In 1988 Professor John Gardner of Oregon State University had an eye operation which caused him to become totally blind. At that time he was Professor of Physics at Oregon State University, and he continued to teach. However, he could no longer evaluate the data from experiments. This difficulty prompted him to establish a university team to research methods for better accessibility to graphical information.

In 1996 his team developed a new high resolution embossing technology and patented it. He was unable to persuade any braille embosser manufacturer to license this technology. They told him that there was no need for blind people to access graphics. He did not believe them, so he and his wife founded ViewPlus to produce embossers. In year 2000 the first product reached the market, the ViewPlus Tiger Advantage embosser, built on a dot matrix printer.

Since 2000 ViewPlus has developed many braille printers, hybrid ink/braille printers, touchpads and a Suite of Software solutions developed to be scalable; running on the small portable personal braille printer to the larger production hybrid printers. Our choice in the technology used in our embossers enables us to be the industry-leading manufacturer of high-definition tactile graphics. All are intended to make information accessible.
Our past, current as well as future solutions continue to support our mission: Empowering people worldwide by making information accessible through innovative, inclusive technology solutions.