DailyDirt: Tools For The Blind

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

Visually impaired folks have access to more technology than ever before. Despite various setbacks that prevent some ingenious innovations, plenty of developers are still working on hardware and software tools to help out people with disabilities. Here are just a few examples of some interesting projects for the blind.

• An iPhone app called VizWiz helps blind users by letting them take a picture of something that is confusing -- and then crowdsourcing a helpful description to make things clear. This app uses Amazon's Mechanical Turk service to obtain helpful people, and the average turnaround time for a description is 27 seconds. [url]
• The Poet image description tool is open source software that helps to crowdsource image descriptions for digital books. This tool is aimed at textbook illustrations that aren't too helpful for people who can't see them. [url]
• The Tacit project is developing a hand-held sonar device with haptic feedback -- a technological take on the white cane. It's still just a prototype device, but so far, users seem to be able to use it fairly quickly without much training. [url]
• Haptic shoes could help people navigate by vibrating different parts of the shoe to tell the wearer if there are obstacles ahead. These shoes, like the Tacit project's handheld, are based on open Arduino hardware -- allowing other developers to contribute improvements and build upon existing tools. [url]

If you'd like to read more awesome and interesting stuff, check out this unrelated (but not entirely random!) Techdirt post.

Filed Under: arduino, blind, crowdsourced, haptics, hardware, innovations, mechanical turk, software, sonar, tacit project, tools, visually impaired, vizwiz
Companies: amazon

DailyDirt: Artificial And Augmented Senses

from the urls-we-dig-up dept

A few years ago, Oscar Pistorius was denied participation in the Olympics because his prosthetic carbon-fiber legs were deemed an unfair advantage. As technology improves, it's possible to design artificial body parts that could be superior to the natural ones. So it may only be a matter of time before everyone is wearing gear that improves their natural abilities. Here are just a few examples of projects that could develop better senses.

• A handheld sonar device could help the blind navigate better than a simple cane. This open source prototype only costs about $65 to construct (not including your labor). [url]
• Soldiers could find their way around unfamiliar territory with GPS directions transmitted through a haptic belt. Users don't need to look at a GPS screen or hold anything else in their hands. [url]
• If you've been to a few too many loud concerts, more advanced hearing aids could be useful for you someday. As signal processing hardware gets smaller and cheaper, hearing aids are bound to improve a bit -- but the ear-brain interface is a tricky loop to insert technology into. [url]
• To discover more interesting tech-related content, check out what's currently floating around the StumbleUpon universe. [url]  

By the way, StumbleUpon can recommend some good Techdirt articles, too.

Filed Under: blind, hearing aids, oscar pistorius, sonar, ui, visually impaired