[NAGDU] Aira, or Be My Eyes

Fri Feb 8 20:41:23 UTC 2019

A variety of reasons why Aira is better for most tasks. First are the Aira
agents who are trained to describe. You know what you get with any Aira
agent. This is not the case with Be My Eyes. Also, to keep this a bit on
topic, Aira Agents know how to describe information for guide dog users.

Mike H.

-----Original Message-----
From: Melissa Allman <MAllman at seeingeye.org> 
Sent: Friday, February 8, 2019 11:48 AM
To: 'mike at michaelhingson.com' <mike at michaelhingson.com>; 'NAGDU Mailing
List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users' <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Cc: 'Tracy Carcione' <carcione at access.net>
Subject: RE: [NAGDU] Aira, or Be My Eyes

Aftershokz are great. Yes it would be oversimplifying things to say that
Aira and Be My Eyes are strictly speaking, comparable. My focus was just on
what tools I might or might not use to complete a task.

Melissa R. Allman
Senior Specialist, Advocacy and Government Relations The Seeing Eye, Inc.
P.O. Box 375, Morristown, NJ 07963-0375 (mail)
10 Washington Valley Road, Morristown, NJ 07960-3412 (deliveries)
973-539-4425 ext. 1724,     Fax:  973-525-1081 mallman at SeeingEye.org  

-----Original Message-----
From: mike at michaelhingson.com [mailto:mike at michaelhingson.com]
Sent: Friday, February 08, 2019 2:39 PM
To: 'NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users'
Cc: Melissa Allman; 'Tracy Carcione'
Subject: RE: [NAGDU] Aira, or Be My Eyes

Aira is not really comparable to Be My Eyes. Aira agents are trained to
described in Navigating as well as countless other tasks.

I do agree with you about using something that doesn't block your ears.
Aftershokz bone conduction headphones work well as several different
Bluetooth speakers like the Bose Soundware speakers that project into the
ear.

If you ever want to talk more about Aira feel free to give me a call at
(415) 827-4084.

Mike H.

-----Original Message-----
From: NAGDU <nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Melissa Allman via NAGDU
Sent: Friday, February 8, 2019 11:24 AM
To: 'NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users'
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Melissa Allman <MAllman at seeingeye.org>; 'Tracy Carcione'
<carcione at access.net>
Subject: Re: [NAGDU] Aira, or Be My Eyes

I've only tried Be My Eyes with something stationary. I would never try it
with navigation tasks. Just my take on it. And yes I feel like there should
be a way to grow an extra hand because I run out when using Aira but that's
just because I currently lack a Bluetooth headset that's paired with it. If
you have one, you can have the phone in your pocket and not hold anything
extra. I like to use it with headphones that do not cover my ears so traffic
sounds are not obscured.

Melissa R. Allman
Senior Specialist, Advocacy and Government Relations The Seeing Eye, Inc.
P.O. Box 375, Morristown, NJ 07963-0375 (mail)
10 Washington Valley Road, Morristown, NJ 07960-3412 (deliveries)
973-539-4425 ext. 1724,     Fax:  973-525-1081 mallman at SeeingEye.org  

-----Original Message-----
From: NAGDU [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Tracy Carcione
via NAGDU
Sent: Friday, February 08, 2019 2:20 PM
To: 'NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users'
Cc: Tracy Carcione
Subject: [NAGDU] Aira, or Be My Eyes

I've used Be My Eyes, but only while standing still.  It seems to me it
would be harder to use while on the move.  For instance, it would be handy
to use Aira on an upcoming trip to get through the airports and to find my
shuttle.  But how does one have the dog in one hand, the roller bag in
another, and wave the phone with yet another?  Oops, out of hands.  Don't I
need to wave the phone around so the helper can see what's around?  Or is it
a series of stops and starts?  Krokus finds stops and starts mighty
confusing, and I really can't blame him.  We both like to get on a roll and
keep moving.

Tracy

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