S1: Hello everyone! Welcome to Talking Tech. This edition available from
S1: April 23rd, 2024. I'm Stephen Jolley, great to have you
S1: with us listening maybe through Vision Australia Radio, Associated Stations
S1: of Australia or maybe the Community Radio Network. There is
S1: the podcast. If you haven't caught up with that yet,
S1: all you need to do is search for the two words.
S1: Talking tech and Dana can all come usually on a
S1: Tuesday afternoon just after it's been produced. Another option is
S1: to ask your Siri device or smart speaker to play
S1: Vision Australia Radio talking tech podcast Vision Australia Radio talking
S1: tech podcast with me, someone who can explain all this
S1: tech stuff really well. Vision Australia's national advisor on access technology,
S1: David Woodbridge. David, let's start with our product Minute from
S1: the vision store of Vision Australia. There are lots of
S1: different ways to access content from the Vision Australia library
S1: these days, and one of them is through a very
S1: simple little device.
S2: And when we say simple, we mean very, very simple
S2: to use. It's not complicated. You pick it up and
S2: you can use it. And what I'm talking about is
S2: a little audio player which is called the Envoy Envoy Kinect.
S2: The way it works is that if you're a member
S2: of the Vision Australia library and remember that the Vision
S2: Australia Library is open to anybody with a print disability.
S2: So you don't have to be just blind or low vision. Um,
S2: if you've got a print disability, I might have a
S2: neurological condition, etc. then you can join the Vision Australia library.
S2: And you can certainly, if you're not already, certainly give
S2: them a call via the main one 308 4746 number
S2: and have a chat. The way the Envoy Connect player
S2: works with the library is actually fairly cool. So one
S2: way is you grab your windows computer. So window no
S2: Windows 10 or Windows 11. You install an application from
S2: the Vision State Library called the kiosk, and then you
S2: initially log in with your username and password and then
S2: whatever you've got your bookshelf set to, such as, you know,
S2: automatic books coming online, uh, or any other content you've
S2: got up automatically and we'll get to some other options
S2: in a tick. Then as soon as you run the software,
S2: the next time it goes okay, uh, I've logged in.
S2: I've grabbed all your books for you. I'm going to
S2: download it to the player that you've got plugged in
S2: via the USB port, and you unplug it when it's
S2: finished because it tells you when it's done, and press
S2: one button to turn it on. Press the same button
S2: to start it playing and off you go. So it really,
S2: really is straightforward. Or the other way is let's say
S2: for example, you're not don't want to actually use a
S2: windows computer. You can actually send your envoy connect to
S2: the Vision Australia library. They can put more content on
S2: it for you and send it back. And the tip
S2: for some people is to have two players, because what
S2: you can do is you can have one play which
S2: has got your new current books on it, and then
S2: once you finish with the other player that's got your
S2: old books and you send it in while that's waiting
S2: to get updated and send it back to you, you
S2: can enjoy content on your current player that you've got
S2: all the new books on. So it's a great way,
S2: considering that this thing only costs $84. So it is
S2: really worthwhile to grab a hold of this, particularly for
S2: people that want either simple access via windows computer or
S2: they want to just be able to enjoy books, you know,
S2: turn it on, press play, adjust the volume, which is
S2: actually very, very loud. Go to the previous next chapter
S2: and not have to worry too much about all the
S2: whiz bang features that other systems may have.
S1: Physically, it sits in the palm of your hand.
S2: It does literally. You've got a speaker, and then below
S2: that you basically got about six buttons. So play pause
S2: or on and off a bookshelf, fast forward rewind and
S2: volume up and volume down. And the thing I love
S2: about this one, and besides the volume and the fact
S2: that you can pair it off for USB to actually
S2: pair it, it's got a little solar panel at the
S2: back of it. So you can use the the free
S2: battery in the sky. You pop it on your kitchen
S2: bench or wherever you got the sun coming through, and
S2: hey presto, it'll do a good solid charge of your
S2: envoy connect within. I think I want to say around
S2: about eight hours. So it really does work extremely nicely.
S2: And of course you can plug a good old 3.5mm
S2: headphone jack into it for your earphones if you want
S2: to do that as well.
S1: The speaker itself is pretty good, but as you say,
S1: you can use the headphones as well.
S2: That's right. And when we say loud, it's significantly loud.
S2: It's actually really, really good volume. I can actually have
S2: it on my outdoor table. Undermine the time, you know,
S2: the back of my house and I can listen to
S2: it a good, jeez, ten, ten meters away. So that's
S2: the Envoy Kinect from the Vision Australia Vision store, which
S2: works with the Vision Australia library.
