1 00:00:00,320 --> 00:00:02,880 Speaker 1: Brought to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve camera. 2 00:00:03,200 --> 00:00:08,960 Speaker 1: It's ready. Are you get in touch with technology? With 3 00:00:09,119 --> 00:00:18,200 Speaker 1: tech Stuff from how stuff works dot com. Hello, everybody, 4 00:00:18,200 --> 00:00:20,639 Speaker 1: welcome to tech Stuff. My name is Chris Pollette, and 5 00:00:20,640 --> 00:00:23,080 Speaker 1: I'm an editor here at how stuff works dot Com. 6 00:00:23,079 --> 00:00:25,560 Speaker 1: Sitting across the table from me as usual as senior 7 00:00:25,600 --> 00:00:29,920 Speaker 1: writer Jonathan Strickland. Hey there, Crispy. I don't know where 8 00:00:29,920 --> 00:00:31,480 Speaker 1: you've got that from, but you can put it right back. 9 00:00:31,600 --> 00:00:34,519 Speaker 1: Your first name is Chris, your last name begins with 10 00:00:34,560 --> 00:00:38,599 Speaker 1: a P. CHRISP Crispy, and you shall be known as 11 00:00:38,680 --> 00:00:43,080 Speaker 1: Crispy for evermore amongst all the tech stuff listeners show. 12 00:00:43,240 --> 00:00:49,040 Speaker 1: I degree great. Actually, we're actually going to be a 13 00:00:49,080 --> 00:00:52,880 Speaker 1: little bit more somber than usual, serious stuff to talk 14 00:00:53,360 --> 00:00:58,160 Speaker 1: talk about. Um and um yeah. I mean we've had 15 00:00:58,160 --> 00:01:00,560 Speaker 1: a couple of people right in and ask us about 16 00:01:01,880 --> 00:01:09,280 Speaker 1: technology for people who have you know, yeah, yeah, we're 17 00:01:09,280 --> 00:01:12,760 Speaker 1: talking about a system of technology. Yes, and it's specifically 18 00:01:12,800 --> 00:01:16,759 Speaker 1: technology that assists people who otherwise would find it difficult 19 00:01:16,760 --> 00:01:20,840 Speaker 1: to lead. Uh. Well, I hesitate to say a normal life, 20 00:01:20,880 --> 00:01:22,959 Speaker 1: but what we would normally what we would consider a 21 00:01:23,000 --> 00:01:26,520 Speaker 1: normal life. I suppose basically helps them accomplished tasks that 22 00:01:26,560 --> 00:01:31,120 Speaker 1: they cannot do normally exactly right. So this has a 23 00:01:31,280 --> 00:01:35,000 Speaker 1: very wide range, um, because there are lots of different 24 00:01:35,000 --> 00:01:37,399 Speaker 1: things that you could need assistance with, and there are 25 00:01:37,400 --> 00:01:39,360 Speaker 1: a lot of things that technology can do to help you. 26 00:01:39,520 --> 00:01:42,080 Speaker 1: So um, this is probably really just kind of a 27 00:01:42,120 --> 00:01:46,160 Speaker 1: general overview because there's no way we could cover everything 28 00:01:46,319 --> 00:01:48,840 Speaker 1: in a normal podcast. It would take hours and hours 29 00:01:48,840 --> 00:01:51,240 Speaker 1: to talk about some of the incredible innovations that are 30 00:01:51,280 --> 00:01:53,360 Speaker 1: out there that can help people. And some of them 31 00:01:53,360 --> 00:01:57,080 Speaker 1: are very basic. Some of them aren't necessarily the super 32 00:01:57,160 --> 00:02:02,560 Speaker 1: high tech solution, but they're very clever and they are effective, 33 00:02:02,800 --> 00:02:05,360 Speaker 1: so we should talk about them. Some of them actually 34 00:02:05,440 --> 00:02:09,240 Speaker 1: aren't even brand new. Um. One of the first ones 35 00:02:09,400 --> 00:02:11,840 Speaker 1: I thought of as I started writing down ideas is 36 00:02:11,880 --> 00:02:15,320 Speaker 1: the hearing aid. That's a good example because I mean, 37 00:02:15,360 --> 00:02:18,320 Speaker 1: of course they haven't always been like they are now, 38 00:02:18,400 --> 00:02:21,280 Speaker 1: but uh, you know, the pieces, the earpieces that people 39 00:02:21,280 --> 00:02:25,520 Speaker 1: wear now are almost indistinguishable. I mean, they're very very 40 00:02:25,560 --> 00:02:28,000 Speaker 1: difficult to tell that someone is even wearing a hearing aid, 41 00:02:28,000 --> 00:02:30,720 Speaker 1: and they're very very efficient. But inside that tiny little 42 00:02:30,720 --> 00:02:33,160 Speaker 1: package you've got, you've got to have a number of 43 00:02:33,200 --> 00:02:36,960 Speaker 1: things in there, including a microphone, a speaker, and an 44 00:02:37,000 --> 00:02:41,799 Speaker 1: amplifier and you know, the battery and it and it 45 00:02:42,080 --> 00:02:45,960 Speaker 1: has made people's lives very very easy people who have 46 00:02:46,080 --> 00:02:50,880 Speaker 1: difficulty hearing. Basically UM transferring those sounds to the the 47 00:02:50,960 --> 00:02:54,000 Speaker 1: little hairs in your ear and UM. Through that you 48 00:02:54,040 --> 00:02:57,520 Speaker 1: can you can hear, not completely normally, but that is 49 00:02:57,639 --> 00:02:59,240 Speaker 1: you know, I wasn't even thinking of that as an 50 00:02:59,240 --> 00:03:01,720 Speaker 1: assistant technology, but that's been around for you know, for 51 00:03:01,800 --> 00:03:04,040 Speaker 1: decades now. A similar one that's been around for a 52 00:03:04,080 --> 00:03:07,760 Speaker 1: few decades is the teletypewriter. Oh yeah, So this is 53 00:03:07,800 --> 00:03:10,440 Speaker 1: something that people who have other people who might have, 54 00:03:10,560 --> 00:03:14,200 Speaker 1: you know, a hearing impairment would use, uh in order 55 00:03:14,280 --> 00:03:18,239 Speaker 1: to communicate over phone lines. Now, before we had cell 56 00:03:18,280 --> 00:03:20,960 Speaker 1: phones where you could text like crazy and all that 57 00:03:20,960 --> 00:03:24,240 Speaker 1: that kind of mess if you wanted, if you were 58 00:03:24,320 --> 00:03:26,560 Speaker 1: if you were someone who had a really serious hearing impairment, 59 00:03:26,639 --> 00:03:29,919 Speaker 1: if you were deaf or just had a very poor hearing, um, 60 00:03:29,960 --> 00:03:32,480 Speaker 1: there weren't too many options that you had in order 61 00:03:32,480 --> 00:03:35,240 Speaker 1: to communicate over the phone. One of the few ones 62 00:03:35,360 --> 00:03:40,040 Speaker 1: was the teletypewriter. And the teletypewriter it looks like it 63 00:03:40,080 --> 00:03:43,280 Speaker 1: looks kind of like a typewriter and uh that connects 64 00:03:43,280 --> 00:03:47,520 Speaker 1: to a phone. It actually transmits information over phone lines. Um. 