[nabs-l] Device Helps Blind See with Tongue

[Arielle Silverman]

Hi all,
I do think there is a place for technology to give the blind access to
visual information, be it through our ears, fingers, tongue or some
other sensory system. However, I wish that technology inventors worked
in a smarter and more organized way. We hear about lots of different
groups inventing special canes, vibrating shoes and other devices, and
many of these things are duplicates of one another. Also, the special
canes and vibrating outfits don't really give us more detailed
information than what we already get from using a conventional cane. I
think all the technology inventors need to get together with a bunch
of us blind folks and figure out what kinds of functionality are most
important for us to gain that we don't already have. There's plenty of
stuff the sighted have that would be nice to have, but what kinds of
access are most important for us to integrate into society? I
personally think being able to read print signs from a distance and
being able to find a specific person in a crowd would be two things I
would prioritize.
Also, many of you may disagree with me, but I have found in my life
that at least 95% of the incidental information sighted people obtain
about their surroundings is superfluous and unnecessary. I would not
want a technological device (or a person for that matter) describing
every detail of what is around me when I walk into a building. If I go
to a colleague's dinner party, I don't need to know what decorations
are on the walls or exactly how all the household furniture is
arranged. I primarily want to know who is there, what kind of food or
drink is being served and where the main hang-out areas are (and
eventually, perhaps the location of the bathroom). I can get all this
information by listening, exploring with my cane or asking a few
questions. If I had a computer device describing the layout of the
party, I would want to have control over exactly what information I
was given so I could process what I needed efficiently without getting
distracted.
I would support the development of the tongue device if it could
reliably read signs from far away. I'm a little skeptical that this
would happen, though.
Arielle

On 5/22/12, Brandon Keith Biggs <brandonboy13 at comcast.net> wrote:
> haha!
> I really think that using the tongue to do things is a huge under exploited
>
> part of our body... I'd like to see some way to control my note taker with
> my tongue...
> I doubt I'll be buying this, unless it makes sight-reading piano music
> feasible.
> As for sighted people not understanding that blind people are probably
> better equipped to travel than they are, it probably has to do with the fact
>
> sighted people have no idea how to travel without signs.
> I'm highly amused and I hope the failure of their first product doesn't
> deter them from making Bluetooth remote controls for the mouth!
> Thanks,
>
> Brandon Keith Biggs
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Justin Salisbury
> Sent: Tuesday, May 22, 2012 3:13 PM
> To: nabs-l at nfbnet.org
> Subject: [nabs-l] Device Helps Blind See with Tongue
>
> Philosophy Discussion Time
>
> I just caught this story on the local news, and I want to hear people's
> opinions of it.  There are many different versions of this news story, but
> here's a link to a page with a video and text article:
>
> http://wearecentralpa.com/fulltext-healthcast?nxd_id=369932
>
> Feel free to find other versions of this story using a simple search
> engine.
>
> When I heard that Mark couldn't wait for the day that he could navigate his
>
> own home independently with a device, I thought to myself "hey, I already
> have one of those devices.  It's called a cane!"
>
> In my reading on the story, I get the impression that researchers think that
>
> this device is important because we blind people are oblivious to our
> surroundings and need some way to get information about them.  I think this
>
> is cool research for the sake of research, but I see absolutely no practical
>
> need for the device.  With the proper skills and training, we can
> independently navigate our own surroundings.  I further wonder if maybe
> these uneducated or incorrectly educated researchers simply don't know about
>
> the techniques we blind people can use to independently navigate our
> surroundings or if they view them as inferior and think we should be trying
>
> to operate as closely to sighted people as we can.
>
> What does everyone on the list think?
>
> Justin Salisbury
> President
> North Carolina Association of Blind Students
>
>
> Justin M. Salisbury
> Class of 2012
> B.A. in Mathematics
> East Carolina University
> president at alumni.ecu.edu
>
> “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change
>
> the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”    —MARGARET MEAD
>
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