S1: Terrific. We're starting to see the presence of AI in
S1: our apps more and more. This is something from Honda.
S2: Yep. And when we say Honda, we. I mean, the
S2: Honda Car company and what they're doing there currently in
S2: conjunction with a couple of blindness organizations, uh, on the
S2: other side of the world. They're developing something called the
S2: Honda Scene Audio app, which is currently in beta. And
S2: what it's designed to do is to give you, through
S2: computer vision, what is happening around the car when you're
S2: traveling is a blind or low vision person, because we
S2: know as a blind person, you jump in a car
S2: and all you can hear is just the car noises
S2: and the road surface and all that sort of stuff.
S2: So this tells you what's happening around you. It also
S2: has G.P.S. information. So it also knows from your GPS
S2: location what quote should be around you. So what they're
S2: saying is, look, it's not just audio describing or describing
S2: what's around you. It's also giving you G.P.S. located type information.
S2: And the other thing it also gives you as well
S2: is because you're traveling outside in the weather. It's also
S2: giving you the forward cost if it's cloudy or raining
S2: or a chance of rain and so on. So it
S2: really does sound like one of these inclusive applications where
S2: it's really telling you what's happening in your environment in
S2: real time and giving you a lot more information just besides.
S2: Oh look, your computer vision thing has just seen a tree.
S2: Well big deal. But when they can describe the landscape
S2: in much greater detail the cliffs, the ocean, all that
S2: sort of stuff this is really going to bring alive
S2: traveling in the car. So I'm not too sure whether
S2: when they say an app that it's tied to the
S2: the Honda Entertainment system and just using the cameras in
S2: the car, or it's an app you can use on
S2: your smartphone that didn't quite go into that detail in
S2: the article I read, but looks promising for the future.
S1: One of the downsides of the new generation of vehicles,
S1: electric cars, etc. is they don't make any noise.
S2: No, and that's actually quite dangerous for us, particularly if
S2: you've got low vision issues or you're completely blind because
S2: these things don't make a noise. The only time electric
S2: vehicle makes a noise is when the tyre noise is
S2: on the road, and you can hear it now when
S2: they're at lower speeds, you can't hear the car even
S2: move under, say 25km an hour. So what Vision Australia
S2: has been advocating and lobbying for for the last five
S2: years is to get a sound in the car so
S2: that it generates the noise under 25km an hour. And
S2: the fancy name for it or the abbreviation is avatar.
S2: So it stands for Acoustic Vehicle Audio System. One thing
S2: that did mention in the announcement, which Chris Edwards made
S2: last week, is it's not just a beep sound, because
S2: a beep sounds, as we all know, is very hard
S2: to determine where it's coming from. Chris said in the
S2: the article that I read is it actually makes an
S2: engine sound, which is much easier to locate. So that
S2: means when you've got an electric vehicle coming towards you
S2: in a car park, or it's coming up to a
S2: crossing with no traffic lights, or it's backing out of
S2: a drive while you're doing all sorts of low speed things,
S2: you'll be able to hear it. And the really great thing,
S2: as Chris said, was pointed out and also in the article,
S2: was that the government's also extended this to hybrid vehicles,
S2: hydrogen vehicles and trucks and buses, not just electric cars.
S2: So I think this is going to look bright, considering
S2: that over the next 25 years or so, um, we're
S2: going to see a lot more things on the road
S2: that are electric. And I think it's very promising because
S2: I have been called out quite a few times with
S2: electric vehicles. And as Chris points out, a number of
S2: us have had very near misses with electric vehicles purely
S2: because you can't hear them coming.
S1: He's a good man, Chris. He leads the systemic advocacy
S1: group at Virgin Australia. This issue is an example of
S1: the very kind of thing that he's quite concerned about
S1: and working on.
S2: Exactly. Know. And that's been it's been fantastic that after
S2: five years of lobbying, we've got to where we are now.
S2: So I think Virgin Australia needs to be congratulated and
S2: so does the government.
S1: Actually Apple accessibility may is always an interesting month. And
S1: there's a major event next week that we can tune into.
S2: That's correct. And they seem to be getting in early
S2: for God. So God is the Global Accessibility Awareness Day,
S2: which I think from memory is in about May 20th. Uh,
S2: so Apple's getting in a bit early. So what they've
S2: got is they've called Apple accessibility events. Make it yours
S2: and there'll be over viewing accessibility to do with cross
S2: the line for accessibility of all Apple products. So iPhone, iPad,
S2: Apple Watch, etc. and what they've done quite nicely. And
S2: I think it's a great idea. The the actual times
S2: are on May 1st, two, eight and nine. And then
S2: during those days they've got different times and also different
S2: ways of. Setting it. So I think they've got a
S2: couple with closed captioning. They've got a couple with audio
S2: describing going on as well. So they're actually pre done
S2: pre recordings which I think is a fantastic way to
S2: do it. That seems to be the Apple way at
S2: the moment. They do these sort of keynotes or videos
S2: that are pre done so they can put all the
S2: accessibility stuff into it rather than being a live one.
