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Seeing-Eye Computer Guides Blind
sushant_bhatia writes "Wired News has a story about seeing-eye computer guides for the blind. This is an interesting piece on efforts at Arizona State University and Wright State University to provide features for individuals who are blind. A very interesting project is called the iCare Reader, which allows any individual who is blind to read a normal library book through this product, which 'uses optical character-recognition software along with other software that compensates for different lighting conditions and orientations of the text.' Further details on this can be found at The Center for Cognitive Ubiquitous Computing (Cubic)."
Maybe now we can stop paying for braille buttons at drive-through ATM's.
;-)
...
i read seeing-eye computer GOES blind...it would have been a much better article
This is a great idea, but I can see issues arising when this is used in an environment which stipulates 'no photography' or in any circumstance where photography would be discouraged. People trust dogs to be unable to reproduce images or sounds they've experienced after the fact, I doubt that a machine would ever be granted this same trust.
Security through promiscuity is no better than security through obscurity.
which allows any individual who is blind to read a normal library book through this product,
This is wrong for two reasons. First, this only helps blind people who can hear. Yes, that's most of them, but not 'any' individual.
Second, you are wrong that this allows a blind person to read a book. This allows a book to be read to a blind person. These are two different situations. Some Braille advocacy groups have participated in and helped publish studies showing that books on tape are processed differently that literature that is read. Those who read have better comprehension and retention of both the text, and provide better analysis of the subtext.
Being read to is not a substitute for being able to read. Teach a man to fish and all of that. Nifty technology, but the submitter and author of the linked article present it as something it isn't.
Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. -John Lennon
That explains why my dog has been moping around all day. His dreams have been crushed.
Seeing eye for Computer Gaming blind people.
now you think being paid to do playtesting is fun: this would rock!
you'd play games for blind people
How many fingers am I holding up?
1001
If that dohickey can describe the contents of a playboy to a blind man in sufficient detail to give him a high quality woody then I say it's nobel prize time. Why? It's no big deal for a blind man to find someone to read literature to him. However, it is considerably more difficult for a blind man to find someone willing to describe naked women to him while he jerks his gerkin. Do you have any idea what kind of overtime the average aide would charge for that level of service?
Seeing eye computer goes blind, indeed.
Instead of having a seeing eye computer, I'd rather have a queer-eye computer that could tell me whether or not my clothes match in the morning.
Hear recorded Slashdot headlines on your phone! New service beta testing. Just call (248) 434-5508
This is totally OT but when I was a freshman I had a blind neighbor in the dorm who subscribed to a braille version of Playboy. It came in a cardboard box because it took four bound paper volumes for each edition - each one was at least an inch thick. Of course, we made all the obvious jokes about the pictures being in braille.
I am curious to know if there are any systems in development to let blind people regain their vision through the use of computers/computer implants.
Now combine this with a Norelco optical mouse, and I think you've got a wiener.
I meant winner.
Found this when I Googled for vision replacement systems. See if that helps.
No Longer a Menace to Society.
Alexandria Morrigan born 2/22/01 l. 20.5in wt. 7 lbs. 5 oz.
At least Goldie the Guide Dog would't end up leading someone under a juggernaut due to an error in unpatched software..
I am Graeme Devine!
I am most definitely whack!
And I would have to say:
You are on teh sp0ke!
I developed the software at Guildhall.
Please excuse my appearance. I try to look a bit, well, strange because I get taken more seriously at Linux / FOSS conferences if I do (Ive noticed FOSS people tend to take a negative attitude towards "normal" people).
Honestly though, open source is a bit overrated. Its advocated by a lot of academics who have little experience in industry, but those of us in the "real world" realise that quite often the commercial alternatives are superior.
Peace to all of you.
Did anyone else misread the headline as saying that the ``seeing eye computer guides'' were blind?
I support the Center for Consumer Freedom
Namely that of porn and disturbing images - mind you, would want a seeing eye device describing just what the goatse guy is/was doing to his ass? And don't even get me started on a S.E. device trying to wrap its head round pain.jpg
*ahem*
As a Blind Harvard Teaching Fellow (BTF).....
I work for a Major ISP in tech support, and I've heard some of these things actually work over the phone, and I'm all for technology that enriches peoples lives, however, listening to some of these calls, I've noticed that for instance,
1. These programs read absolutely everything on a screen thats displayed.
2. The people using them usually have the speed/pitch turned up to max to get through the nonsense, and therefore the computer sounds like its got the Smurfs (tm) trapped inside.
