With Talking Typer, an iOS app developed by the American Printing House for the Blind, you can work on improving your typing speed and accuracy. This is a skill that many blind people need to improve upon, especially those who have recently lost their sight. The app can be used with the on-screen keyboard, but it is designed to be used with an external keyboard. Currently, the app is priced at $4.99 on the app store.
Search Results for: the blind
ASU Professor Helps Develop a Medical Device to Help the Blind See
ASU Associate Professor Bradley Greger helped develop a medical implant to help the blind see. The implant, developed in partnership with California based company second sight, is implanted in a person’s visual cortex. The idea is to provide visual information directly into the brain and help individuals who don’t have a functional retina receive visual information.
Tablet for the Blind Takes Grand Prize
Lyft to Make Rides More Accessible. Through Partnership with National Federation of the Blind
The ride-hailing company this week joined with the National Federation of the Blind for a partnership that promises to increase awareness of blind passengers’ rights, advocate for effective public policies and expand transportation options for blind passengers and those with low vision.
Brailleboard: A Braille Keyboard for the Blind.
Luke Edward, competing in the MasseyHacks III competition, has come up with the Brailleboard which is a way of providing blind people with access to a braille keyboard. Luke has used 3D printing to produce key caps that are labelled in braille. These key caps will replace the existing key caps on a standard keyboard. This will be incredibly helpful for visually impaired children learning to type, those who have recently lost their vision, and those who are learning braille.
It will also be helpful for those who are not entirely familiar with every key on the keyboard. Let’s face it. We don’t always use every key on a regular basis. It will also eliminate the need to count the keys on the number row. Wouldn’t it be nice to have those numbers and function keys clearly labelled in braille?
Macaron by Oseyeris: A Measuring and Navigation Device for the Blind.
Oseyeris has developed the Macaron, which is a handheld device that pairs with an app on your iPhone. The Macaron can measure almost anything using its tape measure feature or long range feature. Not only can you measure your refrigerator, window, or bookshelf, but you can also measure the dimensions of a room, and you can even take your body measurements.
Measurements are spoken to the blind user, and can also be saved to a folder on a cloud service, like Dropbox or iCloud, for future reference.
The Macaron also has a navigation feature that detects objects in your path. The navigation feature provides audio and haptic feedback that allows a blind person to tell what objects are in their path, and what direction the object is in, and how far away it is.
Future versions of the Macaron will allow the user to leave breadcrumbs while navigating. This will make it easier to find points of interest.
You can find out more by visiting the Oseyeris website. There you can listen to audio recordings explaining all the Macaron’s features and register as a tester of the device.
CBT Live From #CSUNATC17: Aira, Real-time Visual Interpreter for the Blind
Hugo Gallegos visits the Aira booth at CSUN17 to find out more about this amazing pair of smart glasses that connect the user to a real-time visual interpreter.
To learn more about Aira, listen to our Spotlight Interview with Aira’s CEO, Suman Kanuganti.
Samsung Shows off VR App that Helps the Blind See at Mobile World Congress 2017.
Samsung has a great Gear VR headset, and they are working on different applications to use with the hardware. One of those apps is called, Relumino, and it helps people who are legally blind see the world with more detail. It is downloaded on your phone, which is connected to the Gear VR headset. It translates the images that you view through your phones camera to a much sharper and detailed image on the VR headset. The app costs $99, and will be presented at this year’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona Spain.
IBM Research Works with Partners to Develop Indoor/Outdoor Navigation System for the Blind.
IBM research is working with civil engineering and general contracting firm Shimizu Corporation and real estate developer Mitsui Fudosan to conduct a voice navigation field experiment. The test is being conducted in COREDO Muromachi shopping park in Tokyo Japan.
The field test utilizes 224 beacons that have been strategically placed throughout the shopping park. It then uses the IBM-Carnegie Mellon University pilot smartphone app called NavCog, which was developed to help people with visual impairments, wheelchair use, and language barriers.
The user can then tell their smart phone where they want to go, and the app will begin to give the user voice directions to their location. It also keeps in mind what obstacles might be a problem NavCog, for the user, depending on the user’s disability.
Orcam Glasses Help the Blind Read any Printed Material and Even Recognize Faces.
Orcam is a device that sits on the side of what appear to be a regular pair of reading-glasses, but it is so much more. The Orcam device contains a miniature camera and computer which runs OCR software. The device can read any printed material and can even recognize faces of individuals that you tell it to remember. You use the device by looking at what you want to read. You can then either click a button on the side of the device, or activate it by pointing at what you want it to read. Orcam then reads the print back to you through an ear-piece.
It works well with labels, the mail, restaurant menus, money, and credit cards. The more that you program into the Orcam, the quicker and more accurate its responses. If you tell it to remember your friend Susan’s face, the next time you run into Susan, Orcam will announce her name in your ear-piece. No more trying to put a voice with a name.
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