WEBVTT - Talking Tech 28th May 2024 0:00:21.538 --> 0:00:25.378 Hello everyone! Welcome to Talking Tech. This edition available from 0:00:25.378 --> 0:00:29.608 May the 28th, 2024. I'm Stephen Jolly. Great to have 0:00:29.608 --> 0:00:33.058 you with us listening maybe through Vision Australia Radio, associated 0:00:33.058 --> 0:00:37.078 stations of RPA Australia or perhaps the Community Radio Network. 0:00:37.078 --> 0:00:40.108 There is also the podcast. To catch that, all you 0:00:40.108 --> 0:00:42.718 need to do is search for the two words talking 0:00:42.748 --> 0:00:45.118 tech and down. It can all come usually on a 0:00:45.118 --> 0:00:49.318 Tuesday afternoon just after it's been produced. Another option is 0:00:49.318 --> 0:00:52.108 to ask your Siri device or smart speaker to play 0:00:52.108 --> 0:00:57.178 Vision Australia Radio talking tech podcast Vision Australia Radio talking 0:00:57.208 --> 0:01:00.958 tech podcast with me, someone who knows all this tech 0:01:00.958 --> 0:01:05.848 stuff really well. Vision Australia's national advisor on access technology, 0:01:05.848 --> 0:01:10.588 David Woodbridge. David, let's start with the product minute from 0:01:10.588 --> 0:01:15.178 the vision store of Vision Australia. An old favourite of yours, 0:01:15.178 --> 0:01:17.908 but you haven't explained it for a while, so let's 0:01:17.908 --> 0:01:20.098 hear about it. The Bradley watch. 0:01:20.398 --> 0:01:22.738 That's right. So this is called the E one as 0:01:22.738 --> 0:01:26.278 in e o n e the E one. Bradley. Watch. 0:01:26.698 --> 0:01:30.928 The simplest way I can describe this beautiful tactile timepiece, 0:01:30.928 --> 0:01:32.518 because it sounds a bit silly to call it a 0:01:32.728 --> 0:01:35.878 a watch because it's smaller than a watch is, it's 0:01:35.878 --> 0:01:39.448 got two ball bearings and you've got one ball bearing 0:01:39.448 --> 0:01:43.918 on the face, which is actually your minutes, and you 0:01:43.918 --> 0:01:46.228 got a ball bearing on the side that, again, is 0:01:46.228 --> 0:01:48.448 in a course in a slot, because the ball bearing 0:01:48.448 --> 0:01:50.518 has to sort of roll around if you like, and 0:01:50.518 --> 0:01:52.978 that does the hours. And then on the face of 0:01:52.978 --> 0:01:56.038 the watch where I said, you've got that ball bearing that, 0:01:56.038 --> 0:01:57.658 you know, goes around the groove on the face of 0:01:57.658 --> 0:02:00.178 the watch. Of course, then you've got the tactile markers 0:02:00.178 --> 0:02:04.738 for 12, one, two, three, four, five, six and so on. 0:02:04.738 --> 0:02:08.368 So what you effectively do, you get your finger and 0:02:08.368 --> 0:02:11.398 you touch the face of the watch. You find out 0:02:11.398 --> 0:02:14.788 where the ball bearing is, which is quite easy to locate. 0:02:14.788 --> 0:02:16.468 And then of course line it up with the little 0:02:16.468 --> 0:02:19.588 tactile marker. And then you can put your finger over 0:02:19.588 --> 0:02:22.948 the edge and just basically, you know, swish your finger 0:02:22.948 --> 0:02:24.628 around the groove if you like, on the outside of 0:02:24.628 --> 0:02:27.628 it to find the little ball bearing on the outside 0:02:27.628 --> 0:02:29.428 and then bring your finger back up and over and 0:02:29.428 --> 0:02:34.018 feel what the closest tactile marker is, you might think, 0:02:34.018 --> 0:02:36.148 oh well, if I'm using my finger, I'm not going 0:02:36.148 --> 0:02:39.028 to actually, you know, put the little ball bearings out 0:02:39.028 --> 0:02:42.598 of alignment. If you do do that, you can just 0:02:42.598 --> 0:02:46.318 shake your wrist gently and the magnetics will actually put 0:02:46.318 --> 0:02:51.568 it back into the right time. It's a really nice watch. 