[Nfbmt] FW: [Nfbnet-members-list] Sunu Band Blog
Edward Robbins
ecrobbins517 at gmail.com
Sat Mar 12 05:46:18 UTC 2016
Dar,
If you read through the print out, the price is about $250.00, with
an early purchast of about $198.00 I think.
Ted
EDWARD C "TED" ROBBINS
, CEO MBEI, Treasurer NFB of Montana & MANAGER MAB EQUIPMENT PROGRAM
PHONE & FAX: 406 453 6678, CELL: 406 799 6268
104 RIVERVIEW 5 E
GREAT FALLS MT 59404
-----Original Message-----
From: Nfbmt [mailto:nfbmt-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of d m gina via
Nfbmt
Sent: Friday, March 11, 2016 6:52 PM
To: nfbmt at nfbnet.org
Cc: d m gina
Subject: Re: [Nfbmt] FW: [Nfbnet-members-list] Sunu Band Blog
I wonder what the price is, as well as i would be willing to try one.
Now I wonder how you can hear it over traffic.
Original message:
> This is the product I was talking about in our meeting tonight.
> I apologize if I mis directed or confused anyone.
> Ted
> EDWARD C "TED" ROBBINS
> , CEO MBEI, Treasurer NFB of Montana & MANAGER MAB EQUIPMENT PROGRAM
> PHONE & FAX: 406 453 6678, CELL: 406 799 6268
> 104 RIVERVIEW 5 E
> GREAT FALLS MT 59404
> From: Nfbnet-members-list
> [mailto:nfbnet-members-list-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of David
> Andrews via Nfbnet-members-list
> Sent: Saturday, December 12, 2015 12:55 PM
> To: nfbnet-members-list at nfbnet.org
> Subject: [Nfbnet-members-list] Sunu Band Blog
> National Federation of the Blind Jernigan Institute Research
Collaboration:
> Sunu Band
> Submitted by mjones on Fri, 12/11/2015 - 16:48
> Blog Date:
> Friday, December 11, 2015
> By Amy Mason
> The National Federation of the Blind Jernigan Institute leads the
> quest to understand the real problems of blindness and to develop
> innovative education, technologies, products, and services that help
> the world's blind to achieve greater independence. Many technology
> developers have the best intensions when designing that great next product
for the blind.
> Unfortunately they do not include blind people in the process. We
> strongly encourage developers of innovative nonvisual access
> technologies to work with us during the design and development phase.
> By leveraging the expertise and the life experience of the independent
> blind with the engineering expertise of these developers of next
> generation technologies, the result is an innovative, more useful product
for the blind.
> Last year we began just such a collaborative relationship with a
> startup by the name of UStraap. In 2014, we were contacted by one of
> the project's creators, Marco Trujillo, and asked to look at his
> prototype device. Our initial impressions can be seen in a previous AT
> Blog post about the USTRAAP
> <https://nfb.org/blog/atblog/ustraap-system> . To paraphrase, at that
> time, we believed that the device had promise, and we were excited to
> see where it was going to go. It has indeed undergone several iterations
of changes after extensive testing with blind people, and now goes by the
name of Sunu.
> In this post we want to share a bit of our interactions with the
> creators of the Sunu to provide a peak into the workings of the Access
> Technology Team and how we assist manufacturers in providing useful
> tools to blind consumers. The following is a brief description and
> critique of the Sunu Band by Sunu, and a sample of the feedback we
> were able to provide to the developers. In order to maintain the
> integrity of their intellectual property, we are only able to provide
> examples of questions and suggestions that demonstrate, in a small way,
the benefit of our collaboration.
> The Sunu Band
> By Sunu
> Sunu describes the Sunu Band as a smart-bracelet that uses sonar
> "look-ahead" technology, empowering mobility and independence for
> people living with impaired vision by helping improve awareness,
> orientation, and mobility, which can be used with other aids. The Sunu
> Band is a wearable bracelet with a sonar sensor, two buttons on the
> watch face, and an adjustable wristband. The device provides haptic
> feedback about surroundings to the user. You simply point or scan with
> the sensor on the device, and the closer you come to a person or
> object, the more intense the vibrations on your wrist become. There is
> also a separate Sunu Tag that can be used as a locator device for
> easily misplaced items. The tag will beep, and the wristband vibrates
> faster as the two come closer, "rather like a game of 'hot or cold'
> with a prize of rediscovering your missing keys." There are promises
> of leveraging app integration to create enhanced functionality, and
> add other features. The one that has already been implemented well
> enough to be tried by our team is a vibrating watch feature, similar
> to that offered by the Meteor Vibrating Pocket Watch. We will discuss
> each of these three features in turn, including our thoughts on how to
> improve the functionality, and finish with information on where you can go
to get your hands on the device if it piques your interest.
> Navigational Aid
> The Sunu Band started life as merely a navigational aid intended to
> provide additional information to cane and dog guide users. As such,
> this is still the heart of the device and its functionality. The band
> uses sonar waves to gather information about the user's surroundings
> and conveys information on how near the user is to an obstacle by
> vibrating with increasing frequency as the user nears it. It offers
> both an outdoor and an indoor navigation mode. Indoor mode uses a
> narrower band and a shorter range in order to provide more detailed
> information when a user is in more crowded settings, and may be moving
> more slowly. In our testing, we found that the Sunu may be useful in a
number of indoor and outdoor situations including:
> . Simulating shore-lining technique. For instance, indoors, a user
could
> use the band to search across the hall for openings where the hall
> turns or open doors. Outdoors, it could be used to search for bus
> shelters, entrance alcoves for businesses, or other open spaces.
