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On 27 June 2014 Atheer, after shipping dozens of units, cancelled all remaining pre-orders for their Developer Kit and the Atheer One in a pivot to the enterprise market. |
On 5 December 2014, Atheer begins marketing mobile smart glasses for enterprise and industrial applications including oil, medical, construction and other field services. Atheer is shipping the AiR (Augmented interactive Reality) Smart Glasses platform developer kit, the AiR DK2, to select customers. AiR Smart Glasses are mobile 3D augmented reality see-through smart glasses with patented, touch-free gesture control that is designed to improve productivity for those who work in the field and/or with their hands. |
The Atheer AiR platform consists of the Atheer AiR Glasses and the Atheer AiR OS based on Android 4.2. Featuring the Qualcomm Snapdragon CPU, the platform includes binocular lens, 3D imaging support, a rechargeable battery, WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0, an accelerometer, gyro, magnetometer, an ambient light sensor and IR. External Ports include USB, HDMI Out, DC Power In, an Earphone/Microphone stereo jack and includes internal storage as well as MicroSD support. |
On 19 November 2015, Atheer launched the AiR Suite, a turn-key enterprise field worker taskflow management and collaboration platform consisting of AiR Flow, the device application for smart glasses, AiR Hub, the cloud-based console for user management and remote video, and AiR Designer, the GUI taskflow creation and editing tool. |
As of 15 June 2016, Atheer announced partnerships to bring the AiR Suite to other smart glasses such as the Epson Moverio, ODG R-7, Vuzix m100 and m300, and Recon Jet. |
By the end of 2009, Epson began the development of an eyewear display that would deliver a big-screen experience to people on the go. Thus, it was intended to be small, lightweight and comfortable to be convenient for travelers and optical see-through so that viewers could see their surroundings while watching multimedia content. On 9 November 2011, it announced in Japan the Moverio BT-100, a 3D-enabled optical see-through eyewear display which features 0.52-inch displays with 960×540 resolution that give the impression of viewing a 3D virtual 80-inch display from a distance 5 m. It is powered by Android 2.2 and packs Wi-Fi IEEE 802.11b/g/n (direct access to YouTube and a web browser) and microUSB. The Moverio was shipped to Japanese stores on 25 November and was expected to initially sell 10,000 units. In March 2012 Epson launched the Moverio in the United States. |
On 6 January 2014, Epson announced the development of the Moverio BT-200 Mobile Viewer. In addition to being 60% lighter, and having prescription inserts, it also introduces motion tracking, a camera, and more powerful (1.2 GHz) CPU. In addition to content consumption, the new Moverio is being promoted for use with full augmented reality. |
In December 2012, Meta was founded by Meron Gribetz, based on the work of a Columbia University team that began in 2011. On 17 May 2013, the company launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds to manufacture the Meta 1, an augmented reality wearable display that is based on Epson's Moverio BT-100. Meta's outward-facing camera captures gestures allowing users to interact with virtual games, architectural renderings and other 3D objects by using their hands. To get one of the first-generation devices required a pledge of $650 or more to the Kickstarter campaign. The Kickstarter campaign was successful in raising $194,444, topping its pledged goal of $100,000. |
The highly anticipated Meta 1 shipped out around the world in January 2015 after many updates, tweaks and refinements. Meta's system leverages Unity, as the 3D environment, and has put their SDK in the hands of talented hackers and developers at prestigious hackathons in order to see the system in action. |
Meta has also announced the Meta Pro, with 40 degree field of view, attached Intel i5 computer, and many other enhancements, with a price of $3,650. The delivery date for the Meta Pro has not yet been announced, but details can be requested at the Meta website. |
The Meta website lists Prof. Steve Mann, the father of wearable computing as its Chief Scientist, alongside Columbia University's Prof. Steven Feiner as its lead advisor and co-founders CTO Raymond Lo and COO Ben Sand. |
In 2012, the Italian company GlassUp was founded by Francesco Giartosio and Gianluigi Tregnaghi to develop and market its augmented reality eyewear display. Initially, the project started in June 2011, when Francesco and his team saw an augmented reality glasses concept video. Following it, the team researched the eyewear display market and in September 2011 it sought and hired Gianluigi Tregnaghi, the biggest field expert in Italy, who developed optical systems for airplane pilots' helmets. In the summer of 2012, the team thought it found the solution that would hit the mark, and patented it. |
At CeBIT 2013, the company showcased its project to turn a pair of glasses into a head-mounted secondary display for the smartphone. The prototype device featured a projector that beams images onto the glass panel baked into the right-side lens as well as a yellow-and-black, 320 x 240 resolution display. The company planned to release two versions, one with Bluetooth 4.0 and one with Bluetooth 3.1 to ensure a wide range of compatibility with Android and iOS devices, and aimed to have finished versions ready for the Augmented World Expo in June 2013. |