0:02:51.568 --> 0:02:53.878 People often come up to me and they say, what's 0:02:53.878 --> 0:02:58.588 that really interesting watch on your wrist? And I say, 0:02:58.678 --> 0:03:03.178 it's it's a tactile timepiece that just uses, um, ball 0:03:03.208 --> 0:03:06.688 bearings to tell the time. And everybody says to me, 0:03:07.108 --> 0:03:08.848 where did you get it from? Because I want one, 0:03:08.848 --> 0:03:11.788 or wouldn't this be a really great gift to give 0:03:11.788 --> 0:03:14.428 somebody for a, you know, a five year or a 0:03:14.428 --> 0:03:18.508 ten year work anniversary or some other anniversary? So it 0:03:18.508 --> 0:03:24.988 really is a beautiful, very solid, elegant timepiece. And if 0:03:24.988 --> 0:03:28.738 you haven't felt this, go into your local Vision Australia office, 0:03:28.738 --> 0:03:32.728 because we've got practically Vision Australia Vision stores across Australia. 0:03:32.998 --> 0:03:36.208 And get your hands on one, because I can guarantee 0:03:36.208 --> 0:03:39.058 it'll blow you out of the water about how amazing 0:03:39.058 --> 0:03:43.198 this watch is. So the E one Bradley timepiece is 0:03:43.198 --> 0:03:46.108 still certainly my favorite timepiece. 0:03:46.108 --> 0:03:46.948 How much is it? 0:03:47.278 --> 0:03:52.798 It's about $330, so which is a good solid price 0:03:52.798 --> 0:03:55.738 for a good solid timepiece. So if you want something 0:03:55.738 --> 0:03:59.938 that's a bit ageless and stands out a lot, then 0:03:59.938 --> 0:04:02.308 this is a beautiful designed watch to wear. 0:04:02.308 --> 0:04:03.928 And it'll last a while. Will it? 0:04:03.928 --> 0:04:07.288 It will. It's one of those things that it's not 0:04:07.288 --> 0:04:10.798 dated by time. So you buy it now. It'll still 0:04:10.798 --> 0:04:15.688 look really, really snazzy and modern even into the future. 0:04:15.688 --> 0:04:20.218 You've been talking I recently and you've recorded your conversation. 0:04:20.218 --> 0:04:23.308 It was with Professor Toby Walsh, who's chief scientist at 0:04:23.308 --> 0:04:27.388 the Eye Institute of the University of New South Wales. 0:04:27.388 --> 0:04:28.948 Tell us about that conversation. 0:04:28.948 --> 0:04:31.408 So people might have noticed that we're starting to sort 0:04:31.408 --> 0:04:34.408 of like do special podcasts on the same talking tech 0:04:34.408 --> 0:04:36.598 feed that you normally get this show on talking tech. 0:04:37.018 --> 0:04:40.258 It was a discussion with Professor Toby Walsh, who's actually 0:04:40.258 --> 0:04:44.008 done lots of books. My most favorite one is called 0:04:44.008 --> 0:04:48.568 Faking It, which is all about how artificial intelligence actually 0:04:48.568 --> 0:04:52.858 fakes on being intelligent and the fact that it's not 0:04:52.858 --> 0:04:56.578 a human being, it's an artificial software bit of program 0:04:56.578 --> 0:05:01.198 that tries to pretend it's got intelligence and humanity and 0:05:01.198 --> 0:05:04.528 feelings and emotions, but we all know it doesn't. And 0:05:04.528 --> 0:05:08.608 it was just a really nice discussion on how, from 0:05:08.608 --> 0:05:12.658 a blindness and low vision perspective, how artificial intelligence would 0:05:12.658 --> 0:05:17.818 assist us in, you know, getting information. A famous question 0:05:17.818 --> 0:05:21.648 that always people ask is about, um, self-driving cars. How 0:05:21.648 --> 0:05:26.088 I could assist us in navigating, uh, you know, outdoors 0:05:26.088 --> 0:05:30.738 and indoors, um, how we could get faster access to 0:05:30.738 --> 0:05:35.328 information rather than just using our screen reader voice input, um, 0:05:35.328 --> 0:05:39.378 to AI systems, all that sort of really great stuff. 0:05:39.378 --> 0:05:42.558 So I think the interview went for about 35 minutes, 0:05:42.558 --> 0:05:44.808 but it was just a really fascinating thing. And if 0:05:44.808 --> 0:05:49.488 you'd like to, uh, read all Toby Walsh's books, um, 0:05:49.488 --> 0:05:52.998 they're both on Kindle, and I think there's only one 0:05:52.998 --> 0:05:55.728 which is the Faking It audiobook. And what he did 0:05:55.728 --> 0:05:58.128 with that one was actually, it was Professor Toby Walsh 0:05:58.128 --> 0:06:00.528 reading it, but then he also did a little bit 0:06:00.528 --> 0:06:03.558 of cheekiness and actually got the computer to also read 0:06:03.558 --> 0:06:05.868 part of the book as well. So, um, that was 0:06:05.868 --> 0:06:08.058 just a bit of a nod to, you know, how 0:06:08.058 --> 0:06:12.678 artificial intelligence uses synthetic speech, um, to tell you what 0:06:12.678 --> 0:06:15.408 is on the screen or in this case, the audiobook. 