65 00:03:47,960 --> 00:03:50,800 Speaker 1: And in order to really communicate with one, you essentially 66 00:03:50,840 --> 00:03:53,480 Speaker 1: needed to have one on both ends of the line, 67 00:03:54,040 --> 00:03:58,240 Speaker 1: or you needed to have an operator between uh, the 68 00:03:58,360 --> 00:04:01,160 Speaker 1: person who was calling normally and the person who was 69 00:04:01,160 --> 00:04:05,200 Speaker 1: on the teletypewriter, because you couldn't just you know, receive 70 00:04:05,720 --> 00:04:09,600 Speaker 1: voice over the phone line and have the teletypewriter transmit 71 00:04:09,680 --> 00:04:13,120 Speaker 1: that into into text. It didn't work that way right, right, 72 00:04:13,160 --> 00:04:16,599 Speaker 1: And speaking from personal experience, UM, if you receive a 73 00:04:16,640 --> 00:04:20,560 Speaker 1: call from from an operator uh working with someone using 74 00:04:20,600 --> 00:04:24,000 Speaker 1: a teletypewriter, it's it's kind of nerve wracking because you 75 00:04:24,040 --> 00:04:26,240 Speaker 1: want to be respectful to the person on the other end, 76 00:04:26,640 --> 00:04:29,600 Speaker 1: but you may not necessarily necessarily know how that works. 77 00:04:30,080 --> 00:04:33,480 Speaker 1: So it's kind of difficult because they're transcribing everything you're saying, 78 00:04:33,560 --> 00:04:36,160 Speaker 1: and when you basically say, hey, well I have a question, 79 00:04:36,720 --> 00:04:39,480 Speaker 1: they're typing that like no, no, I'm asking you, the operator, 80 00:04:39,760 --> 00:04:41,240 Speaker 1: can you help me with this because I don't know 81 00:04:41,279 --> 00:04:43,240 Speaker 1: what you know, right, And if you get a smart 82 00:04:43,279 --> 00:04:45,400 Speaker 1: test for an operator, they're saying things like they're totally 83 00:04:45,400 --> 00:04:49,000 Speaker 1: saying that you're ugly yeah, I haven't had that problem. Yeah, 84 00:04:49,320 --> 00:04:53,320 Speaker 1: well we can talk about my previous job experience in 85 00:04:53,360 --> 00:04:56,919 Speaker 1: a different podcasts. So yeah, the teletypewriter, that was another 86 00:04:56,960 --> 00:04:59,560 Speaker 1: example of technology that's been around for a while where 87 00:04:59,600 --> 00:05:03,880 Speaker 1: was just a clever use of tech to allow people 88 00:05:04,320 --> 00:05:07,599 Speaker 1: to have more options when they're communicating. I mean, it's 89 00:05:08,480 --> 00:05:12,000 Speaker 1: it's a simple idea, but it was definitely a revolutionary 90 00:05:12,000 --> 00:05:16,599 Speaker 1: thing in the lives of many millions of people. But 91 00:05:16,920 --> 00:05:20,479 Speaker 1: that's just the tip of the iceberg. I was gonna 92 00:05:20,600 --> 00:05:23,040 Speaker 1: site another every night every day when before we got 93 00:05:23,040 --> 00:05:27,719 Speaker 1: into the super duper high tech closed captioning good, which 94 00:05:27,720 --> 00:05:30,479 Speaker 1: actually is is very similar in some ways to the 95 00:05:30,480 --> 00:05:34,600 Speaker 1: teletypewriter in the operator because, um, when you have a 96 00:05:34,600 --> 00:05:39,240 Speaker 1: live show going on, um you have somebody listening to 97 00:05:39,279 --> 00:05:42,120 Speaker 1: what's going on during the show and you know, trying 98 00:05:42,120 --> 00:05:44,839 Speaker 1: to transcribe it as they are speaking, which can be 99 00:05:45,480 --> 00:05:48,479 Speaker 1: I imagine amazingly difficult, especially judging when you see the 100 00:05:48,480 --> 00:05:51,359 Speaker 1: typos that pop up on the screen, and I'm you know, 101 00:05:51,440 --> 00:05:53,599 Speaker 1: I I smirk it those, I admit, but I think 102 00:05:54,320 --> 00:05:55,960 Speaker 1: I wouldn't have done any better. As a matter of fact, 103 00:05:55,960 --> 00:05:58,360 Speaker 1: I probably would have been far far worse. So I 104 00:05:58,640 --> 00:06:03,000 Speaker 1: appreciate their you'll see some interesting homonyms throwing and there 105 00:06:03,000 --> 00:06:05,520 Speaker 1: are things like that. But yeah, you know, these these 106 00:06:05,560 --> 00:06:09,680 Speaker 1: are even when they're using special keyboards that have macros 107 00:06:09,839 --> 00:06:12,800 Speaker 1: or or certain common words already programmed into them, so 108 00:06:12,839 --> 00:06:14,080 Speaker 1: that way all you have to do is hit one 109 00:06:14,160 --> 00:06:17,240 Speaker 1: key stroke too to do an entire word. Even when 110 00:06:17,240 --> 00:06:19,200 Speaker 1: you're doing that, you're still talking about having to type 111 00:06:19,240 --> 00:06:23,360 Speaker 1: an incredible rate. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. But my favorite when 112 00:06:23,400 --> 00:06:25,480 Speaker 1: you have the clothes captioning turned on is when they 113 00:06:25,480 --> 00:06:28,880 Speaker 1: have the shows that have already been captioned, um, and 114 00:06:28,960 --> 00:06:30,919 Speaker 1: there's music and it says music and it has that 115 00:06:30,960 --> 00:06:33,640 Speaker 1: little note because I just thought it's kind of nice 116 00:06:33,920 --> 00:06:36,880 Speaker 1: they bother to include that. M yep, yeah, you get 117 00:06:36,880 --> 00:06:43,200 Speaker 1: the little anyway. Sorry, well, here here's some other we 118 00:06:43,240 --> 00:06:46,560 Speaker 1: can go some other basic technology things like they're very 119 00:06:46,680 --> 00:06:49,320 Speaker 1: various special keyboards that are out for people who have 120 00:06:49,839 --> 00:06:53,240 Speaker 1: other problems, Like there are keyboards that have oversized keys, 121 00:06:53,320 --> 00:06:57,080 Speaker 1: and they're they're maybe extra sensitive, so people who have trouble, 122 00:06:57,480 --> 00:06:59,920 Speaker 1: you know, maybe someone who couldn't push down on an 123 00:07:00,000 --> 00:07:02,799 Speaker 1: normal key the way that that you and I could 124 00:07:03,440 --> 00:07:05,320 Speaker 1: could be able to type without any problem using one 125 00:07:05,360 --> 00:07:07,800 Speaker 1: of these. They're also key keyboards that are especially made 126 00:07:07,800 --> 00:07:10,760 Speaker 1: for people who have only the use of one hand. Um. 127 00:07:11,560 --> 00:07:14,440 Speaker 1: So there are a lot of those on the market 128 