At the same time, the company planned to start Kickstarter campaign to generate the funds necessary for a pre-sale, priced at $399 / €299. It spent two months setting up a company in the US, opening a bank account, an Amazon account, getting a tax number and seeking a local resident. At the end, it came out that Kickstarter does not accept the eyeglasses category anymore. On 9 June 2013 GlassUp started an Indiegogo campaign to raise funds and as of 18 August the campaign has raised $105,641 of its pledged goal of $150,000. |
In January 2005, the French company Laster Technologies was founded by a group of experts in optics and image processing at CNRS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique). The company's patented EnhancedView technology uses a unique optoelectronic device based on a semi-reflective diopter with a mathematically calculated curve enabling the reflection of a virtual collimated image directly into the wearer's field of view. The use of EnhancedView technology, coupled with an OLED micro-screen provides a 40 ° x 30 ° (H x V) field of vision with a resolution of 800 x 600 pixels or more. This is equivalent to viewing a floating screen of 90 cm diagonal at a distance of one meter. It is the result of an intensive collaborative development work with the Institut d'Optique and the University of Paris-Sud over several years. |
In September 2006, the company won a research grant for the development of a prototype demonstrator for augmented reality in French Museums. It worked on this project with four partners: INRIA, Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie, the Pierre-and-Marie-Curie University and Naska films. In July 2009, the company presented the augmented reality experience "Observe the Earth in 3D" at the inauguration of the permanent exhibition Explora, "Objective : Earth" at the Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie. A projected video of Earth globe was placed at the center of a semi-circular table. Visitors are placed around the table and wear Laster glasses which allows them to see the Earth globe and overlay of virtual satellites around the Earth. |
In June 2008, Innovega was co-founded by the former MicroVision employees: Randall Sprague, Steve Willey and Jerome Legerton. The company developed the iOptik eyewear display. It comprises a pair of contact lens which refocus polarized light to the pupil and allows the wearer to focus on an image that is as near as 1.25 cm to the eye, thus enabling displays to be built into normal-looking glasses without the bulky optics. In April 2012, the company signed a contract to deliver a fully functioning prototype to the Pentagon’s research laboratory, DARPA. At CES 2013, the company demonstrated a prototype of its eyewear display that features a field of view of 60 degrees or more. It also claimed that a field of view of nearly 120 degrees is already in the works. The first version of Innovega's glasses are designed for military use, but it is planning a consumer version by 2014 or 2015. |
At SID 2012, the German institute Fraunhofer COMEDD presented for the first time an evaluation kit of its OLED-based eyewear display which enables the user to test the technology and develop applications The institute successfully developed OLED-on-silicon microchips, which are display and camera at the same time, and can be integrated into eyeglasses with an appropriate optical construction. At the moment the eyewear display can be offered with a bright red shining OLED display, but the scientists of Fraunhofer COMEDD are currently working on the possibility to provide the information in full-color so that people can experience whole film sequences. Fraunhofer COMEDD is working in partnership with Fraunhofer IOSB who is developing the eye-tracking capabilities for the eyewear and Trivisio who is responsible for the eyewear design. |
TRIVISIO was founded in 2003. The company develops and produces head-mounted displays. The wireless inertial motion trackers developed by TRIVISIO, are operational in the production for movement control by industrial companies, as well as in the medical field. In partnership with research institutions and companies, the company optimize customize optics, micro-electronics and mechanics. TRIVISIO has thus developed a proprietary technological toolbox. |
On 10 September 2012, TTP announced that it developed an eyewear that looks like conventional glasses and uses transparent, curved lenses that do not obstruct the wearer's field of view. The technology works by using an embedded low-power, miniature projector optics to project a light at an angle of approximately 45° towards the lens that contains an embedded grating structure to redirect the light into the eye, as well as performing a number of other optical functions such as astigmatic compensation. It also invented a very high speed switchable fast focus lens technology that can be used to create a true 3D experience. The September 2012 prototype can only show a monochrome, 640 x 480 image, not a moving video, but the hardware to do that is expected to be ready for the next model. An electrode mounted at the temple of the eyewear can measure an electronic signal in the muscles to figure out which way the eyes are looking and that is translated into UI. The company is not planning to manufacture its display or eye-tracking technology, but instead hopes to license it to third parties. It is currently in negotiation with a California-based company. |
