[Nebraska-Senior-Blind] More interesting Apps and gagets for the blind and for other disabilities!

Sat Jan 13 21:54:56 UTC 2024

Hi You All

After our interest in that "Check Your Makeup" App, the below text is from
the same blind-tech list that I get daily messages from. It is a short
report from a guy that attended a big showing of new adaptive hard and
software for the disabled. So it covers some new innovations for not only
the blind but for other issues like deafness. on and on. (All is of
interest!)

The guy writes of what he saw:

So much of what we see at CES tends to be focused on technological
innovation for the sake of innovation, or obvious attempts to tap into
whatever trend is gripping the internet's attention that year. In the last
few shows, though, there has been a heartening increase in attention to
assistive products that are designed to help improve the lives of people
with disabilities and other different needs. At CES 2024, I was glad to see
more development in the accessibility category, with many offerings
appearing to be more thoughtfully designed in addition to being clever. It's
so easy to get distracted by the shiny, eye-catching, glamorous and weird
tech at CES, but I wanted to take the time to give due attention to some of
my favorite accessibility products here in Las Vegas.

GyroGlove

Before I even packed my bags, numerous coworkers had sent me the link to
GyroGlove's website after it had been recognized as an honoree for several
CES Innovation awards. The device is a hand-stabilizing glove that uses
gyroscopic force to help those with hand tremors minimize the shakes.
Because the demo unit at the show floor
<https://www.engadget.com/gyroglove-is-a-hand-stabilizing-glove-for-people-w
ith-tremors-223816688.html> was too large for me, and, more importantly, I
don't have hand tremors, I couldn't accurately assess the glove's
effectiveness.

But I spoke with a person with Parkinson's Disease at the booth, who had
been wearing one for a few days. She said the GyroGlove helped her perform
tasks like buttoning up a shirt more easily, and that she intended to buy
one for herself. At $5,899, the device is quite expensive, which is the sad
state of assistive products these days. But GyroGlove's makers said they're
in talks with some insurance providers in the US, which could lead to it
being covered for those in America who could benefit from it. That's one of
the biggest reasons that led us to name GyroGlove one of
<https://www.engadget.com/the-best-of-ces-2024-220054009.html> our winners
for CES 2024.

<https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/p4HBPwUsHNyJJ8W6u4gxpg--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxh
bmRlcjt3PTY0MDtoPTQyNw--/https:/s.yimg.com/os/creatr-uploaded-images/2024-01
/dfaeeda0-b0b0-11ee-bdb9-95bfa28dac08> 

Photo by Cherlynn Low / Engadget 

MouthPad

I did not think I'd be looking deep into a person's mouth and up their nose
at CES 2024, but here we are. Sometimes you have to do strange things to
check out unconventional gadgets.
<https://www.engadget.com/the-mouthpad-turns-your-tongue-into-a-mouse-for-yo
ur-phone-184541021.html> The MouthPad is as unusual as it gets. It's a
tongue-operated controller for phones, tablets and laptops, and basically
anything that will accept a Bluetooth mouse input. The components include a
touchpad mounted onto the palette of what's essentially a retainer, as well
as a battery and Bluetooth radio.

As odd as the concept sounds, it actually could be a boon for people who
aren't able to use their limbs, since your tongue, as a muscle, can offer
more precise movement and control than, say, your eyes. If you're feeling
apprehensive about sticking a device inside your mouth, it might be helpful
to know that the battery is from the same company that's made them for
medical-grade implants, while the rest of the dental tray is made from a
resin that's commonly used in aligners and bite guards. The product is
currently available as an early access package that includes setup and
calibration assistance, with a new version (with longer battery life) slated
for launch later this year.

OrCam Hear

Assistive tech company OrCam won our
<https://www.engadget.com/engadget-best-of-ces-2022-200032353.html> Best of
CES award for accessibility in 2022, so I was eager to check out what it had
in store this year. I wasn't disappointed. The company had a few updated
products to show off, but the most intriguing was a new offering for people
with hearing loss. The OrCam Hear system is a three-part package consisting
of a pair of earbuds, a dongle for your phone and an app. Together, the
different parts work to filter out background noise while identifying and
isolating specific speakers in a multi-party conversation.

