[nabs-l] scanning documents was RE: curing blindness

Chris Nusbaum dotkid.nusbaum at gmail.com
Tue Oct 2 00:50:40 UTC 2012


Hi Sophie,

I know Serotek's DocuScan Plus scanning software is supported by the Mac.
Not sure about Kurzweil though.

Chris

-----Original Message-----
From: nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Sophie Trist
Sent: Monday, October 01, 2012 7:40 AM
To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] curing blindness

Can a Macbook laptop scan documents? I have the Saytext app on my phone and
am still figuring it out, but it doesn't seem all that accurate.

 ----- Original Message -----
From: "Ashley Bramlett" <bookwormahb at earthlink.net
To: "National Association of Blind Students mailing list" 
<nabs-l at nfbnet.org
Date sent: Mon, 1 Oct 2012 00:14:33 -0400
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] curing blindness

Gerado,
Yes the I phone can OCR documents, but there are some limits on it and I
heard its not as accurate as a desk top scanner.

-----Original Message-----
From: Gerardo Corripio
Sent: Sunday, September 30, 2012 11:12 PM
To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] curing blindness

Hey Ashlee and list
Can't those of us with IPhone already Ocr pamphlets? Sorry for my
ignorance, but I've had IPhone alnost 2 months; some things I still don't
know.
Thanks for info.

Enviado desde mi iPhone

El 30/09/2012, a las 21:44, "Ashley Bramlett" 
<bookwormahb at earthlink.net
escribió:

 Desiree,
 Thanks for the info. So when is the braille plus coming out? 
Then, how
 much will this cost?
 I hope less than human ware and freedom scientific charge.

 You're right it will be able to scan documents. But you still would have
to have this thing in a paper form to scan it. Many information literacy
things I speak of are not  something you can handle, but are things you
simply look at as a pedestrian or traveler traveling by. But, still, I
think this is a big step in bringing us  information literacy the sighted
people have; many things are able to be handled after all.  
Restaurants
 have paper menus for people to look at for take out food. Most brochures
and tourbooks you can grab and would be scannable. I'll research the
braille plus. I did not know APH was remaking that product and coming out
with a new version.

 Ashley
 -----Original Message----- From: Desiree Oudinot
 Sent: Sunday, September 30, 2012 10:32 PM
 To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
 Subject: Re: [nabs-l] curing blindness

 Hi Ashley,
 That's a good point about restaurant menus and brochures, but
 technology is improving in regards to that. I was just reading 
about
 the new Braille Plus which is made by APH, and how it's going to 
be
 running Android, so will be an extremely powerful note taker. I 
bring
 this up because it also includes a camera, and it said that 
something
 like that could be used for scanning menus and other things like 
you
 described. I'm not sure if it's going to be able to do bar code
 scanning. Perhaps so, considering that you're supposed to be 
able to
 download Android aps, but since I'm pretty unfamiliar with the 
Android
 OS, I'm not sure if there is one for bar code scanning yet. 
Anyway,
 this is a big step up for people who don't want to use touch 
screens
 but desire some of the things you describe, since I know the 
IPhone
 can do this stuff too, but some people have their reasons for 
not
 wanting to use touch screens.

 On 9/30/12, Ashley Bramlett <bookwormahb at earthlink.net> wrote:
 Arielle,
 That is my reaction too. It made Mr. Lloyd able to pass as 
sighted, but
 his

 vision was so fuzzy that it really did not help him act like a 
sighted
 person. Want to bet that when he got to work, he had to use jaws 
or other
 adaptive tools to do his work? His vision simply was not at that 
point to
 read print and use a computer to function as sighted at work.
 I share your concern that those getting  treatment to restore 
some vision
 would give up proven blindness techniques in favor of the 
rudimentary
 vision

 and therefore they would struggle more than they were as a blind 
person.

 I am not sure if I'd take treatment to get all vision. I think 
it would
 be
 such a psychological and physical adjustment. I'd have to really 
weigh
 the
 pros and cons if such  a thing were avaiable; I'd also consider 
any side
 effects such treatment had. One benefit to having more vision is 
the
 ability

 to read; if my vision were say 20/100 I might be able to read 
more easily
 without fatigue. I'd only need some magnification and I'd be 
able to read
 pretty well. I often wondered what it would be like to walk into 
a hotel
 and

 be able to pick up those brochures about local events, read the
 restaurant
 menu as I pass by, pick up a local newspaper from the concierge, 
and then
 go

 up to my room and read the tv listings on screen.
 I would have a very different experience. Oh, and I'd be able to 
read the
 labels on the shampoo and lotion, and not have to ask someone. I 
can see
 the

 colors, but they are often the same color, so still have to ask. 
I do not
 want to put cream in my hair!