In January 2013, the Japanese company Telepathy was founded by the augmented reality entrepreneur Takahito Iguchi. At SXSW 2013 the company unveiled the Telepathy One, an eyewear display that consists of a small micro projector to create a virtual 5-inch screen that appears to float in front of the wearer's eye and a built-in micro camera. It uses an OS built off Linux and can connect to other devices via Bluetooth. It allows users to receive e-mails, check updates on social networks, and even share whatever scene the user is looking at with his friends. A Consumer version is expected to hit the US before the 2013 Christmas season. |
Founded in March 2004, the Taiwanese company Oculon Optoelectronics is a well-experienced optoelectronics company that has been engaged in the design and the development of head-mounted display (HMD) and a series of light-weighted portable display products. At Computex Taipei 2013 the company demonstrated a prototype of its Oculon Smart Glasses, an eyewear display which is expected to compete the Google Glass with better screen, longer battery life and less than half the price. The prototype carries a 640×480-pixel resolution, but the final version will have a 720p display. Images appear translucent, making them easy to see through. It will be offered in two versions – monocular and binocular – while the Google Glass only offers a monocular version. Among Oculon's features will be speech recognition, gesture control and the ability to connect to a Bluetooth control pad for navigation. The company expects to go into mass production of the Oculon by late 2013 and is hoping to hit an MSRP of $500. As an OEM, Oculon will not release the Smart Glasses on its own, but instead will sell it to a variety of vendors who will take the device to market under their own brands. Consumer versions are expected to be released by late 2013. |
At MWC 2013, Fujitsu showcased the Laser Head Set (LHS), a headset display that uses a laser to project a high-resolution video onto a clear mirror in front of your eye which bounces it back into the retina. It provides a field of view of 40 degrees and produces a translucent image, letting the user look through the projected image to see his surrounding. It was developed in collaboration with the University of Tokyo and QD Laser Inc. By Mobile World Congress 2014, Fujitsu plans to debut the Laser Eye Wear (LEW), based on the same technology that is condensed into a pair of normal-looking glasses. |
On 1 April 2013, an article at Sina Tech reported that the Chinese search giant Baidu is allegedly testing Baidu Eye, a monocular eyewear display which features a miniature LCD display, camera for taking pictures, bone conduction technology, and some sort of facial recognition search. It has been in development for several years by a team under the direction of Baidu's chief product designer Sun Yun-feng. The company intends to develop a wearable device industry standards and to license it to manufacturers. Based on its cloud ecosystem, it plans to launch an application store so developers can create apps for the device. It also cooperation with Qualcomm, to use its latest power control chip to reduce the power consumption and by that to extend the battery life to 12 hours or more. This device is fully functional by voice commands. It was at first thought to be an April Fools' Day joke, but on 3 April its existence was confirmed to Mashable by Baidu's director of international communications, Kaiser Kuo. A working prototype has been built. |
Vufine is a California-based company that manufactures a glasses-mounted display. The company launched on Kickstarter on 24 July 2015 and is intended to be a cheaper alternative to the Google glass. It is only a display, lacking an onboard computer. Users can stream HDMI data to the headset. |
In May 2011, Microsoft filed patents for an optically see-through eyewear display with augmented reality capabilities. The patent describes how it could augment the wearer's view by using the device. For instance, it could be used at a baseball game to show a player's statistics, provide details of characters in a play, or at an opera house to show the lyrics next to the opera singer as an alternative to displays placed at the side of the stage. It also states that the eyewear display could be operated by a wrist-worn computer, voice-commands or by flicking the eyes to a certain spot. In 2012, a two-year-old 56-page roadmap document by Microsoft appeared on Scribd. It revealed that Microsoft's Innovation Center in Fortaleza, Brazil is developing the code-named Fortaleza, an eyewear display that appears to be Wi-Fi and 4G-enabled and incorporates augmented reality. It also revealed plans to make it capable of syncing with Microsoft's Xbox One and the Kinect. No concrete release date was given, but the document suggests sometime in 2014 at earliest. The document was removed at the request of Covington & Burling LLP, an international law firm that represents Microsoft. The file has since found a home on multiple hosting services and websites, but soon afterwards Microsoft sent takedown notices to sites that were hosting the document, including Dropbox. Ihned.cz, a technology site based in the Czech Republic, received a notice from Alan Radford, Internet Investigator on behalf of Microsoft for hosting the document. In 2014, Microsoft revealed the device, naming it HoloLens. In an 6 October 2015 event Microsoft demonstrated the demo of HoloLens and made its developer edition available at $3000. |