0:06:15.408 --> 0:06:16.998 So it was a really, really great chat. 0:06:17.028 --> 0:06:20.508 Now we've got a message recently from Ramona. Mandi, who's 0:06:20.508 --> 0:06:25.308 now based at Monash University. And as you would expect, 0:06:25.308 --> 0:06:29.058 she's very much embedded in the world of assistive technology. 0:06:29.058 --> 0:06:35.058 And her message is about some PhD opportunities in the 0:06:35.058 --> 0:06:39.198 field of assistive technology to improve the lives of people 0:06:39.198 --> 0:06:44.178 with disabilities. And it's from the Monash Assistive Technology and 0:06:44.178 --> 0:06:48.798 Society Centre at the university. It's in partnership with the 0:06:48.798 --> 0:06:53.538 Faculty of Information Science and some PhD opportunities where people 0:06:53.538 --> 0:06:55.968 could really make a difference doing that sort of work. 0:06:57.078 --> 0:07:00.528 It is. So there's two PhD opportunities, and absolutely, they're 0:07:00.528 --> 0:07:07.878 encouraging people with disability to apply for the two PhD positions. Um, rough, 0:07:07.878 --> 0:07:10.278 rough information is you're looking at about a three and 0:07:10.278 --> 0:07:13.698 a half year PhD, which is pretty standard. Uh, you'll 0:07:13.698 --> 0:07:17.118 get a research grant while you're doing a PhD. Um, 0:07:17.118 --> 0:07:19.188 you've got to have and of course, you can read 0:07:19.188 --> 0:07:20.988 this on the link that I've got in the show notes. 0:07:20.988 --> 0:07:24.888 You've got to have some, um, academic background and, you know, 0:07:24.888 --> 0:07:28.728 the more academic type research and publications and all that 0:07:28.728 --> 0:07:30.378 sort of good stuff that you've done in the past 0:07:30.378 --> 0:07:33.048 will hold you in good stead. But I really think 0:07:33.048 --> 0:07:38.838 it's great that, um, this program is looking at assistive 0:07:38.838 --> 0:07:43.608 and mainstream technology and how it can impact upon the 0:07:43.608 --> 0:07:48.408 lives of people with a disability. Um, so if you've got, 0:07:48.408 --> 0:07:50.358 you know, an academic background, you want to do a 0:07:50.358 --> 0:07:53.688 PhD and you've got some interesting ideas that you can 0:07:53.688 --> 0:07:57.948 chat with the main contact about, uh, to do your 0:07:58.218 --> 0:08:02.118 PhD on this would be a really great way of 0:08:02.118 --> 0:08:07.248 getting your ideas into a bit more of a, I guess, 0:08:07.248 --> 0:08:11.118 a practical outcome. So it does look really, really interesting. Um, 0:08:11.118 --> 0:08:16.068 great places like Monash University are investing so much time 0:08:16.068 --> 0:08:18.048 and effort in doing these types of programs. 0:08:18.048 --> 0:08:21.108 So you've got to get yourself organised. Applications close on 0:08:21.108 --> 0:08:24.558 July the 3rd. They do some interesting work, the Monash 0:08:24.558 --> 0:08:30.018 Assistive Technology and Society mats mats. So we look forward 0:08:30.018 --> 0:08:34.788 to progress with this project. Um, now Microsoft, they had 0:08:34.788 --> 0:08:35.958 an event recently. 0:08:35.958 --> 0:08:38.868 They did. So this was a build conference, uh, from 0:08:38.868 --> 0:08:40.938 last week as we go to air this week, and 0:08:40.938 --> 0:08:46.128 it was practically entitled Copilot plus PCs, which is really 0:08:46.128 --> 0:08:49.848 all about the fact that, um, there are new PCs 0:08:49.848 --> 0:08:55.188 coming out from, you know, major manufacturers such as Acer, Dell, HP, 0:08:55.188 --> 0:08:59.208 and so on. And these are going to be all running, um, 0:08:59.208 --> 0:09:02.568 ARM processors. They've got of course, they're going to have, um, 0:09:03.108 --> 0:09:07.278 neural processing cores. They're going to have 16 gigs of 0:09:07.278 --> 0:09:11.898 memory as a minimum, 256GB hard drive, solid state drive 0:09:11.898 --> 0:09:16.848 as a, as