At a demo during a noisy event at CES 2024, I watched and listened as the
voices of selected people around me became clear or muffled as company reps
dragged their icons in or out of my field of hearing. I was especially
impressed when the system was able to identify my editor next to me and let
me choose to focus on or filter out his voice.

Audio Radar

If you're a gamer, you'll know how important audio cues can sometimes be for
a successful run. Developers frequently design the sound environment for
their games to be not only rich and immersive, but to also contain hints
about approaching enemies or danger. Players who are hard of hearing can
miss out on this, and it's not fair for them to be disadvantaged due to a
disability.

A
<https://finance.yahoo.com/news/audio-radar-launches-enabling-deaf-140000062
.html> product called Audio Radar can help turn sound signals into visual
cues, so that gamers with hearing loss can "see the sound," according to the
company. The setup is fairly simple. A box plugs into a gaming console to
interpret the audio output and convert it into lights. A series of RGB light
bars surround the screen, and display different colors depending on the type
of sound coming from the respective direction they represent.

CES 2024 saw not just Audio Radar's official launch, but was also where the
company introduced its SDK for game developers to create custom visual cues
for players who are hard of hearing. The company's founder and CEO Tim
Murphy told Engadget that it's partnering with Logitech, with the gaming
accessory maker "providing support as we further develop our product and
design our go-to-market strategy."

<https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/nhfLR6G3ut1XJb0e0lUyPQ--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxh
bmRlcjt3PTY0MDtoPTQyNw--/https:/s.yimg.com/os/creatr-uploaded-images/2024-01
/dafe55b0-b0e3-11ee-bff8-99da5002d4e8> 

Photo by Cherlynn Low / Engadget 

Transcribe Glass

Google Glass was resurrected at CES 2024. Sort of. A new product called
Transcribe Glass is a small heads up display you can attach to any frames,
and the result looks a lot like
<https://www.engadget.com/google-retires-glass-ar-eyewear-082512062.html>
the long-dead Google device. It connects to your phone and uses that
device's onboard processing to transcribe what it hears, then projects the
text onto the tiny transparent display hovering above the eye. You'll be
able to resize the font, adjust the scrolling speed and choose your language
model of choice, since TranscribeGlass uses third-party APIs for
translation. Yes, it converts foreign languages into one you understand,
too.

The company is targeting year's end for launch, and hoping to offer the
device at $199 to start. When I tried it on at the show floor, I was
surprised by how light and adjustable the hardware was. I had to squint
slightly to see the captions, and was encountering some Bluetooth lag, but
otherwise the transcriptions took place fairly quickly and appeared to be
accurate. The TranscribeGlass should last about eight hours on a charge,
which seems reasonable given all that it's doing.

Samsung's subtitle accessibility features

Though we didn't catch a demo of this in person, Samsung
<https://news.samsung.com/us/samsungs-ai-for-all-vision-ces-2024> did
briefly mention a "sign language feature in Samsung Neo QLED" that "can be
easily controlled with gestures for the hearing impaired, and an Audio
Subtitle feature [that] turns text subtitles into spoken words in real-time
for those with low vision." We weren't able to find this at the show, but
the concept is certainly meaningful. Plus, the fact that Samsung TVs have
mainstream appeal means these features could be more widely available that
most of the niche products we've covered in this roundup.

We're reporting live from CES 2024 in Las Vegas from January 6-12. Keep up
with all the latest news from the show
<https://www.engadget.com/guides/ces/> here.

David Goldfield,

Blindness Assistive Technology Specialist

If you need help using your assistive technology learn about my training
services by visiting

WWW.ScreenReaderTraining.com <http://www.screenreadertraining.com/> 

Am Yisrael Chai

The Nation of Israel Lives!

JAWS Certified, 2022
<https://www.freedomscientific.com/Training/Certification/> 

NVDA Certified Expert <https://certification.nvaccess.org/> 

Subscribe to the Tech-VI announcement list to receive news, events and
information regarding the blindness assistive technology field.

Email: tech-vi+subscribe at groups.io <mailto:tech-vi+subscribe at groups.io> 

Respectfully yours,

Robert Leslie Newman

NFBN Senior Division, President

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