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Smart Watch

Fitness app updates with new accessibility features

Gentler Streak has become one of the most popular fitness apps for iPhone and Apple Watch. And to ensure that everyone can use the app to track their health, Gentler Streak has now been updated to fully support iOS accessibility features.

Gentler Streak helps users to monitor their exercise and to better understand their health data. The app was awarded the 2022 App of the Year for Apple Watch by Apple. Gentler Streak has been available for iPhone since 2021 and was released for Apple Watch in 2022. read more

Samsung reveals new accessibility update for the Galaxy Watch

Samsung announced that its forthcoming One UI Watch 4.5 update will add new accessibility features to its Galaxy Watch 4 and Watch 4 Classic smartwatches. The settings will essentially allow users to adjust audio and visual settings, including colour adjustments and rebalancing stereo audio.

Will the update include users who have a hard time distinguishing colours?

For users who may have a hard time distinguishing colours, the update will allow them to tweak the display with various colour filters.
Samsung is also introducing settings so users can increase contrast to make fonts more readable, disable transparency and blur effects, and remove any animations. read more

Apple adds accessibility to Fitness+, live sessions, shortcut suggestions, and more

Apple adds accessibility to Fitness+, live sessions, shortcut suggestions, and more

Apple is celebrating Accessibility Awareness Day with new content for Apple lovers of varying abilities, from Fitness+, Apple Maps, Apple Music, and more.

What is SignTime?

SignTime, which is an on-demand sign language service in Apple Stores, is coming to Canada on May 19. Apple Support and Apple Store customers can utilize this service to communicate with an interpreter through American Sign Language (ASL). SignTime is already available in the US using ASL, in the UK using British Sign Language (BSL), and France using French Sign Language (LSF). read more

Apple announces new accessibility features coming soon to an Apple near you

It’s that time of year, in honour of Global Accessibility Awareness Day, Apple is previewing a number of new accessibility features coming to iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and Mac later this year. The company says that these new features will bring additional ways for users with disabilities to “navigate, connect, and get the most out of Apple products.”

What is Door Detection?

One of the new features is called Door Detection, which Apple says can help users locate a door upon arriving at a new destination. Door Detection can help users understand how far they are from a door and describe its attributes, including whether it’s open or closed. If the door is closed, the feature can inform the user whether the door can be opened by pushing, turning a knob, or pulling a handle. read more

Postgraduate student creates Buzz for visually impaired musicians

Postgraduate student creates Buzz for visually impaired musicians

Ziqun Hua, a postgraduate student from Loughborough’s School of Design and Creative Arts has created Buzz, an inclusive product design for instrumental ensemble practice for visually impaired people.

For her main degree project, she wanted to make a product that was affordable and something that would help make music education more accessible for those with a visual impairment.

How does Buzz work?

Buzz uses artificial intelligence image recognition technology to identify and analyze visual cues during ensemble practices. It then converts this information into corresponding vibration signals which help the musician to respond accordingly.
The watch is mainly used to receive the information translated by the camera and to notify the user through vibration signals. read more

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