY
recoder/player
 PTP1 has built-in WiFi
module
 Network feature will be
activated by firmware
upgrade

17. 17
Multimedia DAISY
• Full text DAISY books are getting popular
• PC software or mobile phone application
is common playback platform for text
DAISY books

18. 18
Consideration of platform for text DAISY
• Generic platform is not best solution for
people with disabilities
• Performing some pilot projects in Japan
to inquire what is best and suitable for
text DAISY books

19. 19
Q&A

20. 20
www.plextalk.com