In March 2013, the Boston-startup LAFORGE Optical was founded by five former and current students of the Rochester Institute of Technology, with the intention to design and market an eyewear with an embedded heads-up display system. In December 2013, the company launched pre-order sales of its Icis eyewear on the company's official website for $220. This plan was then abandoned for the release of a new pair of eyewear LAFORGE dubbed Shima. These went on sale on the company's official website for $590 under the marketing banner of an alpha/beta product release. Since then there have been multiple delays and a great deal of uncertainty surrounding the actual availability of the glasses. |
At Ceatec trade show, Toshiba unveiled the Toshiba Glass, a prototype of pair of glasses with a tiny, lightweight projector which displays an image. Toshiba Glass was jointly created by Yamamoto Kogaku Co. which makes glasses under the Swans brand. |
In November 2013, Ashkelon Eyewear Technologies Ltd was founded by the Israeli celebrity inventor Benny Goldstein, with the intention to develop and bring to market a very low-cost wearable heads-up display. Their first product, the Ashkelon Visor, is launching for around $20 and should arrive at consumers hands somewhere in the middle of 2015. |
Analytics company IHS has estimated that the shipments of smart glasses may rise from just 50,000 units in 2012 to as high as 6.6 million units in 2016. According to a survey of more than 4,600 U.S. adults conducted by Forrester Research, around 12 percent of respondents are willing to wear Google Glass or other similar device if it offers a service that piques their interest. Business Insider's BI Intelligence expects an annual sales of 21 million Google Glass units by 2018. |
According to reliable reports, Samsung and Microsoft are expected to develop their own version of Google Glass within six months with a price range of $200 to $500. Samsung has reportedly bought lenses from Lumus, a company based in Israel. Another source says Microsoft is negotiating with Vuzix. |
In 2006, Apple filed patent for its own HMD device. |
In July 2013, APX Labs founder and CEO Brian Ballard stated that he knows of 25-30 hardware companies who are working on their own versions of smart glasses, some of which APX is working with. |
= = = Rock 'n' Roll with the Modern Lovers = = = |
Rock 'n' Roll with the Modern Lovers is an album by Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers, released by the Beserkley Records label in August 1977. It reached #50 in the UK Album Chart in that month. |
All tracks composed by Jonathan Richman; except where indicated |
= = = Sant Soyarabai = = = |
Soyarabai was a saint from the Mahar caste in 14th century Maharashtra, India. She was a disciple of her husband, Chokhamela. |
Soyarabai framed large literature using blank verse of her own devising. She wrote much but only about 62 works are known. In her Abhang she refers to herself as Chokhamela's Mahari, accuses god for forgetting Dalits and of making life bad. Her most basic verses concern the simple food she gives the god. Her poems describe her devotion towards god and voice her objections to untouchability. |
Soyarabai believed that "The body only can be impure or polluted, but the soul is ever clean, pure knowledge. The body is born unclean and so how can anybody claim to be pure in body? The body has much pollution. But the pollution of the body remains in the body. The soul is untouched by it." |
Soyarabai undertook an annual pilgrimage to Pandharpur with her husband. They were harassed by orthodox Brahmins but never lost their faith and peace of mind. |
= = = Atmospheric optics ray-tracing codes = = = |
Atmospheric optics ray tracing codes - this article list codes for light scattering using ray-tracing technique to study atmospheric optics phenomena such as rainbows and halos. Such particles can be large raindrops or hexagonal ice crystals. Such codes are one of many approaches to calculations of light scattering by particles. |
Ray tracing techniques can be applied to study light scattering by spherical and non-spherical particles under the condition that the size of a particle is much larger than the wavelength of light. The light can be considered as collection of separate rays with width of rays much larger than the wavelength but smaller than a particle. Rays hitting the particle undergoes reflection, refraction and diffraction. These rays exit in various directions with different amplitudes and phases. Such ray tracing techniques are used to describe optical phenomena such as rainbow of halo on hexagonal ice crystals for large particles. |
Review of several mathematical techniques is provided in series of publications. |
The 46° halo was first explained as being caused by refractions through ice crystals in 1679 by the French physicist Edmé Mariotte (1620–1684) in terms of light refraction |
