[Njtechdiv] article for distribution

[Janie Degenshein]

Yes I got this tonight on the iios list
I put the nfb list on this response
Great info and thanks


From: Mario 
Sent: Thursday, May 14, 2015 9:06 PM
To: jdegen16 at comcast.net 
Subject: article for distribution

Janie, here's an article for your approval for distribution. I forgot the address for the techdiv list. could you please send it for me. I'm so used to just replying to a post. thanks.
 


  LowViz Guide Press Release 

  MD Support’s LowViz Guide Offers Gift of Sight 

  For four days, Bill DeMaio could see through walls. And that’s really saying something, considering that he has no eyesight. Until May 10, 2015, Bill could 
  find his way around an unfamiliar building only by either asking people for directions or hoping to find Braille signs. But then, on the first day of the 
  2015 National ADA Symposium, he was given an extraordinary gift of sight. 

  Bill was the first person to use a new wayfinding application called LowViz Guide, created specifically for visually impaired attendees at state and national 
  conferences. On the first day of the event, he stood with his guide dog, Izaac, in the middle of the Hyatt Regency Atlanta hotel’s pre-conference area. 
  Neither of them had ever set foot or paw in that room before, but after simply listening to his iPhone for a minute or so, Bill was amazed that he could 
  describe and give directions to meeting rooms, restrooms, vendor booths, and other unique points of interest in the entire conference area, even those 
  that were beyond normal sight. 

  Once he realized that he was now on equal or better par with the fully-sighted attendees, he decided to sign in. Turning toward the registration table 
  50 feet away and around the corner, he guided Izaac to the exact location. That’s right, Bill guided Izaac, whose look of canine bewilderment was matched 
  only by the big smile on his owner’s face. 

  LowViz Guide is the latest embodiment of Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacon technology, popping up in public venues all over the world. It is similar to 
  GPS, but it is useable indoors, where access to satellites, Internet, and cell service may not be available. With a smart phone or tablet, the user can 
  call up a map and routing information on the screen, no matter where he or she is standing in the venue. And now, in combination with the phone’s speech 
  capability, that information is also available audibly for blind and low vision people. 

  In July of 2014, Liz Trauernicht, director of MD Foundation, saw the need for a guided assistance program at low vision conferences, so she asked her resource 
  consultant, Dan Roberts, if he could research the possibilities. Along with his duties as founding director of MD Support and Editor-in-Chief of Prevent 
  Blindness’ Living Well With Low Vision section, Roberts accepted the challenge. He decided that BLE technology was the answer, so he contracted Indoo.rs, 
  a wayfinding technology company based in Vienna, to design the LowViz Guide app to his specifications. 

  After months of development, the product was launched to rave reviews at the Atlanta conference. And, with ongoing funding from MD Foundation, MD Support 
  is providing it free-of-charge to five more conventions through October. Future participating organizations are American Council of the Blind, Association 
  for Blinded Veterans, Guide Dogs For The Blind, California Council of the Blind, and Pennsylvania Council of the Blind. For information about LowViz Guide 
  and how to request it for events, visit 
  www.mdsupport.org/audioguide. 





Keep Smiling,
Janie Degenshein
"Happiness isn't having what you want, but wanting what you already have"
Facilitator of ECHO
(Eyes Closed Hearts Open)
President, National Federation of the Blind of New Jersey Senior Division
President National Federation of the Blind of New Jersey Technology Division
Co-host of OTBS On The Bright Side
www.thruoureyes.org/brightside.html
jdegen16 at comcast.net
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://nfbnet.org/pipermail/njtechdiv_nfbnet.org/attachments/20150514/868df52a/attachment.html>