00:07:14,440 --> 00:07:17,000 Speaker 1: as well, and I mean they all are designed for 129 00:07:17,320 --> 00:07:22,720 Speaker 1: very specific kinds of of of disabilities in mind. So 130 00:07:23,640 --> 00:07:26,840 Speaker 1: that's also a a pretty common thing that you can 131 00:07:26,880 --> 00:07:30,440 Speaker 1: find out in the world of tech. Yeah. UM. Text 132 00:07:30,640 --> 00:07:34,760 Speaker 1: to speech software also very important. Yeah, because people who 133 00:07:34,760 --> 00:07:38,560 Speaker 1: wouldn't otherwise be able to type. Um. Would you know 134 00:07:39,160 --> 00:07:42,120 Speaker 1: that would be speech to text. Well, that's text to 135 00:07:42,200 --> 00:07:44,360 Speaker 1: speech would be the other way around, that's true, Okay, 136 00:07:44,440 --> 00:07:47,840 Speaker 1: speech to text. Well, we'll go in both directions. Speech 137 00:07:47,840 --> 00:07:51,640 Speaker 1: to text, um would be very useful for someone who 138 00:07:52,000 --> 00:07:54,280 Speaker 1: you know, may not be able to type necessarily, but 139 00:07:54,320 --> 00:07:57,040 Speaker 1: they could speak into a microphone and have the computer 140 00:07:57,080 --> 00:08:02,720 Speaker 1: transcribe and email someone um or um. You know, maybe 141 00:08:02,720 --> 00:08:05,200 Speaker 1: even print out a letter, you know, for someone else 142 00:08:05,240 --> 00:08:07,720 Speaker 1: to mail for them. Um. And then you have your 143 00:08:08,040 --> 00:08:10,680 Speaker 1: text to speech, which I mean, hey, the Amazon Kindle 144 00:08:10,720 --> 00:08:16,160 Speaker 1: has got it. Yeah, it's not necessarily enabled for every title, No, 145 00:08:16,960 --> 00:08:19,360 Speaker 1: that your Kindle could read to you if you were 146 00:08:19,400 --> 00:08:21,920 Speaker 1: not able to work the Kindle with your hands, right, 147 00:08:22,040 --> 00:08:27,520 Speaker 1: if if the publisher enables that particular UM function, I'm 148 00:08:27,560 --> 00:08:31,600 Speaker 1: just gonna take a moment here. Amazon. UM, I don't 149 00:08:31,600 --> 00:08:34,839 Speaker 1: really blame you. It's not your fault. Amazon. You're working 150 00:08:34,840 --> 00:08:38,520 Speaker 1: with lots and lots of publishers, and these publishers are 151 00:08:38,559 --> 00:08:43,080 Speaker 1: afraid of technology because they're uh, their industry is based 152 00:08:43,120 --> 00:08:47,160 Speaker 1: off a very old, venerable business model that has served 153 00:08:47,200 --> 00:08:51,240 Speaker 1: them well for decades. So it's very scary to move 154 00:08:51,240 --> 00:08:55,760 Speaker 1: into a new format where uh you have this electronic 155 00:08:56,000 --> 00:08:58,840 Speaker 1: version of what you used to print out and hard copy. 156 00:08:58,960 --> 00:09:02,240 Speaker 1: That electronic version it so ephemeral, and it could be 157 00:09:02,320 --> 00:09:04,760 Speaker 1: spread around and there's you know, you think about how 158 00:09:04,880 --> 00:09:07,160 Speaker 1: much money you could lose if what if one person 159 00:09:07,160 --> 00:09:09,080 Speaker 1: gets hold of that book and then just spreads copies 160 00:09:09,120 --> 00:09:15,199 Speaker 1: around for free. However, I don't think you can really 161 00:09:15,360 --> 00:09:17,079 Speaker 1: uh it publishers. I don't think you would like to 162 00:09:17,120 --> 00:09:20,080 Speaker 1: stand on when you say that that the the text 163 00:09:20,160 --> 00:09:25,000 Speaker 1: to speech feature and endangers the sales of audio books, 164 00:09:25,040 --> 00:09:28,520 Speaker 1: because an audio book is a completely different animal from 165 00:09:28,640 --> 00:09:33,160 Speaker 1: a book read using text to speech. There's no real inflection, 166 00:09:33,200 --> 00:09:37,080 Speaker 1: and text to speech there's no characterization. Uh. It's really 167 00:09:37,640 --> 00:09:40,720 Speaker 1: a useful tool for people who have visual impairments. It 168 00:09:40,880 --> 00:09:42,960 Speaker 1: is not something that you would want to listen to 169 00:09:43,280 --> 00:09:46,240 Speaker 1: just for entertainment purposes. If you want that, you would 170 00:09:46,240 --> 00:09:48,600 Speaker 1: obviously go out and buy the audio book version. I 171 00:09:48,600 --> 00:09:51,400 Speaker 1: don't think anyone would think, oh, well now I can, 172 00:09:51,480 --> 00:09:54,760 Speaker 1: I'll just buy the text copy because that text of 173 00:09:54,800 --> 00:09:57,280 Speaker 1: speech voice. Let me tell you, that's so much better 174 00:09:57,320 --> 00:10:00,240 Speaker 1: than hearing the novelist read it in his own voice 175 00:10:00,280 --> 00:10:05,360 Speaker 1: or her own voice. So publishers, um, come on enable 176 00:10:05,400 --> 00:10:07,959 Speaker 1: that function on more titles. Seriously, I just I think 177 00:10:07,960 --> 00:10:10,920 Speaker 1: it's the right thing to do. That's Jonathan's opinion. Chris 178 00:10:11,000 --> 00:10:15,400 Speaker 1: is just gonna sit back and let me rant your editorialize. 179 00:10:16,040 --> 00:10:20,760 Speaker 1: I I feel very passionately about this. So but yes, 180 00:10:21,040 --> 00:10:23,920 Speaker 1: those are very important features. I was also going to mention, um, 181 00:10:24,000 --> 00:10:26,320 Speaker 1: you know you might you might say, well, this is 182 00:10:26,320 --> 00:10:30,960 Speaker 1: a technology assistant. Technology is a very important field. But 183 00:10:32,040 --> 00:10:35,600 Speaker 1: you know, you wonder why people, uh honestly, why some 184 00:10:35,640 --> 00:10:40,000 Speaker 1: companies spend so much time and effort in in researching 185 00:10:40,000 --> 00:10:42,800 Speaker 1: this stuff, because when you get down to it, like 186 00:10:42,840 --> 00:10:46,559 Speaker 1: if you're going to be cold blooded and talk about capitalism, um, 187 00:10:46,640 --> 00:10:50,199 Speaker 1: the market is, it's it's a niche market. But then 188 00:10:50,240 --> 00:10:53,240 Speaker 1: you think about what would we lose if we didn't 189 00:10:54,040 --> 00:10:59,120 Speaker 1: invest in assistive technology and the human element, like the 190 00:10:59,120 --> 00:11:02,760 Speaker 1: the contributions that that people can make when with this 191 00:11:02,800 --> 00:11:06,400 Speaker 1: assistant technology are amazing. And there's one example that just 192 00:11:07,640 --> 00:11:10,920 Speaker 1: is forefront of my mind. It's obviously Dr Stephen Hawking. 