VisuallyImpaired
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Instagram adds new photo descriptions for visually impaired users
Instagram announced today a plan to make its platform more accessible for visually impaired users. The company is introducing alternative text for photos that provide a description of a given image. Those descriptions can be read by screen readers so visually impaired readers can hear about the photos in their feed.
How a blind 'Call of Duty' player is racking up thousands of kills
Some folks love video games so much, they find ways to play despite prohibitive disabilities. One such gamer took to Reddit last week to boast about scoring more than 7,500 lifetime kills in the first-person shooter Call of Duty: WWII -- entirely without eyesight. He goes by the handle 'tj_the_blind_gamer' and uploads gameplay to his YouTube channel, which he created after discovering there weren't any other sightless Call of Duty streamers. He plays for his own enjoyment -- but streams it to show the world that blind gamers are out there, racking up kills.
Google's Lookout will help the blind navigate their environment
Google has announced one of its upcoming apps called Lookout as part of the annual I/O conference, and it has nothing to do with the mobile security application of the same name. The tech giant's Lookout was designed to help the blind and the visually impaired be more independent by giving them spoken notifications about their environment. For instance, it can tell them that there's a "chair 3 o'clock," so they don't bump into the object to their right. The app can also read texts, such as Exit signs over doors.
Ford’s smart windows can help blind passengers take in the view
Ford has created a device that could help visually impaired travelers get a sense of what the scenery around them looks like. It's called "Feel the View" and it turns a window into a vibrating depiction of what's outside. First, with the push of a button, the device snaps a picture of the window's view. It then turns that picture into a grayscale image and each shade of gray corresponds to a vibration of different intensity. Feel the View can generate up to 255 different levels of vibrations. The blind or visually impaired rider can then touch the window and feel what the outside looks like.
Pinterest made its app more accessible to the visually impaired
Pinterest announced some design changes this week aimed at making its app and website more accessible for the blind and visually impaired. The company partnered with Lighthouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired and collected feedback from individuals with various levels of vision impairment to better understand Pinterest's limitations and what could be improved. Pinterest employees also tried to experience the issues firsthand by wearing visual-impairment goggles or attempting to navigate the app with only a keyboard, Co.Design reports. "We tried to help [ourselves] understand all the different disabilities people might have when they use Pinterest," Long Cheng, the company's lead designer, told Co.Design.
Lyft is making it easier for the visually impaired to take a ride
Lyft is working with assistive community Aira to make catching a ride easier for the visually impaired. That means wearable smart glasses and an augmented reality implement for their driver's dashboard that will deliver "essential ride information," according to a press release. A Medium post from Aira explains things a bit further. "Upon request, Aira agents can now initiate information about the ride, including the location of designated pick-up spots, estimated time of pick-up and the estimated fare," Aira's Brittany Carambio writes. Further information includes the driver's name, vehicle information and walking directions for the last 50 feet to their destination, among other things. This piggybacks onto the work Lyft has done with the National Association for the Deaf, which uses visual cues to alert drivers of new rides, rather than an audible notification. Other details like how these glasses will be distributed, or at what cost, weren't available as of press time.
Microsoft's Seeing AI app for the blind now reads handwriting
Artificial intelligence took center stage at Microsoft's AI Summit in San Francisco on Wednesday. Aside from announcing AI smarts for a range of software -- from Bing to Office 365 -- the tech titan is also ramping up its Seeing AI app for iOS, which uses computer vision to audibly help blind and visually impaired people to see the world around them. According to Microsoft, it's nabbed 100,000 downloads since its launch in the US earlier this year, which convinced the tech titan to bring it to 35 countries in total, including the EU.
Hulu lawsuit centers on lack of audio options for blind users
While captions help deaf and limited hearing viewers enjoy video content, a separate audio track describing actions helps blind watchers understand what's going on. But not all content platforms have the latter feature. A group of blind and visually-impaired clients has sued Hulu for failing to both provide audio-description support for any streaming video in its catalogue and for making its menus incompatible with screen readers.
Facebook Live closed captioning makes videos more accessible
Facebook announced today that it's extending video closed captioning to Live broadcasts. The move is part of the company's attempt to make Facebook more accessible to those with disabilities.
ICYMI: Hyper directional sound guides runners
Today on In Case You Missed It: Malaysian sportswear company Ash Be Nimble has expanded their product line to include the Handbag Dyetonator, a fob-style accessory that will expel ink and smoke onto anyone who walks (or runs, or scoots) away with your bag. The Dyetonator attaches to a purse similar to a keychain and can be deployed via SMS message (so hopefully your phone wasn't in that bag...) to mark a thief for easy identification. It also contains a GPS tracker, should the culprit succeed in getting away with your pocketbook. It's still in early testing phases, and certainly isn't foolproof, but the idea of a dye pack exploding on a thief is a satisfying thought, so hopefully this will eventually make it to market.
Aira uses smart glasses to help blind people navigate the world
Aira is designed to make life a little easier for blind and visually impaired people. Using a pair of smart glasses or a phone camera, the system allows an Aira agent to see what the blind person sees in real-time, and then talk them through whatever situation they're in. Aira promises to make everything from grocery shopping, calling an Uber or world travel more accessible for blind people across the globe.
Toyota's wearable for the blind sees the world through cameras
Scientists are slowly making headway in the treatment of visual impairments, but in the meantime, technology promises to help the blind and partially sighted gain greater independence. Joining the ranks of Microsoft and many others, Toyota has revealed that it, too, is working on a device to give blind folks a better understanding of the world around them. As part of Toyota's "Project BLAID," the company is developing a shoulder-worn wearable with cameras that can detect stairs, doors, restroom signs and other common features of indoor spaces.