Jacobowitz in 1971 was the first to apply the ray-tracing technique to hexagonal ice crystal. Wendling et al. (1979) extended Jacobowitz's work from hexagonal ice particle with infinite length to finite length and combined Monte Carlo technique to the ray-tracing simulations. |
The compilation contains information about the electromagnetic scattering by hexagonal ice crystals, large raindrops, and relevant links and applications. |
= = = ESGN = = = |
ESGN (Evil Seeds Grow Naturally) is the debut studio album by American rapper Freddie Gibbs. The album was released on June 19, 2013, by ESGN and Empire Distribution. The album features guest appearances from Daz Dillinger, Spice 1, Jay Rock, G-Wiz, Hit “Skrewface”, Big Kill, Lil Sodi, Problem, Y.B., D-Edge, G.I. Fleezy and BJ the Chicago Kid. |
On March 23, 2013, the first song from the album titled "The Color Purple" was released. In an April 2013, interview with HipHopDX, Freddie Gibbs spoke about when the album would be released, saying: "I’m ‘bout to drop that "ESGN" album probably in June for the summer time, just to hold niggas over before we drop that "Cocaine Piñata" with Madlib. "ESGN" is gonna be me, G-Wiz, D-Edge, Hit Screwface, G.I. Fleezy and Big Kill. We putting that shit together right now. It’s gonna be kind of on that Jay-Z Dynasty: [Roc La Familia] type shit. I got a lot of records that I like. We’re gonna fuse that thing together and make that shit work to show what we’re working with collectively. Basically, this album gave me a chance to breathe and breathe fire on mothafuckas I’ve been wanting to breathe fire on. So it’s really giving me a little outlet right now. Once I whack niggas on this mothafuckin’ album then I’m gonna fall back on they ass and just chill for the summertime, get my dick sucked and drink drinks with umbrellas and shit in them, nigga. Just like Tony Soprano said, niggas is getting wacked. Niggas is getting’ clipped. This album is strictly for niggas that’s getting they nuts clipped." On May 14, 2013, Freddie Gibbs announced that his debut album "ESGN" would be released in July. On May 27, 2013, he announced on his Twitter account that the album would be released on July 9, 2013. On June 11, 2013, the first single from the album "One Eighty Seven" featuring Problem was released. On June 13, 2013, the second song from the album "Freddie Soprano" was released. On June 17, 2013, the music video was released for "Eastside Moonwalker". The album was later released three weeks before its original July 9, release date on June 20, 2013. On July 1, 2013, the music video was released for "Lay It Down". On July 15, 2013, the music video was released for "Have U Seen Her" featuring Hit Screwface. On August 26, 2013, the music video was released for "The Real G Money". On January 8, 2014, the music video was released for "One Eighty Seven" featuring Problem. |
In June 2013, during an interview with "XXL", Freddie Gibbs previewed the album. He spoke about “Eastside Moonwalker”, saying: "That’s one of the dopest tracks. Shout out to GMF. He produced that. It’s showing people that I’m the staple of the game when it comes to Gary [Indiana]. Michael Jackson is dead, so I gotta pick up the torch and run with it for my city. Actually, I am the only person grabbing it. I am just doing what I got to do. I’m the eastside moonwalker. I stay high, baby.” He also spoke about “Freddie Soprano”, saying: "That’s the definitive verse from the album. Basically, telling y’all what it is. How I feel about what’s what." He spoke about “F.A.M.E.” which features Daz Dillinger and Spice 1, saying: "[The acronym stands for] ‘Fuck All My Enemies.’ You know who I am talking about. If you an enemy—fuck you. I grew up listening to Daz and Spice-1. If it wasn’t for guys like that, I wouldn’t be rapping. Any project I do, I try to pay homage to guys that I respect. Last project I fucked with Jadakiss. He's one of the guys that when I came up, I came up listening to. He's still an athlete in this game. He's still one of the best in it. He don’t get his credit. I always try to pay homage to the guys that were instrumental in my career with me coming up. That's why I linked up with Daz and Spice-1. [This is a diss] track to anybody who want it. If the shoe fits, wear it. I’m talking shit about all of you niggas. If the shoe fits, wear it. If you pick up the shoe and you put it on. You want to take to Twitter and you want to get on your track and say something about Freddie Gibbs, make sure you got your hardhat on." He spoke about “Lay It Down” which is produced by Willie B, saying: "Shout out to Willie B. He fuck with Jay Rock and them. He produced that shit. That’s one of them hard-hitting joints. It’s going straight to the point. Lay it down. That’s a robbing song." He also spoke about “Have U Seen Her” which features Hit Skrewface, saying: "This is featuring my boy Screwface. SMKA, they produced that. That’s one of them bangers. It’s hard.” |