193 00:11:11,679 --> 00:11:15,640 Speaker 1: Now Doctor Hawking of course a brilliant mind, absolutely brilliant, 194 00:11:16,080 --> 00:11:21,080 Speaker 1: and back when he started to to require technology in 195 00:11:21,200 --> 00:11:25,240 Speaker 1: order to communicate after surgeries and disease um, originally he 196 00:11:25,280 --> 00:11:28,160 Speaker 1: had a device that all allowed him to do was 197 00:11:28,200 --> 00:11:30,880 Speaker 1: communicate one letter at a time. He had to build 198 00:11:31,120 --> 00:11:34,800 Speaker 1: sentences one letter at a time. It took forever. And 199 00:11:34,840 --> 00:11:37,720 Speaker 1: he points out now that with the technology has that 200 00:11:37,800 --> 00:11:39,240 Speaker 1: you know, if if he had to rely on the 201 00:11:39,240 --> 00:11:42,559 Speaker 1: old technology, he probably wouldn't have written several of the 202 00:11:42,600 --> 00:11:44,679 Speaker 1: books that he's written, or been able to have the 203 00:11:45,200 --> 00:11:48,480 Speaker 1: lectures that he's given at various universities, and the world 204 00:11:48,559 --> 00:11:52,160 Speaker 1: would be a poorer place without those contributions. I mean, 205 00:11:52,200 --> 00:11:56,479 Speaker 1: that's just the way it boils down. So this technology 206 00:11:56,559 --> 00:12:00,520 Speaker 1: is very important because a lot of these people have attributions. 207 00:12:00,520 --> 00:12:03,680 Speaker 1: I can't even begin to imagine sure, and without it 208 00:12:03,720 --> 00:12:06,240 Speaker 1: we would never see it. So that's my other editorial. 209 00:12:09,040 --> 00:12:11,800 Speaker 1: Uh boy, we should have let Jonathan get onto this podcast. 210 00:12:11,800 --> 00:12:17,120 Speaker 1: Should we all right, let's get back to some more technology. Okay, Okay, well, um, 211 00:12:17,160 --> 00:12:20,200 Speaker 1: you know, and and that's the other thing too, is that, um, 212 00:12:20,320 --> 00:12:22,600 Speaker 1: some of this some of the research and development that 213 00:12:22,679 --> 00:12:28,559 Speaker 1: goes into creating assisted of technologies for differently able to people, UM, 214 00:12:28,760 --> 00:12:31,839 Speaker 1: sort of bleeds over into real life into other things 215 00:12:31,880 --> 00:12:35,800 Speaker 1: that um, you know, everyone else can use too. I'm 216 00:12:35,880 --> 00:12:37,960 Speaker 1: thinking back to our our podcast that we did on 217 00:12:38,320 --> 00:12:43,920 Speaker 1: Ray Kurtzwile and the reader that he created, which has 218 00:12:44,000 --> 00:12:48,559 Speaker 1: basically made its way over into the music industry. Sure, Um, 219 00:12:48,600 --> 00:12:50,960 Speaker 1: you know Stevie Wonder being one of the very first 220 00:12:50,960 --> 00:12:54,000 Speaker 1: people even lay his hands on one, which is you know, 221 00:12:54,920 --> 00:12:57,400 Speaker 1: made them fast friends. I think that's pretty cool. Yeah. 222 00:12:57,440 --> 00:13:00,280 Speaker 1: And there's other technology that has been used in vious 223 00:13:00,480 --> 00:13:04,360 Speaker 1: UM devices that have found its way into two completely 224 00:13:04,360 --> 00:13:07,160 Speaker 1: different inventions. For example, Dean came and we did a 225 00:13:07,160 --> 00:13:09,800 Speaker 1: whole podcast on Dean came, and we mentioned his I 226 00:13:09,960 --> 00:13:15,719 Speaker 1: bought the the very advanced electric wheelchair that he developed. Now, 227 00:13:15,760 --> 00:13:19,320 Speaker 1: this wheelchair has got some really cool features on it, 228 00:13:19,360 --> 00:13:22,320 Speaker 1: including the ability to climb stairs. It also has the 229 00:13:22,320 --> 00:13:26,080 Speaker 1: ability to raise up on two wheels, so it suddenly 230 00:13:26,360 --> 00:13:28,600 Speaker 1: allows the the person sitting in the chair to be 231 00:13:28,640 --> 00:13:32,680 Speaker 1: at about eye level instead of at waist level, which 232 00:13:32,920 --> 00:13:35,320 Speaker 1: for you know, someone who's standing up, which is fantastic. 233 00:13:35,800 --> 00:13:38,600 Speaker 1: Was actually listening to a testimonial from someone using one 234 00:13:38,600 --> 00:13:40,959 Speaker 1: of these chairs, and she said, I went to a 235 00:13:41,600 --> 00:13:43,760 Speaker 1: hotel to make a reservation and I went up on 236 00:13:43,800 --> 00:13:45,600 Speaker 1: two wheels, and I can you know, no one has 237 00:13:45,640 --> 00:13:48,240 Speaker 1: to lean over the desk or come around the desk 238 00:13:48,280 --> 00:13:50,679 Speaker 1: in order to talk to me, because now I'm suddenly 239 00:13:50,720 --> 00:13:53,760 Speaker 1: standing I'm over the desk with this feature. Now that 240 00:13:53,800 --> 00:13:57,560 Speaker 1: technology has found its way into other devices like the segue, 241 00:13:58,640 --> 00:14:01,240 Speaker 1: the the the gyre of scopes that allow you to 242 00:14:01,559 --> 00:14:04,440 Speaker 1: move the segway by leaning forward or leaning backward. That's 243 00:14:04,480 --> 00:14:06,559 Speaker 1: also in this wheelchair, so people who are in the 244 00:14:06,600 --> 00:14:09,200 Speaker 1: wheelchair can when they're up on the two wheels, they 245 00:14:09,200 --> 00:14:12,160 Speaker 1: can manipulate the wheelchair by leaning forward and leaning backwards. 