Microsoft updates navigation headset for the blind
In 2011, Microsoft UK teamed up with charity Guide Dogs to create 'Cities Unlocked,' an organization that worked to create a headset designed to help the visually impaired. That device came last year, but now it's received some major hardware and software upgrades. Although the original simply used bone conduction to send audio clicks and cues to guide the user around, the latest iteration is less of a practical tool and more of an information-rich service. It uses something called "3D soundscape technology," which is kind of like a GPS that describes everything that's around them, from local cafés to alerts telling them when a bus or train is approaching the stop.
Students design a facial recognition cane for blind people
Facial recognition technology has many use cases, but none nearly as significant as this next one might be. A group of students at Birmingham City University are developing a smart cane, dubbed XploR, which uses a combination of hardware and software to help the visually impaired easily identity family and friends. The device is powered by a smartphone's face recognition features, GPS and Bluetooth, allowing blind people who use it to detect faces up to roughly 33ft away. If the cane does recognize someone, it then sends a vibrating signal to the person and guides them via an ear piece -- for reference, the images of loved ones can be stored on an SD card.
Microsoft's bone-conducting headset guides the blind with audio cues
While nothing can replace the companionship of a guide dog, technology can help make treks through busy cities a lot less stressful and more enjoyable for the visually impaired. Microsoft, for one, is currently testing a new headset (developed with help from UK charity Guide Dogs) that uses 3D soundscape technology to guide its users with audio cues along the way. That bone-conducting headset can't work alone, though: it needs to be connected to a smartphone, as well as to receive information from Bluetooth and WiFi beacons placed in intervals throughout the roads users take. For its pilot program, Microsoft attached makeshift beacons on neighborhood objects in a London suburb, where its first testers are giving it a spin. When company news writer Jennifer Warnick tried it out while blindfolded, she found herself so efficient in getting around with only sounds to guide her, that she felt like a "dry-land dolphin."
San Francisco airport beacons help the blind get around using their phones
San Francisco International is about to make life decidedly easier for blind and visually impaired travelers. The airport has teamed up with Indoo.rs to unveil a Bluetooth beacon system that will help these passengers find their way through Terminal 2 using only their phone. When users walk past one of the 500 transmitters, their devices will announce nearby points of interest; they can find flight gates, ATMs, information desks and power outlets without asking for help. An early version of the necessary app also has a directory for sighted visitors.
Odin Mobile set to launch as first US mobile carrier for the visually impaired
Sure, cellphones for those who have issues with sight aren't new, but Odin Mobile is aiming to be the very first US mobile carrier specifically tailored to improve accessibility for the visually impaired. When it launches in late July, the T-Mobile MVNO will offer Qualcomm's Ray low vision-friendly smartphone for $300 -- which is slated to arrive at Amazon on June 6th -- and more affordable handsets from Emporia. Odin Mobile also plans to send user guides in Word format and HTML via email, and promises that its customer support team will know the ins and outs of the accessibility features in its phones. As if that weren't enough, the firm vows to donate two percent of its revenue from voice and text services to organizations that help the visually impaired. Head past the break for the press release or hit the source link to peruse the company's devices and plans.
Kindle iOS app gets a slew of new features for the blind and visually impaired
The latest upgrade to the iPhone and iPad version of Amazon's Kindle reading app brings a bunch of new features aimed at blind and visually impaired users. At the top of the list is the ability to read aloud 1.8 million Kindle Store titles, with help from Apple's VoiceOver technology. The update also brings better library and book navigation and search, as well as features like notes, highlights, bookmarks, font size, background color and brightness. Standard Kindle features like X-Ray, End Actions and sharing via Facebook and Twitter are also made more accessible through the update. Amazon's promised a similar update for non-iOS versions of the app at some point in the future -- in the meantime, a full list of new features can be found in a press release after the break.
Amazon bringing Voice Guide and Explore by Touch features to Kindle Fires for vision-impaired users (update)
Amazon's been attuned to the needs of its vision-impaired customers for years, first rolling out text-to-speech technology on its original Kindle e-reader years ago. Today the company revealed plans to add to that feature set in its Kindle Fire and Fire HD (7-inch) tablets with Voice Guide and Explore by Touch technology. Voice Guide's an improvement upon regular text-to-speech tech that reads aloud any action performed by users -- things like announcing app names and book titles when they're selected. Explore by Touch lets folks swipe their fingers across their Fire's display and identifies each onscreen item as their phalanges pass over them. Once aware of what app or piece of content's being touched, a simple tap opens the item. Ready for the new assisted navigation experience right now? Well, all you anxious Fire owners will have to wait, the update doesn't land until early next year. Update: The good folks at Amazon reached out to let us know that the Kindle Fire HD 8.9 already has both Explore by Touch and Voice Guide.
Qualcomm develops eyes-free smartphone for the blind and visually impaired, calls it Ray
Smartphones have made juggling multiple single-purpose gadgets a thing of the past for many, but the blind and visually impaired often use a raft of devices built with eyes-free use in mind. Qualcomm and Project Ray, however, are aiming to consolidate phone calls, text messaging with voice read-out, navigation, object recognition, audio book reading and more for the visually impaired in a system built on an off-the-shelf Android phone. To navigate the smartphone, users leverage a handful of simple finger movements that can be started at any point on the handset's touch screen. Voice prompts and vibration provide feedback to users, and the UI adapts to usage patterns and preferences. Currently, Ray devices have access to Israel's Central Library for the Blind and are being tested by 100 folks in the country. For the full lowdown, head past the break for the press release.
