low-vision
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Google’s new keyboard helps Android users type in braille
Today, Google is rolling out a new keyboard that will let blind and low-vision users type in braille without any additional hardware and in any app. The TalkBack braille keyboard is integrated directly into Android, so it should work whether you’re posting on social media, responding to a text or writing an email. Google says the keyboard will be familiar to anyone who has typed using braille before.
Alexa’s Show and Tell feature IDs objects for blind and low-vision users
For people with vision impairments, figuring out what's in a can or jar of food without opening it can be difficult or impossible. Amazon thinks it has a solution to that and other daily challenges that its blind and low-vision users face. Today, the company unveiled a new Show and Tell feature that allows users to hold an item in front of an Echo Show and ask "Alexa, what am I holding?" Using computer vision and machine learning for object recognition, the Alexa-powered device will respond with its best guess.
knfbREADER Mobile uses Nokia N82 as text-to-speech device
The K-NFB, a joint venture between Kurzweil Technologies and the National Federation of the Blind, introduced knfbREADER this week, a text-to-speech program for the N82. Coupling Kurzweil's image processing with the N82's camera, a user only has to snap a pic of the document to be read and the software will speak it back and allow you to follow along on the handset's screen as it highlights each word read. The device is able to read just about all printed materials, from newspapers to glossy printed material and even US currency. Compared to earlier products -- dating way back to giant contraptions in the early 80's -- this tiny package will be a boon for the visually impaired, as there's now no need to drag something around that's the size of a photocopier. We're hoping that we see this offering expand to other sets with capable cameras, and that the pricing gives all a warm fuzzy feeling.[Via Yahoo News]
