[NAGDU] Interesting Electronic Travel Aid

Fri May 5 14:11:39 UTC 2017

You know, maybe all this is wrongheaded thinking, but either you are blind
or you are not. Maybe it's old age. LOL I am trying to imagine these
vibrations and thinking, now let's see 110, or was it 109, means this or
that! By that time I fell off the cliff or got hit by the bus. I am really
and truly interested to know how this stuff works, but I wonder how
genuinely you could enjoy a walk in the park if you were forever having to
pay attention to vibrations. I feel that it would be easy to become robot
like with all kinds of gadgets attached. Of course I know that as time goes
along, things will evolve that will truly be helpful, and this might be one
of them. Maybe someday blind folks really won't use canes or dogs because
they have gadgets that give them the information they need. I like to think
of myself as flexible, but on this point I don't see myself changing any
time soon. But then I never thought I would buy an Apple Watch either. 
Cindy Lou Ray
cindyray at gmail.com

-----Original Message-----
From: NAGDU [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Buddy Brannan via
NAGDU
Sent: Friday, May 5, 2017 5:02 AM
To: nfbp-talk at yahoogroups.com; NFB Talk Mailing List <nfb-talk at nfbnet.org>;
NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users
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Cc: Buddy Brannan <buddy at brannan.name>; International : Embro S
<international at livebraille.com>
Subject: [NAGDU] Interesting Electronic Travel Aid

Hi y'all,

A couple weeks ago, something came to my attention that, if it really lives
up to what they promise, could finally be something actually innovative in
electronic travel aids. 

For a while now, we've all seen that next great new thing that will promise
to reduce or even eliminate the need for a white cane or guide dog, or so
the popular press surrounding such announcements would usually have it.
These things always had one really glaring problem. Well, a couple of them,
but one huge problem. They would detect obstacles, but that didn't help much
for things like steps, curbs, dropoffs, holes, and terrain changes, things
that a cane, or a guide dog, alert to in the natural course of their use.
I've said that whole time that if someone can crack that particular problem,
I'd be interested in listening, but until then, I didn't consider any of
these supposedly helpful products terribly interesting. Especially since
many of them would take up a hand, and you're already using one of those for
a cane or guide dog. 

A couple weeks ago, a startup in India started following me on Twitter, and
I started looking at what they were doing. Oh, look, it's another electronic
travel aid. But, wait, they claim what? That you can *run* without the need
for a cane? Color me skeptical. I asked for more information, and got it
yesterday. I also called and managed to have a chat with the CEO of the
company, Live Braille (or Embro...I see both names, but it's
livebraille.com). Here's what I've found out. 

For the past year, this company has made a wearable electronic travel aid
called Live Braille Mini. Very like other similar things, it uses sound to
detect obstacles at up to 3.5 meters away in long range mode, or 1.5 meters
in short range mode. That's close to 12 feet and about 4.5 feet,
respectively. But then, it gets interesting. First, it really is wearable,
as it's a ring you wear on your finger. I expect it's a rather large ring,
but nonetheless, a ring, massing 29 grams, or weighing just a smidge over an
ounce, according to Google. Using various vibration patterns, they claim
something like 117 distinct patterns, and sensing at 50 times a second, the
company claims one can not only detect the distance from an above ground
obstacle, but also its speed, and even what kind of obstacle it is, as you
can get an idea of your environment by waving your hand. There's apparently
a video of a blind kid chasing a sighted volunteer using only the Live
Braille Mini. Pretty impressive, especially for $299. 

But here's the really interesting bit. I'm told a newer product will ship in
July. The Live Braille Walk Pro is also a ring. It's smaller than the Mini,
runs for two hours on a charge, but comes with a charging case that extends
that by quite a lot. Like the mini, it uses vibration to indicate speed,
distance, etc. Unlike the Mini, however, it uses light rather than
ultrasound. This means it's water resistant, perhaps even waterproof, and,
I'm told, the performance should not degrade over time as a device using
ultrasound would. It also will detect ground level obstacles like steps,
holes, curbs, and the like. The cost for the new device is considerably
higher, at a retail of $1499 and a preorder price of $1199, but it comes
with insurance and a lifetime warranty, as well as a personal setup and
orientation call. "Think of it as like buying a high end luxury car", said
Mr. CEO. 

So, putting my money, literally, where my mouth is, after saying that an ETA
that would detect steps and such would be worth something, I bought one at
the preorder price. I'm the ninth person to order one, so this is pretty
new. The company tells me that there are 10,000 or so Live Braille Minis out
in the world, in the hands of blind people inIndia, the UK, and South
America. 

The website is clearly not designed with a thought that blind people might
use it. There is, for example, a video that autoplays but has no nonvisual
content that's useful to tell what it's showing, just music. There are
unlabeled graphics. There are tables used for layout. Even so, I was able to
place my order and do a bit of reading. The site is at
http://www.livebraille.com

If you're the adventurous type and want to buy either a Mini or preorder a
Walk Pro, you can, and you can even get a discount. There's a bit of a
misprint if you select to preorder a Walk Pro. It says the preorder price is
$300 on the radio button to select the preorder, but it corrects in your
cart to show the actual price of $1199. Payment is through Paypal, which
means you can use Paypal Credit if you want to pay it off over time.

For $59 off the preorder of the Walk Pro, use this coupon code:
X59HWNMSPRLV

For $29 off the purchase of a Mini (which is in current production), use
this coupon code:
X29Y86K9PRLV

If, on the other hand, you're justifiably skeptical but are interested in
what happens when it releases, I'll definitely be sharing my experience with
the Walk Pro when it gets here. 

BTW, no, I'm not planning to give up my guide dog. This does, however,
appear to be the year for technology, since I'm also getting Aira in June,
and then there are these low cost braille displays. And also the Tap virtual
keyboard. ... 

Happy travels,

--
Buddy Brannan, KB5ELV - Erie, PA
Phone: 814-860-3194
Mobile: 814-431-0962
Email: buddy at brannan.name

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