[tabi] Re: [VICUG-L] Information about LookTelFW:
- From: "Allison and Chip Orange" <acorange@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <tabi@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 25 Apr 2010 16:48:17 -0400
sounds interesting, but you have to have a working cell connection for it to
work. so, inside a building (say a mall or a Wal-mart), and it won't work,
which is often where you'd want it.
Chip
_____
From: tabi-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:tabi-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf
Of Lynn Evans
Sent: Sunday, April 25, 2010 3:50 PM
To: tabi@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [tabi] [VICUG-L] Information about LookTelFW:
FYI
From: thisismichael@xxxxxxx [mailto:thisismichael@xxxxxxx]
Sent: Sunday, April 25, 2010 11:02 AM
To: Cathy McAdam
Subject:
My bus buddy who is a fully sighted techie at GM, but very forward thinking
about tech for the disabled, forwarded the following information on what
sounds really interesting to me. Check it out.
Michael
Michael Patten
1758 Manchester Blvd
Grosse Pte Woods, MI 48236-1920
thisismichael@xxxxxxx home
mpatten@xxxxxxxxxxxx work
Mobile App Helps the Visually Impaired 'See'
The ability to recognize everyday objects is something most people take for
granted; for the world's more than
<http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs282/en/> 300 million visually
impaired, however, it can be a struggle. <http://www.looktel.com/> LookTel
is a mobile app designed to help those people "see."
Developed by California-based Ipplex in partnership with LinkMe Mobile,
LookTel combines real-time object recognition technology with optical
character recognition capabilities. Visually impaired users simply point
their app-enabled phone's camera at whatever it is they want to identify,
and it will pronounce the object's name quickly in clear, easy-to-understand
speech. Money, packaged goods, CDs and medication bottles are all likely
candidates, Ipplex notes, but the technology can be taught to recognize a
wide variety of other objects as well by attaching one of the app's
preprinted image tags to them and recording an audible description. LookTel
can also help recognize signs and landmarks for personal navigation. Using
photos, video, push-to-talk audio and GPS tracking data sent from the phone,
friends and family can help identify objects or signs, use mapping for
further information, and even provide turn-by-turn directions.
<http://www.looktel.com/demo> A video demonstrates the technology in action.
Developed under sponsorship from the National Institutes of Health, LookTel
also incorporates a text reader for access to print media. The technology
runs on Windows Mobile smartphones, with recognition software running on a
corresponding PC. LookTel was recently awarded first place at the 2010 CTIA
E-Tech Awards for Mobile Applications in the Healthcare category. The
technology is due to launch into beta this spring; pricing has not yet been
announced.
There are myriad technologies out there to help the visually impaired but,
<http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/31/looktels-artificial-vision-makes-windows
-mobile-useful-to-bli/> as Engadget points out, few have yet made it to the
smartphone arena-which, it seems to us, is where much of the real potential
lies to increase independence.
Website: <http://www.looktel.com/> www.looktel.com
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