COOL BLIND TECH

YOUR SOURCE FOR THE BEST ASSISTIVE TECH NEWS, REVIEWS AND INTERVIEWS FROM TOP BLIND AND LOW VISION EXPERTS. AN ENTERTAINING AND TRUSTWORTHY DISCUSSION ON EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES

Canes, Trains and Automobiles.

Today I want to take you on a journey. Sorry, or should I say, thankfully, not my life’s journey, just the simple daily journey of my commute to work. Other than by my wonderful Guide Dog Earl, the successful navigation of each of the legs of my journey was improved by some kind of assistive tech in the environment. I used the
Olympus DN-5 Voice Recorder
to capture my walk to the train, than bus ride and finally my arrival at work. I hope you enjoy the soundscapes ranging from an early morning walk along the lake to a bus ride with an overly exuberant driver.

Siberians and Labradors and Canes, Oh My!

In our final instalment from the CSUN13 convention floor, CBT could not forget about canes and guide dogs. There was Gordon from
AmbuTech
featuring canes such as a prototype telescopic fibreglass cane that locks by twisting at the top of the handle, a rigid folding cane with an American made oak wood handle with a natural finish. We also meet a gentleman and his guide dogs, a 3 year old Siberian husky and 11 year old labrador.

PLEXTALK Product Line.

In this episode we get an overview of the products from
PLEXTALK,
offering better reading environments to people with visual impairments or print disability in the world by supplying accessible digital talking book players or recorders that comply with DAISY(*) standard.

Pico Pen – Enabling Drawing For The Blind.

In this episode which is unedited coverage from CSUN13. As we were leaving the convention floor, we came across an amazing pen for the blind before it was packed away and returned to Japan.
Nippon Telesoft,
makers of the Seika braille displays were showcasing tactile artwork drawn by blind Japanese students, using a pen-shaped device called the Pico which transfers balls of wax into raised lines.

Orion Webbox & Iris Webradio.

In this episode we get a glimpse of the
Orion Webbox and Iris webradio
from Solutions – Radio. As blind and visually impaired are dependent on audible information. For the VI community, contribution and distribution of sound or audio is essential to be in touch with the outside world. The Orion Webbox and Iris webradio on the other hand is a user friendly, stand-alone device, which when connected to the Internet allows you to listen to it without the use of a PC! The Webradio is ideal for the blind or visually impaired as it has a simple user interface. To operate the unit press only the on/off button. Within seconds a pre-selected station can be heard. Pre-selects can be programmed to meet the demand of the individual listener. The scroll button enables you to choose from your personalized selection. This could be the daily newspaper, a book, or any other special program. A future feature will be a text-to-speech version of the Webradio.

Orion TI-84 Plus Graphing Calculator – Coming To A School Near You.

In this episode Ken from APH introduces the
Orion TI-84 Plus,
Which consists of a compact accessory that is attached to the top of the TI-84 Plus enabling a user who is visually impaired to interact with the TI-84 Plus using speech, audio, and haptic (vibration) feedback? All textual and symbolic information on the screen, as well as each key-press is spoken using high-quality synthesized speech. Most importantly, graphs can be explored using either spoken announcements or the SonoGraph™ audio and haptic feedback. The user can also review the contents of the screen at any time, including all text and graphical information, without affecting the calculation. The unit is fully expandable with hardware accessories through a USB port and can also print or emboss graphs when connected to a printer or braille embosser.

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