another minimum, all aimed around running artificial 0:09:16.848 --> 0:09:20.928 intelligence software. And I think from memory another thread said 0:09:20.928 --> 0:09:25.548 there's 40 different AI systems, um, that these computers will 0:09:25.548 --> 0:09:29.238 be running in the background. So it's not just, you know, 0:09:29.238 --> 0:09:33.318 when people think about, um, you know, AI or artificial intelligence, 0:09:33.318 --> 0:09:36.978 they think about ChatGPT, whereas lots of other stuff that 0:09:36.978 --> 0:09:40.158 AI systems can do in the background. So, um, things 0:09:40.158 --> 0:09:47.148 like photos, document processing, spreadsheets, data management, computer vision, of course, 0:09:47.148 --> 0:09:50.478 that will, you know, of course, we're very interested in, um, 0:09:50.478 --> 0:09:54.168 and there's a very interesting, uh, bit of software that's 0:09:54.168 --> 0:09:57.708 got people a little bit concerned. It's called recall. So 0:09:57.708 --> 0:10:01.548 you can recall anything you've done on your PC. Uh, 0:10:01.548 --> 0:10:05.148 from photos to documents to emails to web browsing to 0:10:05.148 --> 0:10:08.838 everything else. And you can literally ask the system, you know, 0:10:08.838 --> 0:10:12.048 what was I doing, um, three weeks ago on that 0:10:12.048 --> 0:10:16.338 project to do with, um, some programming to get a 0:10:16.338 --> 0:10:20.268 robot to turn left rather than right, for example. Which 0:10:20.268 --> 0:10:23.598 is a pretty. I think, um, coding exercise. And I'll 0:10:23.598 --> 0:10:26.418 come back and let you know what documents and videos 0:10:26.418 --> 0:10:29.748 and media will be available. And of course, as part 0:10:29.748 --> 0:10:33.408 of the co-pilot PC thing, um, these computers will have 0:10:33.408 --> 0:10:38.958 a dedicated key for co-pilot itself. Um, but as I said, 0:10:38.958 --> 0:10:43.038 it's everything running in the background, um, neural processing engines, 0:10:43.038 --> 0:10:45.288 because one of the things about large language models is 0:10:45.288 --> 0:10:47.688 becoming because they come off the cloud, um, they're a 0:10:47.688 --> 0:10:51.258 little bit slow, but the NPU or the, the neural 0:10:51.258 --> 0:10:54.378 processing unit, it'll be doing a lot of stuff on 0:10:54.378 --> 0:10:57.618 a local level. So that's what speeds up the whole process. 0:10:57.618 --> 0:11:00.408 So I think for the article, they said there was 0:11:00.408 --> 0:11:03.348 going to be about mid June when these machines will 0:11:03.348 --> 0:11:06.558 be available. Not too pricey I think us wise we're 0:11:06.558 --> 0:11:10.068 starting at about $1,000. So you know, not too bad, 0:11:10.068 --> 0:11:13.398 but it's really going to be interesting to see where 0:11:13.398 --> 0:11:17.448 Windows 11 goes moving forward with all this AI processing, 0:11:17.448 --> 0:11:20.688 particularly locally. And let's not forget the fact that in 0:11:20.688 --> 0:11:23.538 about two weeks time, um, it'll be Apple's turn to 0:11:23.538 --> 0:11:27.228 talk about their artificial intelligence stuff as well. So the 0:11:27.228 --> 0:11:29.838 world is going to be looking very interesting in the 0:11:29.838 --> 0:11:31.188 next six months or so. 0:11:31.398 --> 0:11:34.098 Now we talk about these new computers that we need 0:11:34.098 --> 0:11:38.448 in our lives. But you don't want to necessarily discard 0:11:38.448 --> 0:11:39.618 the old one. 0:11:39.858 --> 0:11:42.708 No. And it's a good idea to remember the stuff 0:11:42.708 --> 0:11:46.728 that you don't need, um, sometimes a really powerful computer 0:11:46.728 --> 0:11:51.678 to just do things like web browsing or get your email. Um, so, 0:11:51.678 --> 0:11:54.258 you know, if you've got a computer that's, I don't know, six, 0:11:54.258 --> 0:11:58.008 seven years old, um, then, you know, it's it's fine 0:11:58.008 --> 0:12:01.668 to just use a web browser and email client. Um, 0:12:01.668 --> 0:12:04.398 some people use their old computers as a media server, 0:12:04.398 --> 0:12:08.088 so they just put all their, um, movies and TV 0:12:08.088 --> 0:12:11.448 shows and music on, and then all the other computers 0:12:11.448 --> 0:12:14.028 in the household just use that as their quote server 0:12:14.028 --> 0:12:17.358 to get off your, your media content. Um, of course 0:12:17.358 --> 0:12:20.628 you can always add more memory, um, hopefully to an 0:12:20.628 --> 0:12:24.318 older computer. You can add in a, you know, a 0:12:24.318 --> 0:12:27.858 faster solid state drive. But the other one that I 0:12:27.858 --> 0:12:33.018 keep forgetting about is particularly on PCs that use fans 0:12:33.018 --> 0:12:35.508 that may or may not be working very well is 0:12:35.508 --> 0:12:39.378 just the amount of dust that ends up inside your PC. Um, 0:12:39.558 --> 0:12:42.468 so I'm talking about mainly your windows computer, um, and 0:12:42.498 --> 0:12:46.008 of course a desktop, not a laptop. And the more 0:12:46.008 --> 0:12:51.918 filthy inside these computers get, the worse they actually operate, 0:12:51.948 --> 0:12:56.028 the more prone they are to overheating and damaging themselves. 0:12:56.028 --> 0:12:59.538 So it's always a good idea to open up your 0:12:59.538 --> 0:13:01.908 PC every now and again, every couple of years or 0:13:01.908 --> 0:13:04.278 so and give it a bit of vacuum out, or 0:13:04.278 --> 0:13:05.748 even take it into a computer shop. If you don't 0:13:05.748 --> 0:13:09.258 want to do it yourself and get your PC support person. 0:13:09.258 --> 0:13:11.868 If you like to clean up your computer a little bit. 0:13:11.898 --> 0:13:13.788 You're not going to tell me now that people still 0:13:13.788 --> 0:13:15.468 use floppy disks though, are you? 0:13:15.468 --> 0:13:18.828 I am indeed, they probably have for consumers, but for 0:13:18.828 --> 0:13:25.788 things like medical, medical equipment, um, some airlines with aircraft 0:13:25.788 --> 0:13:31.608 and also things like, um, some light rail systems use 0:13:31.608 --> 0:13:36.288 floppy disks to control different types of systems. So even 0:13:36.288 --> 0:13:39.228 though you may have not personally touched a floppy disk for, 0:13:39.228 --> 0:13:42.228 you know, 10 or 15 years, uh, they're still available 0:13:42.228 --> 0:13:43.698 and they're still around being used. 0:13:43.698 --> 0:13:46.068 How long do people keep their iPads? For? 0:13:46.188 --> 0:13:49.788 The basic number that I've been seeing in most articles 0:13:49.788 --> 0:13:53.958 these days is around about three years minimum. Again, it's 0:13:53.958 --> 0:13:56.628 one of those things that if you feel like your 0:13:56.628 --> 0:13:59.418 iPad in particular is still doing the same thing, then 0:13:59.418 --> 0:14:02.778 keep using it. Because tablets are a lot different to smartphones, 0:14:02.778 --> 0:14:09.048 smartphones improve a lot. Tablets don't really improve remarkably. So 0:14:09.048 --> 0:14:12.028 I always say to people, if your tablet from 3 0:14:12.028 --> 0:14:13.938 or 4 years ago was still doing the same job, 0:14:13.938 --> 0:14:16.038 that it was always done for you, then don't worry 0:14:16.038 --> 0:14:16.878 about upgrading. 0:14:16.878 --> 0:14:19.638 Yeah. Before we go, a reminder of where there are 0:14:19.638 --> 0:14:22.128 details of what we've been talking about in this and 0:14:22.128 --> 0:14:23.748 previous editions of the program. 0:14:23.748 --> 0:14:25.938 Indeed. So as always, you can check out my blog 0:14:25.938 --> 0:14:30.078 site which is David Woodburn dot podbean Podbean. 0:14:30.078 --> 0:14:33.948 Com David would be our dot podbean pod b e 0:14:33.948 --> 0:14:36.288 a n.com to write to the program. 0:14:36.288 --> 0:14:38.538 You can write to me at Vision Australia Royal Work, 0:14:38.538 --> 0:14:42.678 which is David Dot Woodbridge how it sounds at Vision Australia. 0:14:42.858 --> 0:14:47.388 Org David Dot Woodbridge at Vision Australia. Org this has 0:14:47.388 --> 0:14:50.448 been talking tech with me has been Vision Australia's national 0:14:50.448 --> 0:14:55.398 advisor on access technology David Woodbridge I'm Stephen Jolly stay safe. 0:14:55.398 --> 0:14:57.078 We'll talk more tech next week. See you.