246 00:14:12,960 --> 00:14:14,440 Speaker 1: I would be willing to bet that some of that 247 00:14:14,480 --> 00:14:18,439 Speaker 1: technology is also in the center, which may never make 248 00:14:18,480 --> 00:14:22,960 Speaker 1: it to market, but it looks super cool. Hint. Yeah, um, 249 00:14:23,120 --> 00:14:24,920 Speaker 1: but yeah, I mean. And while we're on the subject, 250 00:14:24,960 --> 00:14:27,240 Speaker 1: with Dean came in it, we have to talk about 251 00:14:27,280 --> 00:14:31,000 Speaker 1: the Luke arm. Okay, because now This is named after 252 00:14:31,160 --> 00:14:34,720 Speaker 1: Luke Skywalker from a little movie. I didn't know that 253 00:14:34,840 --> 00:14:37,160 Speaker 1: it is. You didn't know that. Yeah, it's named after 254 00:14:37,280 --> 00:14:40,480 Speaker 1: Luke Skywalker. It's the Luke Arms, the robotic arm. And 255 00:14:40,600 --> 00:14:43,760 Speaker 1: of course Luke spoiler alert gets his hand cut off 256 00:14:43,800 --> 00:14:47,440 Speaker 1: an Empire, strikes back and then gets a an electronic 257 00:14:47,560 --> 00:14:50,240 Speaker 1: one attached at the very end. Um, so that's a 258 00:14:50,320 --> 00:14:53,440 Speaker 1: lot like his dear old dad, Darth Vader other spoiler alert, 259 00:14:53,920 --> 00:14:56,680 Speaker 1: And so the Luke Arm is. What happened was Dean 260 00:14:56,760 --> 00:14:58,440 Speaker 1: the way Dean came and talks about He says that 261 00:14:58,600 --> 00:15:00,960 Speaker 1: someone from the Department of Defensive, very high level man 262 00:15:01,160 --> 00:15:03,880 Speaker 1: came up to him and said, um, we have all 263 00:15:03,960 --> 00:15:07,520 Speaker 1: these these soldiers coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan, many 264 00:15:07,560 --> 00:15:11,080 Speaker 1: of whom have lost an arm. And the problem is 265 00:15:11,120 --> 00:15:14,400 Speaker 1: that the technology for replacing a lost arm hasn't really 266 00:15:14,440 --> 00:15:18,320 Speaker 1: advanced since the you know, the seventeen hundreds. So he says, 267 00:15:18,440 --> 00:15:20,680 Speaker 1: the way he describes it, says, it's essentially a stick 268 00:15:20,760 --> 00:15:22,960 Speaker 1: with a hook at the end, and they want something 269 00:15:23,080 --> 00:15:26,000 Speaker 1: more advanced. They wanted something that was so advanced that 270 00:15:26,040 --> 00:15:28,760 Speaker 1: you would be able to lift a grape or raisin 271 00:15:29,920 --> 00:15:32,360 Speaker 1: off a table, be able to tell the difference without 272 00:15:32,440 --> 00:15:34,600 Speaker 1: looking at it, and be able to lift it to 273 00:15:34,680 --> 00:15:37,600 Speaker 1: your mouth and eat it without crushing it. So there 274 00:15:37,640 --> 00:15:41,280 Speaker 1: were all these different UH parameters that came and had 275 00:15:41,320 --> 00:15:43,880 Speaker 1: to put in the mind. And he first said, you're crazy. 276 00:15:44,120 --> 00:15:46,880 Speaker 1: There's no technology that exists that would allow us to 277 00:15:46,920 --> 00:15:49,320 Speaker 1: do this, especially on a level where the arm would 278 00:15:49,320 --> 00:15:51,640 Speaker 1: be light enough for a human being to comfortably be 279 00:15:51,720 --> 00:15:55,760 Speaker 1: able to use it. But came and went around, talked 280 00:15:55,800 --> 00:15:58,080 Speaker 1: to some neurologists, He talked to some of the soldiers 281 00:15:58,080 --> 00:16:01,160 Speaker 1: who came back. Was convinced that this was a worthy cause. 282 00:16:01,320 --> 00:16:04,360 Speaker 1: He formed formulated a team, and after about a year 283 00:16:04,440 --> 00:16:08,240 Speaker 1: of development, they had a nine pound arm that could 284 00:16:08,720 --> 00:16:10,920 Speaker 1: do many of the things that they had hoped it 285 00:16:10,960 --> 00:16:14,040 Speaker 1: could do. Now granted, right now, the arm is mainly 286 00:16:14,080 --> 00:16:18,840 Speaker 1: controlled through a series of sensors that you actually attached 287 00:16:18,880 --> 00:16:21,640 Speaker 1: to your shoes, so you use you you know, you 288 00:16:21,720 --> 00:16:24,000 Speaker 1: might lean forward to make the arm go up, and 289 00:16:24,080 --> 00:16:26,200 Speaker 1: you might lean to the right to make the wrist 290 00:16:26,320 --> 00:16:28,800 Speaker 1: rotate a certain way. It's got fourteen points of articulation. 291 00:16:29,320 --> 00:16:32,720 Speaker 1: There's some other sensors that attached to the you know, 292 00:16:32,800 --> 00:16:34,760 Speaker 1: any remnant of an arm that the person might have 293 00:16:35,040 --> 00:16:37,960 Speaker 1: or their shoulder that kind of thing, um, and they 294 00:16:38,040 --> 00:16:40,600 Speaker 1: hope eventually to get to a sort of a neural 295 00:16:40,760 --> 00:16:44,640 Speaker 1: muscular control system where you would actually have the controls 296 00:16:44,720 --> 00:16:47,280 Speaker 1: implanted into the person's body and they would be able 297 00:16:47,280 --> 00:16:49,240 Speaker 1: to control it with their mind and so you don't 298 00:16:49,240 --> 00:16:51,080 Speaker 1: have to use any motor controls at all to to 299 00:16:51,520 --> 00:16:55,520 Speaker 1: adjust it. There's some amazing videos online. I highly recommend 300 00:16:55,560 --> 00:16:58,800 Speaker 1: you check them out because, um, this is the sort 301 00:16:58,800 --> 00:17:02,880 Speaker 1: of technology that I find really inspiring. Um. I mean, 302 00:17:02,920 --> 00:17:05,840 Speaker 1: these are very very smart people who see the need 303 00:17:06,119 --> 00:17:10,120 Speaker 1: to solve a specific problem and they put everything they've 304 00:17:10,160 --> 00:17:16,080 Speaker 1: got into it. So it's pretty it's pretty cool stuff. Yeah. Uh, 305 00:17:16,240 --> 00:17:18,480 Speaker 1: let's see, I've got a lot of other like like 306 00:17:18,880 --> 00:17:21,760 Speaker 1: not you know, important things, maybe not as impressive as 307 00:17:21,800 --> 00:17:26,239 Speaker 1: the Luke arm or the iBOT, but like screen readers. Now, 308 00:17:26,320 --> 00:17:29,280 Speaker 1: this is technology that's again for people who are visually impaired. 309 00:17:29,320 --> 00:17:33,520 Speaker 1: A screen reader is essentially an an application that will 310 00:17:34,320 --> 00:17:38,600 Speaker 1: uh analyze the contents on a screen and then translated 311 00:17:38,680 --> 00:17:42,800 Speaker 1: in some way to convey that to the person sitting 312 00:17:42,840 --> 00:17:45,680 Speaker 1: at the keyboard. Now that might be through a um, 313 00:17:46,160 --> 00:17:49,800 Speaker 1: a text to speech uh program. So it may be 314 00:17:49,920 --> 00:17:52,760 Speaker 1: that the computer talks to the person saying at the keyboard, 315 00:17:52,880 --> 00:17:56,960 Speaker 1: or they they may have a brail keyboard. Rail keyboards 316 00:17:57,000 --> 00:18:02,119 Speaker 1: are these these pads that have a section where little 317 00:18:02,200 --> 00:18:06,160 Speaker 1: pins can pop up and they essentially spell out words 318 00:18:06,200 --> 00:18:09,240 Speaker 1: and brail. So the visually impaired person would put his 319 00:18:09,440 --> 00:18:12,680 Speaker 1: or her fingers over the this section and feel the 320 00:18:12,760 --> 00:18:16,840 