[access-uk] Re: 5 Apps: The best camera apps for blind and visually impaired iPhone users | TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog
- From: "Mark Threadgold" <m.j.threadgold@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 6 Jan 2013 07:51:59 -0000
Gordon, the money reader app works a treat and is just what I have been
looking for, as I'm hoping to get to Australia early this year.
Thanks for that,
Mark Threadgold
Of all the things I have ever lost, the one I miss most is my mind...
-----Original Message-----
From: access-uk-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:access-uk-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
On Behalf Of Gordon Keen
Sent: 05 January 2013 14:32
To: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [access-uk] 5 Apps: The best camera apps for blind and visually
impaired iPhone users | TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog
It's a snappy article!
http://www.tuaw.com/2013/01/04/5-apps-the-best-camera-apps-for-blind-and-vis
ually-impaired-iph/
5 Apps: The best camera apps for blind and visually impaired iPhone users
After yesterday's post showing Tommy Edison's video demo of Instagram from a
blind user's perspective, we thought it would be helpful to check with an
expert and get some suggestions on other camera-centric apps for blind
iPhone users. Today's 5 Apps guest post is from Chancey Fleet, an adaptive
technology instructor at Jewish Guild Healthcare. -- Ed.
With the right apps, the iPhone's camera solves a slew of problems that
blind people have traditionally relied on bulky, single-use devices to
handle.
For the vexatious wad of unidentified cash in a pocket, purse or wallet,
there's LookTel MoneyReader. This US$9.99 app uses object-recognition
technology and the iPhone's bright LED flash to recognize currency almost
instantaneously, even in low light or in a moving car. MoneyReader is savvy
enough to recognize several different countries' bills, including the US
Dollar, Euro, British Pound, Canadian Dollar and Australian Dollar.
Object recognition is also at the core of OMoby, which is designed as a
visual search engine for products. This app excels at identifying tiny,
identical-feeling toiletries; sugar packets; and, if you get your hand in
the frame, "hand." OMoby is a free app, serving as a technology demo for the
IQ Engines "visual intelligence" search API for developers.
Any blind person will tell you that rumors about the death of hard-copy
print are exaggerated: from restaurant checks to office memos, there's still
plenty. Blindsight's TextDetective captures document images and turns them
into plain text, which can be read with Voiceover using speech output or
Braille. The process takes only seconds and provides great results if you
have a clearly printed document, good lighting conditions and a steady hand.
(The first "reading machine," created in 1976 by legendary inventor and new
Google staffer Ray Kurzweil, cost $50,000 and weighed 350 pounds.
TextDetective costs $9.99. iPhone not included.)
Although several apps are purported to identify colors, they do a mediocre
job compared to standalone devices like the ColorTest, which occlude all
light around the object being tested, report patterns by playing fluctuating
tones and recognize hundreds of shades.
Trying to sort laundry? Digit-Eyes updates the classic strategy of labeling
clothes. Traditionalists do this with anything from safety pins to metal
Braille tags: Nancy Miracle, Digit-Eyes's designer, suggests you do it with
washable bar codes, which cue the Digit-Eyes app to play back an audio
recording or text note you've made that corresponds to the specific code for
each item.
The $19.99 Digit-Eyes app also looks up commercial bar code information,
complete with package directions and nutrition facts; it also allows a user
to print QR codes with embedded text. For blind workers who need a serious
tool for fast and accurate inventory management, Ms. Miracle has helpfully
reviewed two Bluetooth laser scanners from Serial-IO that read bar codes
more quickly and in more diverse lighting conditions than does the iPhone
camera. [We reviewed Digit-Eyes on TUAW in 2010. -Ed.]
No matter how much technology you have, it's a fact of life: sometimes, you
just need to borrow a pair of functioning eyeballs. VizWiz can help with
that. Simply take a photo, type or speak a question, and a web volunteer
will get back to you -- usually within minutes -- with an answer. You can
also opt to post your picture and question to Facebook, if you dare.
You can read more about Chancey and her experience of navigating New York
City in this feature story on WNYC.
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