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COVID-19

Moovit adds 2 new features to help riders plan their trips

Moovit, an Intel company, a leading Mobility as a Service (MaaS) solutions provider and creator of the urban mobility app, is launching two new features to help riders more easily plan their journeys and get around with confidence.

Moovit’s apps guide people in getting around town effectively and conveniently, using any mode of transport. Introduced in 2012 it now serves over 950 million users in more than 3,400 cities across 112 countries.

What is the first feature?

These days, many public transit riders experience anxiety over whether they will be able to properly maintain social distance once on board. Moovit’s 2020 Global Public Transport Report, based on big data analyzed from tens of millions of trip requests, with user research in 104 cities across 28 countries, found that due to COVID-19, 33% of public transit riders around the world want to know how crowded their next bus is, before they board. This information helps riders feel more comfortable riding public transportation and it can potentially save lives. read more

How to Unlock an iPhone with Apple Watch

Now you can unlock your iPhone with your Apple Watch with the Public Beta versions of iOS 14.5, iPadOS 14.5 and watchOS 7.4.

With iOS 14.5 public beta and watchOS 7.4 public beta, you’ll be able to test the new iPhone unlocking feature with Apple Watch. This feature aims to make unlocking an iPhone much easier when you are wearing a face mask, as your Apple Watch will authenticate for you.

On the Watch app on your iPhone, select Passcode settings and enable ‘Unlock with iPhone’.

On your iPhone, select Face ID & Passcode within Settings, then enable the Unlock with Apple Watch feature. read more

This app will help you clear your driveway

“For years residents in Sudbury have signed expensive long-term snow clearing contracts, but now you can request service on-demand,” James Caicco, SnowJob partner, said in a release. “The SnowJob App will make winter a little easier for you, your family, and the thousands of people who deal with the challenge of clearing snow every year.”

Its owners said SnowJob App will transform snow clearing by making it much more accessible and affordable for Sudbury residents.

The SnowJob App was created to make your life easier, to provide convenient, affordable and worry-free snow clearing, the app makers said. Download the app and register as a customer to request snow clearing services or register as a provider to deliver snow clearing services and earn additional income. read more

LEGO Is Giving Sets of Braille Blocks for Visually Impaired Children In the US to Help Them Learn During COVID-19

Students in the US who are blind or visually impaired are getting an opportunity to enhance their learning experience during the COVID-19 crisis.

American Printing House (APH), a non-profit dedicated to empowering blind or visually impaired people, recently announced that it is helping the Lego Foundation distribute braille blocks to school districts across the country. Students in each school district will receive a set of braille Lego blocks free of charge.

Although some students will not be able to use the new Legos in the classroom due to the pandemic, APH recommends that teachers work them into remote learning curriculums. read more

How to Meditate with Alexa on Your Amazon Echo

Feeling more stressed out while stuck inside during the COVID-19 quarantine? Alexa may be able to help you find some peace of mind through a range of meditation skills.

Life has become much more stressful now that we’re all stuck inside during the COVID-19 pandemic. You probably can’t help wondering and worrying about the effects this will have on the world, your community, your loved ones, and even yourself. If you need to de-stress, try some meditation, courtesy of your Amazon Echo device or the Alexa app, where you can also listen to guided meditations to help calm your body, mind, and spirit. read more

Study Reveals Effect of COVID-19 on the Blind Community

A recent survey from the Canadian Council of the Blind reported the blind and partially sighted community is significantly struggling amid the pandemic.

While COVID-19 impacts every Canadian, the blind community is especially struggling during this time, and the Canadian Council of the Blind (CCB) is calling on all levels of government to step up.

Louise Gillis, national president of the CCB, released the findings of the CCB’s recent Survey on the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Canadians Who Are Blind, Deaf-Blind, and Partially Sighted. read more

These Smart Glasses Help Monitor COVID-19 Patients Remotely

In response to COVID-19 more and more institutions are using Smart Glasses and Augmented Reality (AR) technology to facilitate patient care.

Vuzix Corporation is the leading supplier of smart glasses. Leveraging medical expertise is a world problem. Tele-medicine is the remote delivery of healthcare services through technology. Smart glasses are uniquely helpful for tele-medicine use-cases in that the onsite care practitioner can receive live expert interactive medical feedback while simultaneously acting on the feedback with their hands. read more

Google Launches Read Along to Teach Kids to Read at Home

Google has debuted a kid-focused voice assistant named Diya as part of its new educational app for Android called Read Along.

Designed to teach children how to read, Diya and Read Along is aimed squarely at parents home-schooling their offspring during the current COVID-19 health crisis.

The Read Along app comes with a set of stories and word games for kids aged five and up. Diya monitors the child as they read, using Google’s speech recognition technology to spot mistakes and places where they are having trouble. The voice assistant can correct their errors as they read, as well as congratulate them on successes. The student can also ask Dia to pronounce words they don’t know how to say at any time. Parents can create individual profiles so that they can track individual progress. read more

Neatebox Offers Solution for Shoppers with Disabilities During Pandemic

Scottish technology company Neatebox is offering supermarkets across the UK access to innovative new technology which, the company claims, can remove the challenges millions of individuals are currently facing when they visit a store during the pandemic.

Social distancing rules, queues, changing opening times and protected hours for key workers are just some of the vital new rules being employed by supermarkets countrywide to help protect both staff and customers from COVID-19.

However, for those with a visible or hidden disability, the new regulations can increase anxiety, cause confusion and, in some cases, pose a significant barrier to simply shopping for essentials. read more

How to Keep Your Glasses From Fogging Up While Wearing a Face Mask

You know what’s not fun? Wearing a face mask to help slow the spread of COVID-19 like a responsible citizen, and then getting fogged-up glasses. Yes, we’d rather get foggy glasses than catch or spread this unprecedented virus—or go against CDC recommendations to wear a face covering in public.

Back in 2011, two scientists published a study in the Annals of The Royal College of Surgeons of England that illuminates a simple, at-home hack for this very phenomenon, which “can be a nuisance and even incapacitate” medical staff. Anti-fogging spray products do exist, but this trick requires zero shopping and adds no risk of putting harsh chemicals near the sensitive eye area. read more

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