[Blindmath] Future Engineering Student

[Lloyd Rasmussen]

Hi.  I started my electrical engineering coursework at Iowa State 
University 44 years ago.  The tools have changed a lot!

I would encourage you to check out the vOICe, because it may be useful in 
some situations.  It can sonify practically anything you can put onto a 
Windows PC, as long as the images are stationary or change slowly.  This 
includes a function for sonifying the active window or the area around your 
mouse pointer.  Do some of your ear training with a webcam, since you can 
quickly present various images to it.  Stereo headphones are a must, also, 
because the left-right panning can help you determine where various sounds 
occur on the image.  The vOICe software is a tiny executable (as Windows 
programs go) and has controls for adjusting zoom, contrast, scan rate, and 
even the number of frequencies into which the vertical dimension of the 
soundscape is mapped.  Dr. Meiger, who wrote this software starting nearly 
20 years ago, is quite expert in psychoacoustics.  He has examples showing 
how images can be sonified, then converted back to images in a spectrogram 
fashion, with some loss of fidelity.

Having said all this, I don't use this software on a daily basis.




At 10:42 AM 1/2/2010, you wrote:
>Hi,
>  I was wondering if you could provide more information about #6 the 
> vOICe. I have never heard of this product and given that I frequently 
> work with spectrograms, I was curious if it will allow me to view them 
> independently.
>Many thanks,
>Christine
>
>Christine M. Szostak
>Graduate Student
>Language Perception Laboratory
>Department of Psychology, Cognitive Area
>The Ohio State University
>Columbus, Ohio
>szostak.1 at osu.edu
>http://lpl.psy.ohio-state.edu
>----- Original Message ----- From: "Matthew Cooper" <matdawg17 at gmail.com>
>To: "Blind Math list for those interested in mathematics" 
><blindmath at nfbnet.org>
>Sent: Saturday, January 02, 2010 8:18 AM
>Subject: Re: [Blindmath] Future Engineering Student
>
>
>>Thanks!  Another software I have heard of is Matlab, which sounds
>>similar to Mathematica.  Is one more accessible than the other and do
>>they do similar things?  Thanks!
>>
>>On 1/2/10, Pranav Lal <pranav.lal at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>Hi Matthew,
>>>
>>>1. Mathtype
>>>This is a program that lets you enter equations into Microsoft Word. It
>>>replaces Word's equation editor. I believe it is accessible.
>>>
>>>2. Math player
>>>This is made by the same company as math type. It interfaces with screen
>>>readers to provide access to MathML.
>>>
>>>3. Mathematica
>>>This is a program to do math and solve equations.
>>>
>>>4. An audio graphing calculator
>>>|This is a program that allows you to enter functions and then solve. Graphs
>>>can be plotted and can be perceived using audio.
>>>
>>>5. iFeel pixel software and Novint Falcon haptic device).
>>>This is a tactile force feedback device. It may allow you to see graphs and
>>>pictures but I do not know how well it works.
>>>
>>>6. To add to your list, the vOICe
>>>This is a visual prosthesis and can be used to perceive complex images.
>>>
>>>Pranav

Lloyd Rasmussen, Senior Project Engineer, Engineering Section
National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped
Library of Congress    (202) 707-0535   <http://www.loc.gov/nls>
HOME:  <http://lras.home.sprynet.com>
The opinions expressed here are my own and do not necessarily represent 
those of NLS.