Speaker 1: pins as they come up, and they use piezo electric effects, so, um, 321 00:18:17,080 --> 00:18:19,240 Speaker 1: you put a little electricity through and it pops the 322 00:18:19,280 --> 00:18:21,960 Speaker 1: pin right up and they can read what's on the 323 00:18:22,000 --> 00:18:25,760 Speaker 1: screen because it's been translated from whatever the text is 324 00:18:25,880 --> 00:18:29,359 Speaker 1: into brail and then that is translated through the pins. 325 00:18:29,520 --> 00:18:31,680 Speaker 1: It's pretty cool stuff. Actually, it's really cool. I've seen 326 00:18:31,760 --> 00:18:35,960 Speaker 1: one working and it's I'm always astounded at how fast 327 00:18:36,720 --> 00:18:39,640 Speaker 1: they move and how fat quickly people can read because 328 00:18:39,680 --> 00:18:41,600 Speaker 1: it's just so foreign to me to be able to 329 00:18:41,680 --> 00:18:44,240 Speaker 1: read through your sense of touch, and I mean, that's 330 00:18:44,280 --> 00:18:48,159 Speaker 1: just it's amazing to to to see. Yeah, um, you know, 331 00:18:48,400 --> 00:18:51,000 Speaker 1: there are a lot of standards out there to The 332 00:18:51,080 --> 00:18:57,439 Speaker 1: Worldwide Web Consortium actually has standards for basically for screen 333 00:18:57,520 --> 00:19:01,520 Speaker 1: readers to be able to read web pages. Um, you know, 334 00:19:01,720 --> 00:19:04,760 Speaker 1: so it is possible that there, you know, that everyone 335 00:19:04,840 --> 00:19:07,280 Speaker 1: can create web pages that other people can read as 336 00:19:07,359 --> 00:19:11,520 Speaker 1: long as they conform to those standards, and the manufacturers 337 00:19:11,560 --> 00:19:14,760 Speaker 1: of operating systems to also have a lot of assistive 338 00:19:14,800 --> 00:19:17,720 Speaker 1: technology built right into the to the operating system. You 339 00:19:17,760 --> 00:19:21,479 Speaker 1: can turn on features such as high contrast and um, 340 00:19:21,760 --> 00:19:24,800 Speaker 1: you know, alter the the size of letters on the 341 00:19:24,880 --> 00:19:27,600 Speaker 1: screen to make them easier for people who are have 342 00:19:27,760 --> 00:19:30,800 Speaker 1: difficulty seeing to read the screen a little better. Oh yeah, 343 00:19:30,840 --> 00:19:34,960 Speaker 1: there's some that also will translate any audio cues into 344 00:19:35,240 --> 00:19:37,639 Speaker 1: visual cues, so it might make the screen flash to 345 00:19:37,960 --> 00:19:40,480 Speaker 1: let you know an alert has come through when normally, 346 00:19:40,880 --> 00:19:43,399 Speaker 1: you know, you might just hear a chime. Um. So 347 00:19:43,480 --> 00:19:47,240 Speaker 1: I mean it's it's little things like that that seem 348 00:19:47,400 --> 00:19:50,080 Speaker 1: very simple, but they do make a big difference. Um. 349 00:19:50,359 --> 00:19:52,920 Speaker 1: You know, thinking on it, you're like, well, yeah, that 350 00:19:52,960 --> 00:19:55,359 Speaker 1: makes perfect sense, but someone had to come up with that. 351 00:19:56,160 --> 00:19:59,240 Speaker 1: It's it's when you're when you're designing something for a 352 00:19:59,359 --> 00:20:01,000 Speaker 1: wide audience, it's there are a lot of things that 353 00:20:01,080 --> 00:20:03,760 Speaker 1: you may not take into consideration. Um. It's the same 354 00:20:03,840 --> 00:20:06,080 Speaker 1: problem that people that I see with people who developed 355 00:20:06,119 --> 00:20:09,680 Speaker 1: really really cool websites. They're developing really cool websites for 356 00:20:09,720 --> 00:20:12,920 Speaker 1: the latest version of whatever browsers they want to support. 357 00:20:13,920 --> 00:20:17,600 Speaker 1: But as you and I know, not everyone's using the 358 00:20:17,680 --> 00:20:21,359 Speaker 1: latest browser. In fact, a relatively small number of people 359 00:20:21,400 --> 00:20:23,520 Speaker 1: are using the latest browser. Most people are are at 360 00:20:23,600 --> 00:20:27,240 Speaker 1: least a generation, if not two generations behind, and so 361 00:20:27,359 --> 00:20:29,840 Speaker 1: when they go to visit the super cool website, their 362 00:20:30,119 --> 00:20:33,360 Speaker 1: browser isn't able to display it the way it's meant 363 00:20:33,400 --> 00:20:35,600 Speaker 1: to be displayed, and so it becomes a jumbled mess. 364 00:20:36,480 --> 00:20:38,080 Speaker 1: So it's another one of those things where and when 365 00:20:38,119 --> 00:20:41,600 Speaker 1: you're designing something now it might pay off to really 366 00:20:41,760 --> 00:20:46,280 Speaker 1: take these sort of things into consideration. UM. I don't 367 00:20:46,280 --> 00:20:48,320 Speaker 1: know if you saw this. It was a pretty recent 368 00:20:48,520 --> 00:20:52,040 Speaker 1: news story. Did you hear about the the car developed 369 00:20:52,080 --> 00:20:54,639 Speaker 1: by the Virginia Tech College of Engineering that allowed a 370 00:20:54,760 --> 00:20:58,680 Speaker 1: blind man to drive? No? I didn't. Yeah, Yeah, it 371 00:20:58,800 --> 00:21:02,080 Speaker 1: was interesting. It's a little doomed uggy style vehicle and 372 00:21:02,160 --> 00:21:04,840 Speaker 1: I watched a video on it and they allowed this. Uh. 373 00:21:06,640 --> 00:21:09,399 Speaker 1: One of the members of the teams a blind man 374 00:21:09,560 --> 00:21:11,880 Speaker 1: who was behind the wheel of the car. Another student 375 00:21:11,960 --> 00:21:15,600 Speaker 1: set next to him, and UM, it uses a whole 376 00:21:15,680 --> 00:21:19,720 Speaker 1: bunch of different technologies to allow the blind person to drive. 377 00:21:20,320 --> 00:21:24,920 Speaker 1: UM has laser range finders, it's got voice command software, um. 378 00:21:25,160 --> 00:21:28,000 Speaker 1: And it's got a feedback system. It tells the driver 379 00:21:28,119 --> 00:21:30,879 Speaker 1: which way to turn, so it starts to detect something 380 00:21:30,960 --> 00:21:33,080 Speaker 1: that you might collide with us. You might want to 381 00:21:33,119 --> 00:21:36,520 Speaker 1: turn left now so that the the driver doesn't collide 382 00:21:36,560 --> 00:21:38,359 Speaker 1: with anything on the road. Now, granted, this is not 383 00:21:38,600 --> 00:21:42,080 Speaker 1: something necessarily that we're going to see implemented on the 384 00:21:42,200 --> 00:21:47,040 Speaker 1: streets any time in the foreseeable future. Not to use 385 00:21:47,080 --> 00:21:51,960 Speaker 1: a horrible pun, but the you know, it's just it's 386 00:21:51,960 --> 00:21:55,640 Speaker 1: an interesting use of technology. And now if you could 387 00:21:55,720 --> 00:21:59,120 Speaker 1: fine tune it to a point where the car could 388 00:21:59,200 --> 00:22:03,480 Speaker 1: definitely detect everything, then maybe, But I just don't I 389 00:22:03,560 --> 00:22:06,080 Speaker 1: don't think that's possible really, although it could be a 390 00:22:06,200 --> 00:22:09,160 Speaker 1: very good step in the direction of full full automation. 