Has the technology gotten better than this or is it still as annoying to hear? I'd hate to be a library listening to that in the background...
...nothing replaces man's best friend, especially when he's knowingly helping a man see.
I must say I actualy only been in the computerfield cause I think its fun geek stuff..
But..
When getting real about all this, this is the best news I ever heard. This is precisely what computers should be used for. And it happens cause you and me are so stupid that we buy those silly computer and webcams we do not need, for alot more money then they worth. If you and me wouldnt be so dumb, they wouldnt become mainstream, and if they didnt this stuff wouldnt be invented.
This is the greatest computer use I heard for a long time. I realy hope it works well.
About 10 years ago I though about a device that allows deaf people to "see" sound by looking at a spectragraph of sound waves. Researchers have learned how to read spoken words by studying spectragraphs, so I figure deaf people could also be trained. Now such software could probably be put on an off-the-shelf pocket computer instead of a custom device.
Table-ized A.I.
This reminds me of a project in Norway. In relation to the upcoming UMTS rollout here, Telenor - the largest Norwegian telco - is introducing something they call Mobile Eye Phone. It's basically just a camera, microphone and earplugs connected via UMTS to a remote guide. He gets a live video feed and can assist the blind person in navigating in new places. I've seen this on TV tested with a blind person taking his 6 year old daugther on a trip out of the country and it seemed to work really well. Given that the person only need to place a call when he need help navigating.
A combination of the two technology would create a fallback when this new technology fail. And it will fail, just look at OCR.
Look a monkey!
Related experimental technology for the blind is also available for free elsewhere ("The vOICe"): Mobile OCR for the blind includes speech recognition and speech synthesis support. Currently the proof-of-concept demonstrator uses the GOCR OCR engine, but other (object?) recognition engines can be easily added. Stereo vision for the blind
anyone else see the cyclops computer headline?
-ashot
.. well, still working on, in my 'copious free time'.
My blind friend uses a barcode reader to scan cans and bottles in his cupboards. At the moment, the script looks up the product description from a textfile provided by the local supermarket, but we've found things like "WAT TM SSE" to be less-than-ideal. (it runs under linux, scanner plugs into keyboard plug, script runs on console, greps for barcode and reads the 'description' via festival.)
The next version, his wife will be able to scan the groceries and record a proper description, cooking instructions, etc, as short mp3 files while she unpacks the weekly shopping.
So, no more cat-food or tomato-sauce incidents when he's looking for a can of spagetti for lunch!
455fe10422ca29c4933f95052b792ab2
I read about a project to develop a portable technology for blind people that turned their environment into a soundscape (via a camera and an earpiece). Not a cheesy avatar-based load of crap with samples, but a real-time sonic rendering of the visual world. To the untrained ear it sounded like a complete noise, but to people who'd been using it for ages, it gives insight into what's going on around them. Another example of the brain's incredible capacity to make sense out of what appears to be complete nonsense.
I read that "Seeing-Eye Computer Goes Blind" and was thinking "sooo...?"
Bah - way to early in the morning for my brain to work.
SIG: TAKE OFF EVERY 'CAPTAIN'!!
I'm sure the owners of the copyright on that material don't *intend* for it to be used in that way!
Did anyone else read the subject line and 'see' what I did? :-D
Redundancy is good; triple redundancy is twice as good! - Me.
See here.
I'm not exactly blind, I learned about this as a student project. Doesn't seem like much at first, but long time blind users claim that they experience vision-like sensations, some of them mention seeing depth.
The technology doesn't allow reading, but is praised by users for the fact that it doesn't filter information - a video image is transformed to sound in a reversible (after training) way.
And yet the idea is as simple as fork and spoon, requiring shorter training time than learning to read.
Once I was on a greyhound bus and I talked to a blind guy who was allergic to dogs, so he didn't have a guide dog, and that was making his trip more difficult than it needed to be just because the layout of the buildings and the terrain surrounding each bus station was unfamiliar and had lots of more-or-less random noise going on.
---
Play Six Pack Man. I
Too early for me, apparently..
My husband is legally blind, doesn't like dogs, and works from home so I help him out whenever he needs to go places. I also read to him in the evenings -- Tom Clancy, Lord of the Rings, and Keyboard Magazine, most recently.
Serious question, though: he's used various software packages to magnify his computer screen. They all work fine in regular windowed mode but none that he's encountered work inside full-screen programs (think SimCity or Rollercoaster Tycoon). Anyone have suggestions on software that would help?
