Eyes Wide Shut try to buy a train ticket in a machine with touch screen. Or make a payment without a key terminal: that solution, and give your secret code to the employee? These are just two of the traps that technological advances preached to people with visual impairment. The solution will integrate the new tools for equipment such as screen readers or personal assistants. In early April, Facebook announced the introduction of Auto Alternative Text, a feature that will allow blind people to hear an automatic description of the photos shared on that social network. . Still no release date set, it will rise in stages in different countries
“It is in writing that feels more than the touch is a barrier,” said Fernando Santos, computer technician ACAPO – Association of the Blind and Partially Sighted of Portugal. Using a virtual keyboard can be a load of work. The characters are not direct, there is a “delay” until the pressed letter appears on the screen and the voice synthesizer takes to act. All functions that hamper the task of writing. Accustomed to test the most innovative applications, Fernando Santos believes that “in the near future will not be possible to develop apps that replace the cane, much the fault of a GPS system problem that purpose, has a margin of error in their 10 20 meters. Even though the margin was smaller, does not help to pass between a car and a wall. “
John Barroso dreams precisely in achieving making canes increasingly sensitive and essential. Six years ago the computer teacher at the University of Tras-os-Montes and Alto Douro leads a research team that develops several projects for the blind. They created an electronic cane to CE4Blind, together with the University of Texas, USA, the first version began by reading the labels (tags) placed either on the street or inside buildings, with directions to get to a lift, example. “The blind can then press the joystick incorporated in the stick handle and get more information from these points of interest,” explains the researcher. Although prototype, the canes made of a light fiber and the electronics incorporated in the tube vibrate before listening to information in a headset. A year ago, they began to upgrade the equipment, incorporating more sensors that recognize the individual steps and guide you as a GPS. This new version of the electronic cane or eliminate the use of mobile phone simultaneously, leaving a free hand.
Since Filipe Almeida e Silva has the dream of “creating an invisible giant network” that reaches at least 65 million Europeans blind, among which there are 160,000 Portuguese. After hearing the explanation of how the My Eyes, everything seems possible. The innovation of this app relates to the combination of three technologies (geofencing, beacons and text to speech) grouped in a single application, which will make it possible to reach the historic center, a hospital or a shopping mall and listening as if a phone call they were so varied information as if there is a hole on the road, if the X-ray is down the hall or if the requested store is around the corner. “These applications mark a new stage, helping blind people in their daily lives, helping them to overcome the inability to have,” says the researcher ISCTE. A My Eyes already mapped Fatima, with the Via Sacra to detail (thinking about the coming of Francisco Pope in May 2017), Vilamoura Marina, Cascais, Sintra, Coimbra, Batalha, Tomar, the Campera Outlet in Born, and University Stadium of Lisbon.
Other real “pioneering work” is being done by Tiago Guerreiro and Hugo Nicholas, the free available the models of two tools that facilitate written in braille alphabet on smartphones. The two teachers met each other eight years ago while doing a PhD in Computer Engineering at Instituto Superior Técnico. Since then, investigate new technologies in the field of accessibility. With the evolution of technology and the keys of the increasingly obsolete mobile phones, the design of this pair has become a necessity to apply the touch screens. On the site braille21.com can be downloaded (for Android) the OpenBraille, ideal for more private matters because instead of auditory feedback allows you to receive notifications in braille.
The dexterity with which Rodrigo Santos unlocks the smartphone to “see” you have missed calls, sms reply or new emails, leaves any person open-mouthed. The finger slides so quickly that leaves not hear what VoiceOver, available from the first minute on Apple devices, has to say. “If it were not for Steve Jobs to implement accessibility in native iPhone, today many mobile phone manufacturers have not even thought about accessibility features, even if basic. Microsoft, Windows Phone, still did not think, and Google will have only thought about it for Android because his direct competitor was gaining ground with that market share, “says the lawyer and chairman of the Audit Committee and Jurisdiction ACAPO. Blind from birth, Rodrigo Santos, 38, walks always accompanied by Babel, a guide dog labrador, but no longer require the use of numerous apps, today, can help a blind man. “Technology opens in a sea of possibilities, with its processing power, interaction and debit information in multiple formats, but can also function as a barrier if the applications are not well designed. Call them “button 1″ or “2″ button do not serve anything “
Taxi-Link -. To order a taxi, with the advantage of indicating how much time for the car to arrive.
Available for Android and iOS. Free
Lisbon Move Me / Harbour Move Me – Search at stops of public transport operators how long before it reaches the next vehicle. In the case of Carris in Lisbon, the information is given in real time, which does not happen with the Metro. Available for Android and iOS. Free
Moovit – Help to ride public transportation, tracing a route from point A to point B, where warning to leave. Available for Android, iOS and Windows Phone. Free
Ariadne GPS – This specifies the street name and, in many cases, the port number. Lets explore in detail what’s around as monuments or universities, just grope the screen.
Available for iOS. Price: € 5.99
AudioLabels – Attach a voice tag to a photographed barcode or a QR Code, identifying with the audio supermarket products, for example. Available for iOS. Price: € 9.99
Be My Eyes – It uses the smartphone’s camera, an internet connection and a group of volunteers with vision. Through a telephone call with video, the volunteers describe the blind what they see. Good to know the expiration date of a product or the best way to go on the street. A community of about eight thousand blind to one hundred thousand volunteers. Available for iOS. Free
Blind Tool – Software uses the camera of smartphones to identify and describe objects.
Available for Android. Free
Talking Goggles – They are a kind of “talking glasses” that convert the phone’s camera in optical recognizer characters, turning, for example, the legends of television audible text . – Available for iOS. Free
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