> . Following people in a line. By pointing the band at a person in front
> of the user in line, they can feel the change in vibrational pattern
> as the line moves up, without having to search as often for that
> person with the tip of the cane.
> . Detecting objects at head height. By angling the wrist just a little,
> it was possible for our testers to discover tree branches and other
> obstacles that might offer a nasty shock to the traveler.
> It is rather clever in that it provides to cane users some of the
> foreknowledge of more distant objects enjoyed by dog users, and allows
> dog users to gather information about the obstacles they are
> maneuvering around with their guide.
> Sunu states, "It is easy to learn within minutes." So we put this
> assertion to the test. Several staff members took the Sunu Band
> through some basic mobility scenarios. For some the indoor navigation
> functionality of the device took a little time to acclimate to, while
> others picked it up very intuitively. In discussions with the
> developers, they state that although you can learn to operate the
> device in minutes, it does take more time to master its use. We are
> hopeful that there are opportunities in the future for us to assist
> with the development of additional training materials. Our opinion is
> that it would be a helpful device for individuals to use as a complement
to good orientation and mobility skills training.
> Of course, when evaluating technologies that provide nonvisual
> information, there is always a tricky balance between how much is too much
information.
> This is complicated by the fact that what is considered too much
> information for some may be considered too little information for
> others. This is why we definitely appreciate the ability to put the
> Sunu Band in sleep mode with ease.
> The one area of concern with the band as a navigational tool that we
> noted at this time is that it is easily covered by the sleeve of a
> winter coat, and may not be as useful in the colder months outdoors.
> Sunu Locator Tag
> The tag is a pretty simple concept. A user places the tag on or in a
> bag, luggage, keys, or other easily-misplaced object. When the user
> wishes to locate the item, they can either use the wristband or the
> intended smartphone app to trigger the tag and follow the vibrations
> of the wristband or audible tones from the tag to help reunite them
> with their wandering belonging. The additional ability to use the
> vibrations on the band will hopefully make it possible for a user to
> silence the tag and find the item in question without alerting others in
the area to the search.
> We have been providing on-going support in the development of this
> technology and were pleased that some improvements have already been made.
> For example, the Sunu Tag is a much nicer size and shape than the
> original design, and also works well in our testing with the Sunu
> Band. We are looking forward to the integration with the app and
> Bluetooth, which should give it slightly longer range.
> Timekeeping
> As previously mentioned, the Sunu Band, although referred to as a
> bracelet, also tells time, like a watch. The original method of
> obtaining the time was deemed by our testers as a little too
> conspicuous. We emphasized that many people want to check the time in
> class, or in a boring meeting, and not let others know they are
> counting down the minutes. Although this was also input the developers
> received from others, we were able to give some additional useful feedback
on some suggested alternative methods of checking the time.
> We are hopeful that with app integration, alarms may also be included
> in the device, as the Sunu would prove to be a nicely inconspicuous
> way to keep track of upcoming appointments, and might even provide an
> alternative to a loudly buzzing alarm clock.
> Design and Other Thoughts
> We found the wireless charging feature of the device to be an
> interesting alternative to the more familiar USB chargers being used
> by most technologies. We expressed our disappointment that, in the
> beta unit, there was no non-visual indication that the products are
> actually charging. They informed us that they have a strategy for
> dealing with this in the final version. Moreover, they consulted us on
> using USB as an alternative option for charging the device. Using USB
> to directly charge the device may be more familiar to most users and
> may be more secure, because it is less likely the device will be
> knocked off its charger. However, USB seems like a possible point of
> malfunction due to plugging and unplugging the device. USB Micro just
> doesn't seem very sturdy and the charging disk would be unplugged a
> lot less often than the band, which would minimize the wear and tear on
the band itself.
> In our discussions with Marco, we learned that the folks from Sunu are
> hoping to add more features via their smartphone app, including some
> which may work with iBeacon and indoor navigation technology. We are
> very interested to see what may come of these discussions, and will
> continue to provide our guidance to the team at Sunu as they continue
> creating this very versatile and interesting piece of technology.
> Final Thoughts
> "Tested and validated" is Sunu's current claim. As the oldest, largest
> organization of the blind in the United States, the National
> Federation of the Blind is pleased that we are being afforded the
> opportunity to test and aid in the development of the product. We can
> validate that it is an innovative piece of access technology with
> great potential. We are hopeful that the Sunu Band technology will be
> integrated into one of the emerging navigation technologies we are
> identifying through our NFB Indoor Navigation Challenge
> <https://nfb.org/blog/atblog/national-federation-blind-indoor-navigati
> on-cha
> llenge-0> .
> We make sure that technology developers understand that it is
> important that any wearable technology is both functional and stylish.
> The prototype of the Sunu Band has a wristband that can be sized
> fairly easily, and we found the to be a very simple and elegant solution.
> Sunu informs us that the design of the final product will be even better.
> All in all, we cannot wait to see the final product, and with the
> advent of app and possible beacon integration, we are really quite
> excited by what the future holds for the Sunu Band.
> For more information about the Sunu Band, visit http://sunu.io/ or
> their Indiegogo campaign. The intended retail price for the band and
> one tag is planned to be $250. During the campaign, the band and tag
> combo is available at a discounted price of $199, and for this weekend
> they are planning to offer a special package with the band only at $70.
> To suggest other products in development for review, please email
> jerniganinstitute at nfb.org.
> David Andrews and Long White Cane Harry
> dandrews at visi.com or david.andrews at nfbnet.org
> Twitter: @dandrews920
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--Dar
skype: dmgina23
FB: dmgina
www.twitter.com/dmgina
every saint has a past
every sinner has a future
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