There is a way of making it affordable - Allow advertising on the navigation
device. Of course, I would like there to be an option to opt out of
adverts.
Barry
Hi Ray, I want to take up your last point on the blinkeys waving a fob like
device and a speaker on a lamp post making an announcement.
When I first read about GPS devices and their potential use for the blind in
2002, the article spoke of a future where the GPS network would be linked to
a series of ground based stations which would not only provide better
accuracy but also navigation assistance inside buildings. As part of this
system all shops would have a chip which would broadcast not only the name
of the shop but also provide information on any special deals.
All this information would be provided to the user through their own GPS
system, or perhaps navigation system would be a better name since the device
I am thinking of would incorporate more than just GPS. Of course the
potential is limitless, information such as location of counter, whether
there is a lift or an escalator, names of staff etc could also be provided.
I agree with you that the speaker on a poll sounds utterly nonsensical and a
recipe to annoy the general public on whom we all depend.
Of course as always the big drawback is price. This sort of system is not
going to be one that the general market will want and given the upcoming
changes to incapacity benefit which will probably lead to VIPs getting less
money, this sort of device will go further out of peoples financial ranges.
Yusuf
----- Original Message ----- From: "Ray's Home" <rays-home@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Wednesday, August 02, 2006 9:07 AM
Subject: [access-uk] Re: TALKING PICTURES (and In Touch 1st August) and
everything
TALKING PICTURESSome interesting thoughts indeed re. incorporating the KNFB software on a mobile phone platform, though we''ll have to waite a few years for that.
I was expecting from yesterday's post we'd hear something last night about
KNFB but we didn't. May well be I got it wrong, and, come to think of it,
I'm not sure Ian actually said it would be featured last night, but is it
coming up next week? That is, BBC confidentiality and all that
permitting.
Still, the woman at the end of the prog talking about her mobile as a replacement for a voice mate type gadget was interesting in itself. The Mobile as genral purpose mobility/notetaking/reading aid?
If I may be allowed to drift a little here - as I do so often - navigation
and orientation to places of interest would seem to be the way to go.
Here
in Birmingham though we have what I regard as a naff experiment, and a
waiste of a good deal of money too - on an experiment of mounting speakers
on poles or lampposts and a blinky waving a fob-like device about for the
speaker to announce the presence of a shopping centre or whatever. Is
this
the way forward? (Not to be confused with the guide dog command of the
same
name.)
Quite how professional and highly paid people get to indulge these whims
is
quite beyond me. When a friend pointed out that the speaking of info
should
be attached to the person, not the environment, he was roundly ignored for
his comment. The professional way seems to be to deaf out the blind and
do
what ever daft, or maybe even sensible, thing enters your mind.
From Ray I can be contacted off-list at: mailto:ray-48@xxxxxxxx
-----Original Message----- From: access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:access-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of Ian Macrae
Just had a look at the KNFB portable reader and it's very impressive.
However, a sighted colleague has raised an interesting point. If we have
phones which can talk and which have cameras on them, how long will it be
and what would it take before they can do the same thing at a much smaller
cost? Any thoughts?
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