391 00:22:09,920 --> 00:22:12,760 Speaker 1: That's true, However, um, I think the biggest problem in 392 00:22:12,840 --> 00:22:15,040 Speaker 1: this case would be you need everybody to adopt that 393 00:22:15,080 --> 00:22:18,440 Speaker 1: technology at the same time to prevent because I think 394 00:22:18,520 --> 00:22:20,760 Speaker 1: the biggest hazard in that case would be other drivers 395 00:22:21,200 --> 00:22:23,680 Speaker 1: because it's impossible to predict what they're doing right well. 396 00:22:23,760 --> 00:22:25,680 Speaker 1: And and when you think about your car would become 397 00:22:25,680 --> 00:22:28,360 Speaker 1: the ultimate backseat driver, yeah, because it would say things 398 00:22:28,440 --> 00:22:30,800 Speaker 1: like this jerk is cutting you off. Flip them off. 399 00:22:30,880 --> 00:22:33,960 Speaker 1: And cut to the left. I mean that's just you know, 400 00:22:34,520 --> 00:22:36,320 Speaker 1: that's all right. I mean that's the way I would 401 00:22:36,320 --> 00:22:40,119 Speaker 1: do it. But okay, so do you have any other 402 00:22:40,160 --> 00:22:42,920 Speaker 1: technologies you wanted to talk about? UM? Yes, UM, sure, 403 00:22:43,160 --> 00:22:45,880 Speaker 1: I do. Think one of the coolest things that I've 404 00:22:45,880 --> 00:22:48,240 Speaker 1: seen is, uh, you know, they're there's it's sort of 405 00:22:48,600 --> 00:22:52,920 Speaker 1: um still in the earlier implementation stages, but for people 406 00:22:52,960 --> 00:22:56,040 Speaker 1: who can't use um, their hands to operate a computer 407 00:22:56,200 --> 00:23:00,760 Speaker 1: and really may be unable to use their voices as well. UM. 408 00:23:00,960 --> 00:23:04,920 Speaker 1: I've seen some uh, some scientists working on systems that 409 00:23:05,080 --> 00:23:07,920 Speaker 1: sort of it sort of involves a combination of different 410 00:23:07,960 --> 00:23:12,960 Speaker 1: technologies cameras and uh measurements of electrical impulses, but basically 411 00:23:13,119 --> 00:23:17,880 Speaker 1: they follow um the user's eyes track eye movements. Yeah, 412 00:23:17,920 --> 00:23:20,399 Speaker 1: they track eye movements, and basically they can operate the 413 00:23:20,440 --> 00:23:24,440 Speaker 1: computer with you know, their eyes rather than you know, 414 00:23:24,520 --> 00:23:28,080 Speaker 1: with their hands or with their voices. Which it is 415 00:23:28,160 --> 00:23:30,080 Speaker 1: very cool technology. And I and I you know, have 416 00:23:30,200 --> 00:23:32,359 Speaker 1: seen a little bit on it, and I know that 417 00:23:32,480 --> 00:23:35,000 Speaker 1: it's not extremely far ahead, but just the idea that 418 00:23:35,080 --> 00:23:37,840 Speaker 1: we would be able to do that, um and have 419 00:23:38,000 --> 00:23:40,920 Speaker 1: it you know work, it's it's you know, fairly effective 420 00:23:41,040 --> 00:23:44,560 Speaker 1: to UM. And you know, I have the feeling, based 421 00:23:44,640 --> 00:23:46,640 Speaker 1: on what little I've read about it, that it will 422 00:23:46,640 --> 00:23:49,640 Speaker 1: be a little while before it's commonplace and affordable enough 423 00:23:49,720 --> 00:23:52,800 Speaker 1: for people who, um, who really need the technology to 424 00:23:53,040 --> 00:23:55,800 Speaker 1: be able to use it. But um, this is another 425 00:23:55,880 --> 00:23:58,840 Speaker 1: thing that could be very useful uh for all kinds 426 00:23:58,880 --> 00:24:01,560 Speaker 1: of people once more search is done on it and 427 00:24:02,640 --> 00:24:07,480 Speaker 1: you know, it becomes more commonplace. That's cool stuff. Yeah. 428 00:24:07,720 --> 00:24:09,520 Speaker 1: And I mean I've had a chance to see some 429 00:24:09,680 --> 00:24:12,600 Speaker 1: of this technology at places like ce S and it's 430 00:24:12,640 --> 00:24:16,520 Speaker 1: always really uh, one of my favorite spots to to 431 00:24:16,640 --> 00:24:19,119 Speaker 1: stop on the show floor, just because, I mean you 432 00:24:19,240 --> 00:24:21,440 Speaker 1: really see what how creative people can be with the 433 00:24:21,480 --> 00:24:24,800 Speaker 1: technology too, to make it do things that you you 434 00:24:24,920 --> 00:24:27,360 Speaker 1: just take for granted, you know, every day. So that's 435 00:24:27,400 --> 00:24:31,080 Speaker 1: really cool. Um. Well, I don't have any other technology, 436 00:24:31,119 --> 00:24:34,080 Speaker 1: but I do have a list of organizations and uh 437 00:24:34,240 --> 00:24:37,840 Speaker 1: and government groups that um that are all about assistant technology. 438 00:24:37,920 --> 00:24:39,320 Speaker 1: Did you have any others who wanted to talk about 439 00:24:39,320 --> 00:24:40,800 Speaker 1: before I go into that. No, no, no, I do 440 00:24:40,920 --> 00:24:43,119 Speaker 1: have a couple of organizations. I bet you have them too, 441 00:24:43,200 --> 00:24:44,800 Speaker 1: So let's hear your list, all right, These are all 442 00:24:45,040 --> 00:24:47,560 Speaker 1: the ones I have are all North American organizations. Now 443 00:24:47,720 --> 00:24:50,040 Speaker 1: I should go ahead and point out there are organizations 444 00:24:50,080 --> 00:24:53,040 Speaker 1: all around the world for assisted of technology. The only 445 00:24:53,040 --> 00:24:54,960 Speaker 1: reason I stuck with North Americas because that's where it 446 00:24:54,960 --> 00:24:57,600 Speaker 1: happened to be and they're, like I said, lots of them. 447 00:24:57,840 --> 00:25:01,080 Speaker 1: So this is just a small sample. But there's the 448 00:25:01,160 --> 00:25:05,040 Speaker 1: Adaptive Technology Resource Center at the University of Toronto. There's 449 00:25:05,080 --> 00:25:08,399 Speaker 1: the Center for Applied Special Technology, also known as CASTE. 