[nabs-l] curing blindness
Sophie Trist
sweetpeareader at gmail.com
Mon Oct 1 11:40:06 UTC 2012
Can a Macbook laptop scan documents? I have the Saytext app on my
phone and am still figuring it out, but it doesn't seem all that
accurate.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Ashley Bramlett" <bookwormahb at earthlink.net
To: "National Association of Blind Students mailing list"
<nabs-l at nfbnet.org
Date sent: Mon, 1 Oct 2012 00:14:33 -0400
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] curing blindness
Gerado,
Yes the I phone can OCR documents, but there are some limits on
it and I
heard its not as accurate as a desk top scanner.
-----Original Message-----
From: Gerardo Corripio
Sent: Sunday, September 30, 2012 11:12 PM
To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] curing blindness
Hey Ashlee and list
Can't those of us with IPhone already Ocr pamphlets? Sorry for my
ignorance,
but I've had IPhone alnost 2 months; some things I still don't
know.
Thanks for info.
Enviado desde mi iPhone
El 30/09/2012, a las 21:44, "Ashley Bramlett"
<bookwormahb at earthlink.net
escribió:
Desiree,
Thanks for the info. So when is the braille plus coming out?
Then, how
much will this cost?
I hope less than human ware and freedom scientific charge.
You're right it will be able to scan documents. But you still
would have
to have this thing in a paper form to scan it. Many information
literacy
things I speak of are not something you can handle, but are
things you
simply look at as a pedestrian or traveler traveling by. But,
still, I
think this is a big step in bringing us information literacy
the sighted
people have; many things are able to be handled after all.
Restaurants
have paper menus for people to look at for take out food. Most
brochures
and tourbooks you can grab and would be scannable. I'll research
the
braille plus. I did not know APH was remaking that product and
coming out
with a new version.
Ashley
-----Original Message----- From: Desiree Oudinot
Sent: Sunday, September 30, 2012 10:32 PM
To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] curing blindness
Hi Ashley,
That's a good point about restaurant menus and brochures, but
technology is improving in regards to that. I was just reading
about
the new Braille Plus which is made by APH, and how it's going to
be
running Android, so will be an extremely powerful note taker. I
bring
this up because it also includes a camera, and it said that
something
like that could be used for scanning menus and other things like
you
described. I'm not sure if it's going to be able to do bar code
scanning. Perhaps so, considering that you're supposed to be
able to
download Android aps, but since I'm pretty unfamiliar with the
Android
OS, I'm not sure if there is one for bar code scanning yet.
Anyway,
this is a big step up for people who don't want to use touch
screens
but desire some of the things you describe, since I know the
IPhone
can do this stuff too, but some people have their reasons for
not
wanting to use touch screens.
On 9/30/12, Ashley Bramlett <bookwormahb at earthlink.net> wrote:
Arielle,
That is my reaction too. It made Mr. Lloyd able to pass as
sighted, but
his
vision was so fuzzy that it really did not help him act like a
sighted
person. Want to bet that when he got to work, he had to use jaws
or other
adaptive tools to do his work? His vision simply was not at that
point to
read print and use a computer to function as sighted at work.
I share your concern that those getting treatment to restore
some vision
would give up proven blindness techniques in favor of the
rudimentary
vision
and therefore they would struggle more than they were as a blind
person.
I am not sure if I'd take treatment to get all vision. I think
it would
be
such a psychological and physical adjustment. I'd have to really
weigh
the
pros and cons if such a thing were avaiable; I'd also consider
any side
effects such treatment had. One benefit to having more vision is
the
ability
to read; if my vision were say 20/100 I might be able to read
more easily
without fatigue. I'd only need some magnification and I'd be
able to read
pretty well. I often wondered what it would be like to walk into
a hotel
and
be able to pick up those brochures about local events, read the
restaurant
menu as I pass by, pick up a local newspaper from the concierge,
and then
go
up to my room and read the tv listings on screen.
I would have a very different experience. Oh, and I'd be able to
read the
labels on the shampoo and lotion, and not have to ask someone. I
can see
the
colors, but they are often the same color, so still have to ask.
I do not
want to put cream in my hair!
Anyway, it’s a complex topic and I suspect that as treatment
comes
available, some will take it while others will not. Those that
do not
will
opt out for many of the reasons articulated here.