"ESGN" received generally positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 73, which indicates "generally favorable reviews", based on 5 reviews. Anthony Asencio of HipHopDX gave the album three and a half stars out of five, saying "Ultimately, "ESGN" may not be a cultural event. It doesn’t introduce a new sound, nor does it feature many moments we haven’t heard before. Yet what makes this album important are all the reasons Hip Hop needs Freddie Gibbs. On any one album, he can give you pieces of Tupac, UGK, Three 6 Mafia, and blend them into a harmony that would make Bone Thugs-n-Harmony proud. And on that point, ESGN is a massive success." Chris Mench of "XXL" gave the album an L, saying "None of this criticism is to say that "ESGN" is a bad album. Freddie is a talented rapper with great flow and a wise selection of collaborators, and many songs are individually effective. Rather, it is simply an album that lacks a clear perspective on the many heavy topics it tackles. A first time listener may walk away feeling very familiar with Freddie Gibbs’ sound, but still unsure of who exactly he is." David Amidon of PopMatters gave the album a seven out of ten, saying "For those hip-hop fans forever in pursuit of the latest glass-shattering bass and semi-auto mob rules, "ESGN" is likely 2013’s flagship release. This is Gibbs’ deep breath; let's see what direction he takes off running in next." |
Chris Bosman of Consequence of Sound gave the album four out of five stars, saying "Gibbs’ EPs and mixtapes tend to run long, and "ESGN" – at 19 tracks — is no exception. The length is a weakness. The bleakness of Gibbs’ world, even when it's going well, can leave you gasping. The shock is somewhat lost in the number of tracks. In the scheme of the album, it's a minor quibble. "ESGN" digs new paths through rap's hallowed grounds. It may not be the crossover success that those who ride for Gibbs would love to see, but it doesn’t diminish this excellent record." Jonah Bromwich of Pitchfork Media gave the album a 6.9 out of 10, saying "On “Hundred Thousand", Gibbs supplies a perfect—and, true to form, concise—review of "ESGN" himself. “Ain’t trying to be the man, just trying to maintain.” Callin an album "more of the same" sounds dismissive but its something that fans are often happy to receive and there are those for whom 20 tracks of Gibbs rapping nearly perfectly will be enough. But for everyone else, "ESGN" comes as an unwelcome reversion to the mean. It's the sound of a rapper more than happy to maintain his narrow lane after being burned by the industry, one who's lost the ambition to leave his comfort zone, at least for the time being." |
= = = Khelek = = = |
Khelek () is a village in Miyan Darband Rural District, in the Central District of Kermanshah County, Kermanshah Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 369, in 73 families. |
= = = Hashilan = = = |
Hashilan (, also Romanized as Hashīlān) is a village in Miyan Darband Rural District, in the Central District of Kermanshah County, Kermanshah Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 79, in 17 families. |
= = = Khvoshinan-e Olya = = = |
Khvoshinan-e Olya (, also Romanized as Khvoshīnān-e ‘Olyā, Khowshīnān-e ‘Olyā, and Khūshīnān-e ‘Olyā; also known as Bābā Khān, Khushinān Isfandīār, Khvoshīnān-e Bālā, and Khvoshīnān-e Esfandīār) is a village in Miyan Darband Rural District, in the Central District of Kermanshah County, Kermanshah Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 356, in 78 families. |
= = = Baba Khan = = = |
Baba Khan (, also Romanized as Bābā Khān) is a village in Korani Rural District, Korani District, Bijar County, Kurdistan Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 84, in 16 families. |
= = = Khvoshinan-e Sofla = = = |
Khvoshinan-e Sofla (, also Romanized as Khvoshīnān-e Soflá and Khūshīnān-e Soflá; also known as Deh Kūr, Khoshnīān-e Soflá, Khushinān ‘Āzam, Khvoshī Nān-e A‘z̧am, and Khvoshīnān-e Deh Kūr) is a village in Miyan Darband Rural District, in the Central District of Kermanshah County, Kermanshah Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 176, in 40 families. |
= = = Provincial Training School = = = |
The Provincial Training School for Mental Defectives (PTS) in Red Deer, Alberta, Canada operated as an institution for mentally disabled children and adults between 1923 and 1977, at which time it was renamed the Michener Centre. It aimed to provide care and training to facilitate the integration of individuals with intellectual disabilities into their communities. While today it houses a service for persons with developmental disabilities, the nearly one-century-old facility is preceded by a diverse, remarkable and even shocking history, marked by eugenic practices like involuntary sterilization. |
The three-storey building, which once housed the Provincial Training School, has undergone many administrative changes since its construction in 1913. Located on the Michener hill in the city of Red Deer, Alberta, it originally housed the Alberta Ladies' College of Red Deer as one of Western Canada's finest residential college buildings at the time. In 1916, the provincial government converted the college into a psychiatric hospital for shell-shocked soldiers. It was not until 1923 that the facility saw the inception of the Provincial Training School for Mental Defectives, which would serve as a care facility for the mentally disabled until 1973. Today, it functions as Alberta Health Services Administration Building the rest of the buildings function as PDD Michener Services residential care facility for persons with developmental disabilities and currently has 123 residents. |