This cannot be described as "Seeing Eye" technology unless it's developed in conjunction with The Seeing Eye Inc.
The blind folks that I talk with HATE this sort of stuff.
I love gadgets. I make gadgets all the time.
But blind people are not helpless without gadgets.
In fact, they are very proud of the fact they can get through the
world with a cane and a dog.
Nobody doubts the good intentions of these gizmo makers.
But these efforts, with their associated sales pitches,
perpetuate the myth that blind folks need help
in order to get through the world.
The truth is, they don't -- thank you very much.
I read this as Seeing Eye Computer Goes Blind!
Why is it unsafe to mix pedestrians and cars in this situation? Wal-Mart mixes them in their parking lot, and cars move a lot faster in a parking lot than waiting in line for the ATM. I'll grant that the blind will have more trouble than a seeing person, but if the drivers are paying attention (a different rant) this isn't more of a problem than anywhere else. Less of a problem than crossing the street for instance because the cars are moving slower.
I regularly use the drive up ATMs as a pedestrian, the windows in my car do not work, and I've seen others do so as well. Not common, but not unheard of. If the bank is closed this may be the only choice. Outside of banks, ATMs don't normally accept deposits.
As for fast food, the only reason they don't accept pedestrians is because the sensors detect metal, and so they do not know you are out there. For short orders it is far cheaper service drive through. 3 people in drive through can handle more orders than 6 people at the counter, at least when I managed fast food, by dollar value. In fact some places have "walk-throughs" inside if they get enough short orders. Its not mixing with cars that is the problem, it is that sensors that detect people are not worth it considering the typical customer.
In response to your second point: the local banks around here have installed headphone jacks for the blind. I don't know how it works, but they put some effort into it. This at the drive through ATMs, so I know they want the blind to use them. Perhaps your local blind club should talk to the bank and get them installed.
I thought it said, "Seeing-Eye Computer Goes Blind"
"Teleporting Rodents with D-Cell Battery Displacement" theory -- IgnoramusMaximus (692000)
If it does, and it crashed while the blind person is crossing the street, it could bring a whole new meaning to "blue screen of death".
I Am My Own Worst Enemy
Now, if someone is the first to OCR a book with this system, and forgetting about all the copyright violation crap, wouldn't it make sense to make the OCR'd digital version available somehow?
It seems ridiculous to me that copyright laws should prevent someone -- especially if they are Visually Impaired -- from having access to a book someone already has digitized once. Will they be forced to set it up for scanning, turn the pages, spend more energy (human and machine) re-doing something that could be close to instantaneous if it means just downloading a file?
Maybe some sort of authentication that only allows access to the file if you prove to the machine you are holding the physical book.
So instead of turning the pages they could just hold the book, which would have, for example, an RFID tag.
BTW, how can a VIP find a specific page in a printed book without counting pages? Can you imagine this for large books? With a pre-scanned complete file in, it would be easy to instruct the reader software to go there.
Moreover companies like Amazon could lease this content to pay for the technology while they use it. Or Project Gutenberg could use it to add to their public books.
/* TAANSTAFL */
Bah! Who needs seeing-eye dogs, anyway? Another thing to put on the obsolete list. Living creatures are way overrated. I prefer the cold sterility of machinery, myself.
"You have 5 moderator points."
It seems a shame to use 4 of them on -1 Redundant but I could have done with at least another 2.
I do try to mod up, not down, but sometimes....
-6Yankee, posting as AC to avoid cancelling out my "reign of terror"...
Ensure own website is accessible to blind people before writing out websites that aren't accessible to the blind.
I have come up with an amazing use for it, too. Amazing! Heh heh, just realized I was saying that. Anyway, get that and a normal ebook reader, and put them together. It would be tricky to do but with a guide to braille characters handy (heh heh again) you would have a neat system for learning braille (for the sighted, obviously.) It would be even better to get the two to communicate, but just having them in the same physical location would be enough. It won't help anyone who really needs help, but I'd love to learn to read braille and assuming they make money when they sell them, I can't see any reason I shouldn't get one besides being broke :)
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
"Does anybody really read Playboy for the articles?
The articles may not be the first part of the magazine most readers turn to, but judging from the letters we get, millions of Playboy readers also enjoy our award-winning journalism, humor and fiction. The only people who can rightfully claim to read it solely for the articles are the thousands of blind readers who peruse our Braille edition, which has been distributed by the Library of Congress since 1970. "
http://www.playboy.com/worldofplayboy/faq/wha t.html