Ashley
-----Original Message-----
From: Arielle Silverman
Sent: Sunday, September 30, 2012 6:01 PM
To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] curing blindness
Hi all,
I have studied this topic a bit because it was the subject of my
honors thesis when I was an undergraduate student. I did a
survey
about six years ago (a few of you may have participated) to
assess how
blind people felt about the prospect of having their sight
restored.
One of the most interesting findings was that when asked whether
or
not one would take a magic pill that would restore full vision
immediately with no risks or side effects, only 72% of the
sample said
they would do it. While most of the participants said they would
do
it, a substantial minority (about 20%) said no. Some of the
people who
said no cited concerns about losing their identity as blind
people,
or having to adjust to a new sense and that possibly taking
away
from their quality of life.
Another finding from the survey was that most people said in
order for
a sight-restoring technology to be worthwhile, it would have to
give
them most or all functional vision. I personally don't have any
objection to the technology like the Argus II being developed. I
do
think it could be a problem, though, if technologies that only
give
very rudimentary vision become popularized. They could perhaps
lead
people like the man in the article to forego using a proven
travel aid
like a cane in favor of using very rudimentary vision. As a
result,
people who have these procedures could actually end up
struggling more
than they were before. Based on the article, I am not convinced
that
Lloyd has actually gained any independence from the artificial
vision,
beyond what he would have gotten with a cane. Instead, it makes
him
better at passing as a sighted guy, but possibly worse at
navigating
his environment because he is no longer using a cane. I think
the
challenges and self-esteem issues associated with "passing"
without
actually having good skills are evident to many of us.
I don't think I would undergo a procedure to improve my vision,
for
several reasons. I wouldn't even consider it until the
technology was
extensively tested and perfected, and then, only if it could
actually
give me full functionality (driving etc.) Even then, I'm not
sure I
would do it because I am terrified of surgery and only want to
go
through that if it is absolutely medically necessary, and I do
not
want to put the rest of my life on hold to learn how to see. I
have
more ambivalent feelings about how much I want to support
research on
curing blindness, and I'm curious to know others' thoughts about
this.
I have a genetic eye condition and have been told I should send
my
blood to a lab to have my gene identified because this will aid
research on genetic treatments. I've debated whether or not to
do it
and at this point I am mostly indifferent. On one hand, I do
think
that treatments could legitimately help some people who don't
have
access to technology or who live in communities where blindness
is
viewed very poorly. On the other hand, I am bothered by the
negative
press about blindness that is often propagated by cure-oriented
groups
like Prevent Blindness America or Foundation Fighting Blindness,
making me not want to support these causes. Furthermore, I
believe
that no matter how good treatments get, some people will
continue to
be blind. So I would rather direct my limited energy toward
finding
ways to make life better for those who are blind rather than
wiping
out blindness. What do you think?
Arielle
On 9/30/12, Ashley Bramlett <bookwormahb at earthlink.net> wrote:
Hi all,
I know NFB doesn’t focus on treatment of blindness or low
vision; they
focus
on living with it and adapting to the world with training and
equipment.
But many organizations do focus on this such as Foundation
Fighting
Blindness and the organization mentioned in this article.
The link is below to the article. I think this guy in the
article was
sure
taking a gamble with his life to walk to work without a cane and
only
relying on unclear vision. At least the quote from him indicates
its
hard
to
focus and learn to see with this artificial vision; not as if he
claims
its
perfect. Still he is happy with the artificial vision he does
have
through
the camera.
I’ve had very limited vision all my life and I was fortunate
to be
taught
braille after they taught me large print, but realized its
shortcomings;
so
I learned braille and I had a cane in mid elementary school.
Training in
O&M
was a lot to be desired, but I did learn how to use it as well
as other
alternative techniques from my teacher of the vision impaired.
Therefore, I’m adapting and still learning with what I have.
Techniques
will
also change with technology; for instance, when I was young, we
had no
digital recorders, digital NLS players, no book share or any way
to
download
books in braille, no bar code readers, and scanners were around
although
not
to the efficient degree we have today. So, with all that said,
I’m not
sure
I’d want more vision. But this article paints a picture of
getting some
vision back as a good thing. I certainly would not want to enter
the
sighted
world as I would not know how to function.
If you read the article, what do you think? Would you take
artificial
vision? This is becoming a reality and they are going to improve
the
technology. The chip sends signals to the camera which sends
signals to
the
eyes so the person can see some images.
Here it is.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18563_162-57522740/new-technology-may
-bring-sight-back-to-blind/
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