Search Results for: the blind

Google announced a new version of Chromevox, called ChromeVox Next. The older version of ChromeVox, now called ChromeVox Classic, remains for those who do not wish to make the switch to the new version. Some of the changes are so simplistic, you might wonder why they weren’t part of the original screen reader. For example; the modifier key is now search, instead of shift+search. The new version seems to be in line with current standards, and I recommend giving it a try. Here are a few details from the developer, along with a very helpful video. read more

A team at Purdue University in Indiana has developed a haptic device that lets blind people feel images generated by a microscope. It has always been a huge undertaking to help the blind understand microscopic images. Sometimes, a sighted person just must describe it, which is problematic sense each description differs, and the blind person can’t always understand the description. Also, tactile images can be created and labelled in braille, but this is labor intensive and requires a sighted individual with the knowledge, time, and skill to do it.
This new device is a haptic feedback joystick that plugs into a computer that also has a microscope connected to it. It has been tested on red and white blood cells. The blind person navigates the cell with the joystick, and receives a pushback when encountering a cell wall, and different vibrations when hovering over different textured objects.
So far, tests have indicated that a blind person can identify the difference between a white and red blood cell more accurately using this device than by means of other methods.
Source.

Peter Korn, an accessibility architect at Amazon, recently announced that the Fire TV and Amazon video app will receive updates that provide new accessibility enhancements for blind and low vision customers. The full details of the update are detailed below. read more

Until now, Facebook’s photo captions were only able to use nouns to describe objects in pictures posted online. That’s okay, if you are only interested in the objects in the photos. But what if you are interested in the actions that take place in the images?
Facebook has added twelve verbs to its neural network that provide for more detailed description of the contents of all those photos on their website.
Per Facebook’s applied machine learning leader Joaquin Candela, image descriptions will now include things like people walking, people dancing, people riding horses, and people playing instruments,
It’s a good thing when blind people are provided with more information, especially on Facebook, where many feel excluded by a social network that communicates mainly by posting photos.

Aira is designed to make life a little easier for blind and visually impaired people. Using a pair of smart glasses or a phone camera, the system allows an Aira agent to see what the blind person sees in real-time, and then talk them through whatever situation they’re in. Aira promises to make everything from grocery shopping, calling an Uber or world travel more accessible for blind people across the globe.
Aira doesn’t replace existing assistance systems. Instead, it’s designed to enhance them. A blind person navigates the world using whatever tools they normally do, such as a cane or guide dog, and only calls the Aira agent when needed. When the agent picks up, he or she sees a live video feed and the location of the person calling on Google Maps, alongside general biographical information. read more

I have some exciting news, but first, “Let me take a selfie!
Google accessibility has launched a major improvement to the Google camera app for people using Talkback on a Google Pixel or Google Nexus device running Nougat 7.1 or higher. Talkback will announce the number of faces and their position within the frame. It will also let you know what percentage of the frame is occupied by the face or faces. This way you can tell when the focus is centered and how close the camera is before snapping that all important shot. It works on both the front and rear facing cameras. I tested it on my Google Pixel, running Nougat 7.1.1, and it worked extremely well. If you have access to one of these devices, I highly suggest that you try it. It is a lot of fun!