 Anyway, it?™s a complex topic and I suspect that as treatment 
comes
 available, some will take it while others will not. Those that 
do not
 will
 opt out for many of the reasons articulated here.
 Ashley
 -----Original Message-----
 From: Arielle Silverman
 Sent: Sunday, September 30, 2012 6:01 PM
 To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
 Subject: Re: [nabs-l] curing blindness

 Hi all,
 I have studied this topic a bit because it was the subject of my
 honors thesis when I was an undergraduate student. I did a 
survey
 about six years ago (a few of you may have participated) to 
assess how
 blind people felt about the prospect of having their sight 
restored.
 One of the most interesting findings was that when asked whether 
or
 not one would take a magic pill that would restore full vision
 immediately with no risks or side effects, only 72% of the 
sample said
 they would do it. While most of the participants said they would 
do
 it, a substantial minority (about 20%) said no. Some of the 
people who
 said no cited concerns about losing their identity as blind 
people,
 or having  to adjust to a new sense  and that possibly taking 
away
 from their quality of life.
 Another finding from the survey was that most people said in 
order for
 a sight-restoring technology to be worthwhile, it would have to 
give
 them most or all functional vision. I personally don't have any
 objection to the technology like the Argus II being developed. I 
do
 think it could be a problem, though, if technologies that only 
give
 very rudimentary vision become popularized. They could perhaps 
lead
 people like the man in the article to forego using a proven 
travel aid
 like a cane in favor of using very rudimentary vision. As a 
result,
 people who have these procedures could actually end up 
struggling more
 than they were before. Based on the article, I am not convinced 
that
 Lloyd has actually gained any independence from the artificial 
vision,
 beyond what he would have gotten with a cane. Instead, it makes 
him
 better at passing as a sighted guy, but possibly worse at 
navigating
 his environment because he is no longer using a cane. I think 
the
 challenges and self-esteem issues associated with "passing" 
without
 actually having good skills are evident to many of us.
 I don't think I would undergo a procedure to improve my vision, 
for
 several reasons. I wouldn't even consider it until the 
technology was
 extensively tested and perfected, and then, only if it could 
actually
 give me full functionality (driving etc.) Even then, I'm not 
sure I
 would do it because I am terrified of surgery and only want to 
go
 through that if it is absolutely medically necessary, and I do 
not
 want to put the rest of my life on hold to learn how to see. I 
have
 more ambivalent feelings about how much I want to support 
research on
 curing blindness, and I'm curious to know others' thoughts about 
this.
 I have a genetic eye condition and have been told I should send 
my
 blood to a lab to have my gene identified because this will aid
 research on genetic treatments. I've debated whether or not to 
do it
 and at this point I am mostly indifferent. On one hand, I do 
think
 that treatments could legitimately help some people who don't 
have
 access to technology or who  live in communities where blindness 
is
 viewed very poorly. On the other hand, I am bothered by the 
negative
 press about blindness that is often propagated by cure-oriented 
groups
 like Prevent Blindness America or Foundation Fighting Blindness,
 making me not want to support these causes. Furthermore, I 
believe
 that no matter how good treatments get, some people will 
continue to
 be blind. So I would rather direct my limited energy toward 
finding
 ways to make life better for those who are blind rather than 
wiping
 out blindness.  What do you think?
 Arielle

 On 9/30/12, Ashley Bramlett <bookwormahb at earthlink.net> wrote:
 Hi all,

 I know NFB doesn?™t focus on treatment of blindness or low 
vision; they
 focus
 on living with it and adapting to the world with training and 
equipment.
 But many organizations do focus on this such as Foundation 
Fighting
 Blindness and the organization mentioned in this article.
 The link is below to the article.  I think this guy in the 
article was
 sure
 taking a gamble with his life to walk to work without a cane and 
only
 relying on unclear vision. At least the quote from him indicates 
its
 hard

 to
 focus and learn to see with this artificial vision; not as if he 
claims
 its
 perfect. Still he is happy with the artificial vision he does 
have
 through
 the camera.

 I?™ve had very limited vision all my life and I was fortunate 
to be
 taught
 braille after they taught me large print, but realized its 
shortcomings;
 so
 I learned braille and I had a cane in mid elementary school. 
Training in
 O&M
 was a lot to be desired, but I did learn how to use it as well 
as other
 alternative techniques from my teacher of the vision impaired.
 Therefore, I?™m adapting and still learning with what I have. 
Techniques
 will
 also change with technology; for instance, when I was young,  we 
had no
 digital recorders, digital NLS players, no book share or any way 
to
 download
 books in braille, no bar code readers, and scanners were around 
although
 not
 to the efficient degree we have today. So, with all that said, 
I?™m not
 sure
 I?™d want more vision. But this article paints a picture of 
getting some
 vision back as a good thing. I certainly would not want to enter 
the
 sighted
 world as I would not know how to function.


 If you read the article, what do you think? Would you take 
artificial
 vision? This is becoming a reality and they are going to improve 
the
 technology. The chip sends signals to the camera which sends 
signals to
 the
 eyes so the person can see some images.

 Here it is.
 
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18563_162-57522740/new-technology-may
-bring-sight-back-to-blind/
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