In 1923, the Provincial Training School (PTS) was conceived as a residential school, aiming to enable the "academic, vocational and personal development of retarded children and young adults". It allowed developmentally disabled children to live apart from psychiatrically diagnosed children, and provided the parents of these children respite of the daily struggles of raising children with special needs. |
Before the opening of the PTS, Alberta's mentally disabled children that were not living with their families were usually grouped with psychiatric patients in care facilities as far away as Brandon, Manitoba. At its founding, the PTS was viewed as a progressive step for Canadians because it focused on segregating the "mentally retarded from the mentally ill," and was claimed to support the shift "from incarceration to education". In due time, the PTS expanded its function to include occupational therapy and vocational training, which was meant to serve as stepping-stones for the residents' integration into the larger community. In the 1950s, the PTS claimed to centre its efforts on "increasing the trainee's independence," and in the 1960s, on "resident training". The view of the school as "humane, well run, evolving as attitudes towards feeble-mindedness evolved," was upheld by Albertans throughout the span of its operation. However, rising population figures indicated that most residents of the PTS did not, in fact, return to their communities. |
To the greater Red Deer community, the PTS served as its chief employer and enriched the local community with its own farm and opulent gardens. The school featured state-of-the-art classrooms, a chain of dormitories, and even a separate hospital. This idealistic establishment appealed to even Alberta's most prestigious families, including ex-Premier of Alberta, Ernest Manning, who enrolled his eldest son, Keith, at the school. |
After the passing of the "Sexual Sterilization Act" of Alberta (SSAA) in 1928, the Provincial Training School (PTS) oversaw and performed the sterilizations of over 2,800 persons to improve society by preventing the genetic transmission of undesirable traits as well as to protect unfit individuals from the burdens of parenthood. Other Albertan facilities that also performed similar procedures were the Alberta Hospital in Ponoka and the Oliver Mental Hospital in Edmonton. |
To assess persons' eligibility for sterilization, the Alberta government created the Alberta Eugenics Board, headed by University of Alberta psychologist, John M. MacEachran, one year after the enactment of the SSAA. Board members persistently searched the province for prospective subjects, and thus frequently found themselves visiting the PTS. Whether or not an individual was suited for sterilization was decided by a panel of 4 people (2 medical professionals and 2 laypeople13), formed by the Alberta Eugenics Board, who presented patients with a single psychological test. Answers to this informal, interview-style test, including questions, such as, "At what age does a child begin to walk?," and, "How do you like it here?", guided the Board's 10-minute review of each case. Patients rarely had knowledge of the true purpose of the meetings; even on the day of their surgery, they were often only told that their appendix would be removed. Most would not discover what had been done to them at the PTS until years after leaving the school and, for some, the news came after several unsuccessful attempts to conceive. Initially, the procedure required consent from the patient or from a parent or guardian, but this pre-requisite was repeatedly ignored after 1937. Sometimes, authorization forms, required for surgeries to be carried out, were signed by officials before any assessments had been conducted. |
The fact that only a handful of the nearly 900 cases presented to the Eugenics Board by Leonard Jan Le Vann, medical superintendent of the PTS, were rejected has raised questions about the integrity of the assessments and decision-makers alike. Because of the Board's enduring trust in the superintendent's judgement, many individuals who did not meet the formal criteria for sterilization were nonetheless rendered infertile. Among those targeted were children with both subpar IQs (<70) and IQs highly exceeding the upper limit of 703, those with physical or mental disorders and those ailed by heritable disease. Other traits targeted by the eugenic procedure were ethnic minority and poverty, as well as criminal behaviour, alcoholism and promiscuity. Women, eastern European immigrants, First Nations people, and Catholics represented a disproportionate number of those sterilized at the PTS. The Eugenics Board never stopped to question the individuals' backgrounds or why Le Vann fought for their sterilization. As far as policy -makers and -enforcers were concerned, all of these groups had one thing in common: they were "a menace to society". |
L. J. Le Vann presented an even more peculiar type of case to the Board, which ultimately approved it 30 times. In his private research, Le Vann studied spermatogenesis in the testicles of boys with Down's syndrome. To supply his research with tissue samples, the medical director ordered not only vasectomies but also orchidectomies of males with Down's syndrome. This practice was carried out although it was already known within the medical community at the time that males with Trisomy 21 are sterile. Also, the Board which consented the procedure included Margaret Thompson, one of the leading medical geneticist in Canada at the time. |