450 00:25:09,160 --> 00:25:15,480 Speaker 1: There's Assistive Technology Industry Association, which is actually a commercial group. 451 00:25:15,560 --> 00:25:19,440 Speaker 1: I mean it's a group of different companies within the industry. Um. 452 00:25:20,000 --> 00:25:24,080 Speaker 1: There's the Rehabilitation, Engineering and Assistive Technology Society of North America, 453 00:25:24,520 --> 00:25:29,080 Speaker 1: which just a mouthful. And there's the Alliance for Technology Access. 454 00:25:29,200 --> 00:25:31,840 Speaker 1: Those are the ones that I listed that I had. 455 00:25:32,960 --> 00:25:35,280 Speaker 1: That's what happens when we try to be creative and 456 00:25:35,600 --> 00:25:39,280 Speaker 1: and uh sort of do independent research. Yeah, this is 457 00:25:39,320 --> 00:25:41,479 Speaker 1: a here's a secret for you guys. When we research, 458 00:25:41,600 --> 00:25:44,240 Speaker 1: we do research independently, so there's no telling. One of 459 00:25:44,320 --> 00:25:45,800 Speaker 1: us may come up with something the other one has 460 00:25:45,840 --> 00:25:48,800 Speaker 1: no idea about, or we may find the exact same 461 00:25:48,880 --> 00:25:53,639 Speaker 1: information as is the case today. But yeah, there there 462 00:25:53,680 --> 00:25:56,080 Speaker 1: are lots of these groups. And again I find their 463 00:25:56,160 --> 00:26:00,200 Speaker 1: work very interesting and and I'm very thankful for it. 464 00:26:00,440 --> 00:26:03,480 Speaker 1: So good job, guys, keep up the good work. And 465 00:26:03,560 --> 00:26:07,560 Speaker 1: I do think that getting these companies to cooperate with 466 00:26:07,640 --> 00:26:13,199 Speaker 1: one another is great news for people who need assistive technology, 467 00:26:13,240 --> 00:26:16,000 Speaker 1: because they're going to come up with standards, right that 468 00:26:16,240 --> 00:26:19,120 Speaker 1: are you know, that work with different machines, that work 469 00:26:19,200 --> 00:26:23,600 Speaker 1: with different software, um, and will allow them to work 470 00:26:23,960 --> 00:26:27,879 Speaker 1: with one another, which is incredibly important. Yeah, I mean 471 00:26:27,960 --> 00:26:30,680 Speaker 1: that's important for any technology. We see that all the time. 472 00:26:30,760 --> 00:26:33,000 Speaker 1: Where the one of the big problems with any new 473 00:26:33,080 --> 00:26:36,159 Speaker 1: technology is that there are no standards in place. When 474 00:26:36,200 --> 00:26:41,280 Speaker 1: a new technology really first emerges and then everybody gets involved, 475 00:26:41,440 --> 00:26:43,240 Speaker 1: there's a big mess. You don't know which way to go, 476 00:26:43,400 --> 00:26:45,959 Speaker 1: and then eventually a sort of standards emerges and then 477 00:26:46,160 --> 00:26:49,480 Speaker 1: it really becomes useful. Yeah. I mean, this stuff is expensive, 478 00:26:49,920 --> 00:26:53,000 Speaker 1: especially when it's when it's new, and um, the eye 479 00:26:53,040 --> 00:26:57,320 Speaker 1: bought wheelchair, as I recalls, twenty six thousand dollars and 480 00:26:57,440 --> 00:27:02,160 Speaker 1: most insurance companies will not cover it, I'm sure. So yeah, 481 00:27:02,280 --> 00:27:06,760 Speaker 1: we're talking pretty expensive stuff but very worthwhile. Well, I 482 00:27:06,840 --> 00:27:11,240 Speaker 1: guess that just leads us right over to a listener 483 00:27:11,320 --> 00:27:20,320 Speaker 1: mail all right, then today's a listener mail classroom Gregorio. 484 00:27:21,200 --> 00:27:23,879 Speaker 1: And Gregorio says, hey, guys, I just listened to the 485 00:27:23,960 --> 00:27:26,440 Speaker 1: podcast on Google street View and I wanted to give 486 00:27:26,480 --> 00:27:28,800 Speaker 1: you my take on it. I am studying to be 487 00:27:28,960 --> 00:27:31,359 Speaker 1: a traffic engineer and we use Google street View and 488 00:27:31,440 --> 00:27:34,720 Speaker 1: Google Earth daily when designing streets. We tried to get 489 00:27:34,840 --> 00:27:37,960 Speaker 1: surveys of the area which would show all existing features 490 00:27:38,280 --> 00:27:42,480 Speaker 1: like dimensions, street signs, and striping, but when budget is limited, 491 00:27:42,720 --> 00:27:46,200 Speaker 1: we have to go out and measure and photograph intersections ourselves. 492 00:27:46,800 --> 00:27:51,240 Speaker 1: We overlay Google map Maps images into our CAD designs 493 00:27:51,359 --> 00:27:53,760 Speaker 1: to help draw the streets, and we use Google street 494 00:27:53,800 --> 00:27:56,840 Speaker 1: View to verify signs and striping layouts. It is very 495 00:27:57,119 --> 00:27:58,760 Speaker 1: it is a very important tool that we use to 496 00:27:58,800 --> 00:28:02,520 Speaker 1: supplement our design data. That's pretty done. Cool. I didn't 497 00:28:02,560 --> 00:28:07,120 Speaker 1: know that. Wow, So going out and you know, taking 498 00:28:07,160 --> 00:28:12,680 Speaker 1: the tape measuring, Yeah, no, I mean, don't remind me 499 00:28:13,160 --> 00:28:16,520 Speaker 1: what you think of Saturday. Well, thanks a lot of Gregorio, 500 00:28:16,640 --> 00:28:18,520 Speaker 1: And if any of you want to write us, our 501 00:28:18,560 --> 00:28:21,960 Speaker 1: email address is tech stuff at how stuff works dot com. 502 00:28:22,040 --> 00:28:24,720 Speaker 1: If you would like to learn more about technology, well, 503 00:28:24,920 --> 00:28:27,080 Speaker 1: there's this handy dandy website we like to call how 504 00:28:27,160 --> 00:28:29,320 Speaker 1: stuff Works dot com. There's lots of cool stuff there. 505 00:28:29,480 --> 00:28:32,800 Speaker 1: I recommend you checking it out and we will talk 506 00:28:32,800 --> 00:28:38,000 Speaker 1: to you again a really soon. For more on this 507 00:28:38,200 --> 00:28:40,680 Speaker 1: and thousands of other topics. Does it how stuff works 508 00:28:40,720 --> 00:28:42,800 Speaker 1: dot com and be sure to check out the new 509 00:28:42,880 --> 00:28:45,440 Speaker 1: tech stuff blog now on the House Stuff Works homepage, 510 00:28:50,440 --> 00:28:53,000 Speaker 1: brought to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve camera. 511 00:28:53,320 --> 00:28:54,360 Speaker 1: It's ready, are you