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<DIV><FONT color=#000000 size=4>Yes I got this tonight on the iios
list</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>I put the nfb list on this response</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Great info and thanks</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
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<DIV style="font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A title=mrb620@hotmail.com
href="mailto:mrb620@hotmail.com">Mario</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>Sent:</B> Thursday, May 14, 2015 9:06 PM</DIV>
<DIV><B>To:</B> <A title=jdegen16@comcast.net
href="mailto:jdegen16@comcast.net">jdegen16@comcast.net</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>Subject:</B> article for distribution</DIV></DIV></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV></DIV>
<DIV
style='FONT-SIZE: small; TEXT-DECORATION: none; FONT-FAMILY: "Calibri"; FONT-WEIGHT: normal; COLOR: #000000; FONT-STYLE: normal; DISPLAY: inline'><FONT
face=Arial>Janie,</FONT> 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.<BR> <BR>
<BLOCKQUOTE cite=mid:555543E9.2060807@hotmail.com type="cite"><BR>LowViz Guide
Press Release <BR><BR>MD Support’s LowViz Guide Offers Gift of Sight
<BR><BR>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 <BR>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 <BR>2015 National ADA Symposium, he was given an
extraordinary gift of sight. <BR><BR>Bill was the first person to use a new
wayfinding application called LowViz Guide, created specifically for visually
impaired attendees at state and national <BR>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. <BR>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 <BR>describe and give directions
to meeting rooms, restrooms, vendor booths, and other unique points of
interest in the entire conference area, even those <BR>that were beyond normal
sight. <BR><BR>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 <BR>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 <BR>only by the big smile on his owner’s face.
<BR><BR>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 <BR>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 <BR>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 <BR>capability, that information is also available audibly
for blind and low vision people. <BR><BR>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 <BR>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 <BR>Blindness’ Living
Well With Low Vision section, Roberts accepted the challenge. He decided that
BLE technology was the answer, so he contracted Indoo.rs, <BR>a wayfinding
technology company based in Vienna, to design the LowViz Guide app to his
specifications. <BR><BR>After months of development, the product was launched
to rave reviews at the Atlanta conference. And, with ongoing funding from MD
Foundation, MD Support <BR>is providing it free-of-charge to five more
conventions through October. Future participating organizations are American
Council of the Blind, Association <BR>for Blinded Veterans, Guide Dogs For The
Blind, California Council of the Blind, and Pennsylvania Council of the Blind.
For information about LowViz Guide <BR>and how to request it for events, visit
<BR><A class=moz-txt-link-abbreviated
href="http://www.mdsupport.org/audioguide">www.mdsupport.org/audioguide</A>.
<BR><BR><BR></BLOCKQUOTE><BR></DIV>
<DIV style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri'; COLOR: #000000">Keep
Smiling,<BR>Janie Degenshein<BR>"Happiness isn't having what you want, but
wanting what you already have"<BR>Facilitator of ECHO<BR>(Eyes Closed Hearts
Open)<BR>President, National Federation of the Blind of New Jersey Senior
Division<BR>President National Federation of the Blind of New Jersey Technology
Division<BR>Co-host of OTBS On The Bright
Side<BR>www.thruoureyes.org/brightside.html<BR>jdegen16@comcast.net<BR></DIV></DIV></DIV></BODY></HTML>