S2: And I think it's a good idea, even though I'm
S2: a fairly good person on Apple accessibility. I've loved listening
S2: to this type of stuff because I always find out
S2: little things that I may have forgotten. So if you
S2: want to just have a little bit of refresher, it
S2: only takes an hour. Choose what time you like. Register
S2: on the link that I've got in the show notes,
S2: and hey presto, you can sit back and listen to
S2: it at your own time and at your own accessibility level.
S2: Great stuff.
S1: More attention now to the beat speak or Blazey speak.
S1: The little device that we've been talking about in recent
S1: weeks that Braille oriented one. There's a leather case that's
S1: going to be available soon.
S2: That's right. There's a company called turtle back overseas that's
S2: very famous for producing executive cases for quite a few
S2: different blindness type products, and they've just announced via Blazey
S2: Technologies themselves, they've got a case now for the beat
S2: speak so effectively. What it does it when it's closed
S2: it calls it covers up the keys. Um, it leaves
S2: the ports open, including that, of course, where you plug
S2: it in via the USB port to power it. Um,
S2: so it's really designed to sort of, you know, keep
S2: dust and other stuff out of the keys when the
S2: case is closed, has a little magnetic toggle on the front,
S2: so it clips on quite nicely and stays there. So
S2: it's just to protect it, considering that this thing's, you know,
S2: an Australian dollars, it's worth about a couple of thousand dollars. Um,
S2: it's always a good idea to try and keep your
S2: your device bump free, scratch free, moisture free and all
S2: that sort of cool stuff. So have a look at
S2: that on the link. Um, now, if you go to
S2: the Blaze Technologies website, you may also see a promo
S2: on there to get a reduction off if you use
S2: a promo code. Um, but I think that's only lasting
S2: for another 3 or 4 weeks as we go to air.
S2: So you certainly can go to the turtle back link
S2: that I've got on the show notes. It's $148 US now,
S2: the promo code via the Blaze Technology site. If you
S2: want to use that promo code when you purchase from
S2: turtle Bank, that takes it down to 92 USD.
S1: Is that available now or is it for pre-order?
S2: No, it's for pre-order. I would probably suggest maybe towards
S2: the end of May.
S1: They have pretty significant software updates every month or so.
S1: Now for the BT spec, don't they?
S2: They do. And I think this is going to be
S2: a regular thing for the moment. While they're sort of
S2: ironed out, a few little bugs add a few more
S2: applications and features and documentation. Uh, there isn't one was
S2: actually a good one because it actually included a voice
S2: memo application. It's a good, solid update that they've actually
S2: released voice memos, and they've got more applications to come
S2: as time goes on.
S1: Tell us about the we work.
S2: So this is the quote, smart cane, uh, which is
S2: as an application of your smartphone, uh, that you can
S2: control the cane on what it does with sounds and
S2: stuff to do with GPS. The cane itself has a
S2: one single sonar unit that points in front, detects objects
S2: right in front of you above your waist height. So
S2: it's another option to look at if you're looking for
S2: a sonar based cane, such as the walk, ultra cane,
S2: or other sonar based canes. But the walk is the
S2: one that Vision Australia sells. And this new one, uh,
S2: is a is a version two of the previous one.
S2: And certainly worthwhile having a listen to the webinar coming
S2: up on our time the 26th of April. And it's
S2: probably going to be about 3 a.m. in the morning.
S2: So depending on how you are, have a listen.
S1: Hopefully there'll be a recording available for later use.
S2: I hope so, yeah.
S1: Before we go, a reminder of where there are details
S1: of what we've been talking about in this and previous editions.
S2: As always, you can check out my blog site, which
S2: is David Audible Podbean Pod Barn Comm.
S1: David would be our podbean podbean. Com to write to
S1: the program.
S2: You can write to me at Virgin Australia where I work,
S2: which is David Woodbridge how it sounds at Virgin australia.org.
S1: David Dot Woodbridge at Vision Australian org this has been
S1: talking tech with me has been Vision Australia's national advisor
S1: on access technology David Woodbridge I'm Stephen Jolley. Take care.
S1: We'll talk more tech next week. See you.