Product and Technology

A perfect home for visually impaired people

The apartment seems like any other model home at first. Then you hear the microwave and the bathroom scale talk.The new apartment, built inside the American Foundation for the Blind, Dallas, (U.S.), offices is filled with gadgets and design features to help visually impaired people live as independently as possible.

The model home includes a living room, dining area, kitchen, bedroom, closet and bathroom. It offers ideas on how to make daily life more manageable for visually impaired people.

Robotiker-Tecnalia wins the O.N.C.E. International R&D Award

The award winning project aims to develop a system that enables blind and visually impaired persons to read by means of a mobile device. The device reads out various information displays for everyday use such as microwave, advertising or transport information.

The panel of experts, on judging the ‘ONCE International R&D Award’, underlined that the project aimed to meet an important need for visually impaired persons, namely, easy access to information. Experts felt that the novel device can become a highly useful tool in daily life.

Stay connected with Audio Journal

The Audio Journal is a radio reading service based at Central Massachusetts (U.S.) that reads out printed information to blind, visually impaired or print-disabled people.

With 150 volunteers, Audio Journal broadcasts 24 hours a day, seven days a week. They read out wide range of publications such as The Boston Globe, The Boston Herald, U.S.A. Today, The Christian Science Monitor, The New York Times, Wall Street Journal etc. Job opportunities, T.V. listings and obituaries are read as well.

U.S. dollars to become accessible

All U.S. dollar banknotes currently printed by its government, from US1 (approximately Rupees 45) bill up to a US100 note, are exactly the same size and colour.

The American Council of the Blind, which brought a lawsuit against the government, said this makes it impossible for blind Americans to identify the currency notes.

New software in Braille

Parmeet Singh, a student of class 12th, appeared for his music examination with a self created programme called ‘Braille notation’. This programme allows the user to create and attach musical notes in one’s own voice. Currently, Parmeet is working on improving his software.

Satvir, a class tenth student, successfully developed his own software for the C.B.S.E. exam. He was able to appear for the Hindi subject with this software.

Smart card authentication device for visually impaired

In the era of online and telephone banking, there is a growing need for banks to remotely authenticate all customers during non face-to-face transactions and that includes the visually impaired customers.

Now, here is a device, ‘X.i.-Sign 4500’ that acts as personal authentication and signing tool based on the E.M.V. standard smart card designed specifically to meet the needs of the visually impaired banking users.

New software helps blind use computers

I.Accessible.2 is a programming interface (A.P.I.) that Web browsers and document programs can use to communicate with programmes that convert text to speech.

The A.P.I. is designed to help the assistive technologies work even with complex websites that have been designed with state-of-the-art tools like Ajax, which enables bursts of information. These can cause errors in automated screen readers such as Jaws and Windows Eyes.

Key notes to help blind people

Japanese firm unveils a miniature portable keyboard that helps blind people take notes by listening to the sounds of the characters they punch in.

The battery-operated keyboard weighs 500 grams, or just over one pound. The device includes an M.P.3. player that keeps the data on memory so it can be transferred to a computer.

Created by three researchers at the ‘Yazaki’ electronics’ company, the keyboard differs from other devices as it does not rely on Braille script and can be used without being attached to a computer.

Cell phone technology to aid visually impaired people

The International Institute of Information Technology-Bangalore (I.I.I.T.-B) and Chennai-based companies, Lattice Bridge Info and Spatial Data (Spinfo), are jointly developing cellphone-based technology to help visually impaired people and tourists find their way in a particular location.

Call a designated number and ask a question like 'Where am I?' or 'Where is the nearest A.T.M.?' and disconnect. In a few seconds, you will get a call with an automated voice informing you where you are exactly and where you can find the nearest A.T.M.

Electronic light-sensitive chip may restore vision in some blind patients

Eberhart Zrenner, executive director of the Eye Hospital at the University of Tübingen, announced at a recent press conference the findings of the test, the first of its kind.

The researchers conducted surgery on seven blind patients between 26 to 58 years of age, and implanted a three-millimetre-square chip behind the retina of one eye in each of them. They found that the chip had restored limited vision to three of the patients.