While the name of the facility implies a school for 'mental defectives', many of those admitted to the Provincial Training School (PTS) were orphaned or simply unwanted by their families. Consequently, many admitted students were socially awkward as a result of deficiencies in certain social skills. Often, high-functioning children stemming from abrasive families were admitted due to misdiagnosis. Furthermore, such unnecessary admissions were exacerbated by the school's non-standardized admissions procedures, including mandatory IQ tests that were insensitive to some patients’ abusive upbringing or other relevant socio-economic factors. |
In the school, residents were divided among different wards corresponding to 'hierarchies of disability'. The more capable children were quickly put to work by the school's superintendent, L. J. Le Vann. 'High-grade' teenage girls scrubbed floors, prepared meals, and dressed the severely disabled, while the boys tended to farmland and milked cows. A former resident, Donald Passey, personally recalled the physical disciplining by staff members at the school. He was once slapped and punched while held up against the wall; even severely impaired children sometimes suffered physical abuse. Glen Sinclair, also an ex-student at the PTS, described his role at the school as the subject of constant observation. He and his dorm-mates were denied all privacy and prohibited any outside access without consent - even the windows only opened six inches wide3. Any attempts at rebellion such as refusal to eat, sleep, wake or work, or even sexual expression, resulted in brutal punishment. This included corporeal beatings, incarceration in Time-Out Rooms, and even enrolment in drug experiments with potent tranquilizers, such as Phenobarbital, chlorpromazine, and haloperidol. L. J. Le Vann often threatened misbehaviour with sterilization, a procedure which soon became customary at the school's hospital. While children were punished for even slight expression of sexuality, the PTS nevertheless accommodated the hetero- and homosexual abuse of its students by its staff members. |
Leilani Muir was a resident at PTS and was sterilized, without her consent, in 1959. In 1996, she won a lawsuit against the province of Alberta for wrongfully admitting her and sterilizing her against her will, and that her life after PTS has proven her ability to live a normal functioning life in the larger society . The province's defence, Crown lawyer William Olthius, argued, however, that Muir's ability to "make it" since leaving the PTS is a sign of the school's "appropriate and high-quality curriculum of academic schooling, vocational training and life skills." Muir, however, claimed that she was poorly educated during her time at the PTS. |
As a means of controlling its residents, the Provincial Training School (PTS) utilized much dreaded Time-Out Rooms. Each of the dormitories at the PTS featured a room in the direct line of sight of staff and residents. Bare, concrete walls and heavy, locked doors, with only a tiny orifice for food delivery, enclosed the empty cellars. The Rooms contained one-way mirrors, through which the incarcerated individual could be monitored by both staff and residents, and sometimes a small window. Lacking access to a proper toilet, residents in time-out rooms were forced to relieve themselves on the floor where a drain was installed. Inmates were usually stripped naked during their time in the time-out rooms to avert their potential self-harm. Only at night would a mattress be laid on the ground for inmates to rest on. Some were debilitated with straitjackets. |
Most frequently, a resident would land in a Time-Out Room after an unsuccessful attempt to flee the school, at which time staff ensured public awareness through wailing sirens and intrusive ward searches. The dehumanizing effect of the Time-Out Rooms allowed staff to handle residents with derogatory and senseless conduct, ultimately depriving them of their human rights and dignity. Time-Out Rooms served as a powerful method of "physical and psychological, reactive and proactive control". |
From 1949 until 1974, American-born Leonard Jan Le Vann was the medical superintendent of the Provincial Training School (PTS). Upon arriving at the school, Le Vann took on positions both in surgery and psychiatry, which enabled him to assess students as well as perform operations when necessary. Past PTS staff recalled his meticulous attention to detail, especially in delegating their tasks. Le Vann ordered nurses to maintain extensive reports on everything from children's bowel movements to their sexual interests. He also commanded a very strict work environment in which no personnel spoke to their supervisors, unless spoken to. During the 1960s, Le Vann "ran the institution almost...like a Gestapo," a former PTS psychologist remembers. It was later revealed that Le Vann had kept several significant secrets. In 1995, 8 years after his death, it was found that the medical director never actually obtained accreditation to practice psychiatry. His first wife also discovered that, in order to disguise his Jewish descent, the man had undergone a name-change at a young age. |