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Tuesday May 19, 2009
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Luxury puts up a good fight, but necessity is still the true mother of invention. Innovations in assistive technology, such as Bluetooth hearing aids and Braille-input PDAs, are helping the physically and mentally disabled and impaired keep pace with our increasingly tech-dependent world--at least, for those who can afford them! Here's a look at some of the latest tech products for people with visual disabilities.
GW Micro makes a portable notetaker called the Braille Sense Plus, pictured above, that lets users input text using a Perkins keyboard--six keys that correspond to the six Braille dots, plus Space, Backspace, and Line Space keys. The device can then output messages via synthesized speech or its 32-cell Braille pad; the dots move up and down to produce scrolling lines of text.
With these features, even those with total blindness have access to email, MSN Messenger, word processing (with formatting), an address manager, a media player, and more. The 2-pound device goes for $5,995 (street). The Voice Sense, a smaller PDA without the Braille pad, weighs just over half a pound and costs $2,395.
More after the jump.
A San Francisco company called Talking Signs
has pioneered a Remote Infrared Audible Signage system (RIAS) that does
what the company name implies: Permanently installed transmitters
produce infrared signals that essentially broadcast a looping audio
message describing location/sign information. With a handheld infrared
receiver, a user can navigate public places by listening to the
audible indicators such as "information and security desk," or "stairs
up to second floor." For now, though, the system is installed
extensively only in the San Francisco Bay Area, with scattered test projects
throughout the rest of the world.
Magnifiers like the Quicklook Focus Portable Video Magnifier
(above) are helping those with low vision read menus, labels, books,
and more. A step up from the simple optical magnifying glass, this
video magnifier has a bright 4.3-inch LCD screen that displays nine
levels of magnification (from 3X to 18X). With near-distance focus,
variable magnification, and three display options--color, black-and-white, and reverse-image--the device makes reading minuscule fonts
easier on the eyes than a traditional fixed-magnification lens. The
Quicklook Focus sells for $1,095 (street).
There are also dozens of computer screen readers
available to the visually impaired, each essentially designed to
translate whatever is on the display into either synthesized speech or
Braille. The user can then manipulate what is on the screen with his or
her voice. Freedom Scientifics' JAWS software
(an acronym for Job Access With Speech), one of the most popular
screen-reading programs, reads aloud programs such as Microsoft Office,
Internet Explorer, Adobe Acrobat Reader, and more. The professional
version lists at $1,095, while the standard version lists at $895. GW
Micro also makes a reader called Window-Eyes.
Visit Abledata or ATIA for more of the latest in assistive technology.
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