[Blindtlk] devices introduction

Mon Sep 10 22:47:39 UTC 2012

Chris:

With respect, put your thinking cap on! Were he to publish a version for the iPhone, he'd have to go through the Apple Store which, of course, would want its cut of anything he'd charge.

Mike

----- Original Message -----
From: Chris Nusbaum <dotkid.nusbaum at gmail.com>
To: 
Date: Monday, September 10, 2012 14:48
Subject: Re: [Bltlk] devices RE: introduction

>
>
> Hi Lloyd,
> 
> That is fascinating! Thank you for the information!! I'm 
> surprised he hasn't made a version of the Voice for the iPhone, 
> as that is the phone which most blind people are using currently.
> 
> Chris
> 
> 
> 
>  ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Lloyd Rasmussen" <lras at sprynet.com
> To: "Blind Talk Mailing List" <blindtlk at nfbnet.org
> Date sent: Sat, 8 Sep 2012 23:02:17 com0400
> Subject: Re: [Bltlk] devices RE: introduction
> 
> the vOICe is not really a device, but it uses devices you may 
> already have.
> If you have a webcam connected to your PC, or if you have it look 
> at your
> screen or the active window or the area around the mouse pointer, 
> it
> converts the image into a "soundscape" which is an audio signal, 
> rescanned
> every two seconds, which represents the image.  Probably best 
> used with
> stereo headphones.  In this representation, an imaginary vertical 
> line scans
> across the image from left to right.  At each instant, tones are 
> generated
> with highest pitch being toward the top of the image, and with 
> volume of
> each pitch corresponding to the brightness of the image at that 
> point.  By
> default, 64 different frequencies are generated, and 176 vertical 
> lines
> constitute a two-second scan.  A single vertical line would sound 
> like a
> burst of noise.  A horizontal line sounds like a tone of constant 
> pitch
> which lasts the whole 2 seconds, which pans from left to right in 
> your
> headphones.  A print capital V would sound like a tone which 
> falls and then
> rises in pitch, repeated every two seconds.  You can adjust most 
> of the
> parameters of how the image is sonified, including zooming it, 
> changing the
> scan rate, reversing the video, filtering by one color, etc.
> 
> It's a small Windows executable.  People who really get into this 
> obtain a
> webcam that is built into a pair of glasses, put a portable 
> computer in a
> backpack (providing for enough ventilation), run the software 
> with speech
> recognition, and walk around the house or the area learning how 
> to
> distinguish objects, learning about how occlusion and parallax 
> work, etc.
> 
> Whereas the Optacon was a direct translation aid (the human has 
> to do all
> the work of interpreting what the camera sees) for printed 
> material, the
> vOICe is probably most useful as a direct translation aid for 
> sensing the
> environment or quick rendering of images that appear on a PC.  
> Like the
> Optacon, it takes lots and lots of practice to get good at using 
> it, and it
> remains mostly a subject for experimentation rather than a tool 
> that a lot
> of blind people are using in their daily lives.  It would not be 
> a good
> travel aid, in my opinion, because you need to hear environmental 
> sounds and
> the time to recognize a scene is long.  And Peter Meijer, the 
> author, is
> careful not to make any claims that it would be a good substitute 
> for a cane
> or guide dog.  The first version, run in dedicated hardware, is 
> now 20 years
> old.  I think that the Windows executable is about 15 years old 
> (undergoes
> continuous improvements).  An Android  version
> has been in Google Play for about 2 years.  He also did one for 
> Simbian cell
> phones, but these are disappearing from the market.
> 
> This is probably more than you wanted to know, but I think it is
> fascinating.  www.seeingwithsound.com .
> Lloyd Rasmussen, Wheaton, MD, W3IUU
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Chris Nusbaum
> Sent: Saturday, September 08, 2012 10:22 PM
> To: 'Blind Talk Mailing List'
> Subject: Re: [Bltlk] devices RE: introduction
> 
> Hi Roger,
> 
> I've heard of this device, but I don't think it works quite like 
> the
> Optacon.  From what I read about it, it seemed like some kind of 
> device that
> simulated the sense of sight by making the blind person feel like 
> he/she is
> seeing the object being detected by the VOICE.  I was kind of 
> intrigued by
> this technology, but couldn't quite wrap my head around how it 
> works.  I
> would be interested to hear any firsthand accounts of how the 
> technology
> works from anybody who has actually used the device.  By the way, 
> I read
> about this device in an article in the Matilda Ziegler magazine a 
> few months
> ago.
> 
> Chris
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org 
> [mailto:blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
> Behalf Of Roger devin Prater
> Sent: Saturday, September 08, 2012 9:35 PM
> To: Blind Talk Mailing List
> Subject: Re: [Bltlk] devices RE: introduction
> 
> Hmm, have any of you tried the vOICe? http://seeingwithsound.com 
> It works,
> as far as I know about the opticon, like it, only it uses sound 
> instead of
> tactiles, and is free.  http://seeingwithsound.come just in case 
> I misspelled
> it the first time, LOL.
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Mike Freeman" <k7uij at panix.com
> To: "Blind Talk Mailing List" <blindtlk at nfbnet.org
> Cc: "Blind Talk Mailing List" <blindtlk at nfbnet.org
> Sent: Saturday, September 08, 2012 8:26 PM
> Subject: Re: [Bltlk] devices RE: introduction
> 
> 
>  Absolutely not! Translation into Braille means the unit would be
>  telling you what it think it sees, not letting you interpret for
>  yourself what the unit sees.
> 
>  Mike
> 
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> bltlk mailing list
> blindtlk at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindtlk_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info 
> for bltlk:
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindtlk_nfbnet.org/dotkid.nusb
> aum%40gmail.com
> 
> _______________________________________________
> bltlk mailing list
> blindtlk at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/blindtlk_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for bltlk:
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/blindtlk_nfbnet.org/k7uij%40panix.com