WEBVTT - Talking Tech 26th November 2024 0:00:07.910 --> 0:00:11.930 Hello everyone. Welcome to Talking Tech. This edition, available from 0:00:11.930 --> 0:00:16.040 November the 26th, 2024. I'm Stephen Jolly, great to have 0:00:16.040 --> 0:00:19.940 you with us listening maybe through Vision Australia Radio, associated 0:00:19.940 --> 0:00:23.870 stations of the Radio Reading Network or the Community Radio Network. 0:00:23.900 --> 0:00:26.900 There is also the podcast. To catch that, all you 0:00:26.900 --> 0:00:29.720 need to do is search for the two words talking 0:00:29.750 --> 0:00:32.720 tech and Dana can all come usually on a Tuesday 0:00:32.720 --> 0:00:36.529 afternoon just after it's been produced. Another option is to 0:00:36.560 --> 0:00:39.830 ask your Siri device or smart speaker to play. Vision 0:00:39.860 --> 0:00:45.140 Australia radio talking tech podcast. Vision Australia radio talking tech 0:00:45.140 --> 0:00:52.189 podcast with me. Vision Australia's national access technology manager. Damo McMorrow. Hey, Damo. 0:00:52.220 --> 0:00:54.440 Hi, Stephen. Nice to be with you once again. 0:00:54.470 --> 0:00:57.620 Same to you. And it's getting close to Christmas, so 0:00:57.620 --> 0:01:00.529 we probably should be thinking about what to put in 0:01:00.529 --> 0:01:05.270 those stockings. And it's a good opportunity to visit the 0:01:05.270 --> 0:01:09.560 vision store, which you literally did. Firstly, tell us about 0:01:09.560 --> 0:01:12.169 the Vision store. The shop of Vision Australia. 0:01:12.170 --> 0:01:16.400 We have a number of physical stores around the country. 0:01:16.700 --> 0:01:20.390 They are laid out in a way that is extremely 0:01:20.390 --> 0:01:23.839 easy to move around and to navigate. All the different 0:01:23.840 --> 0:01:27.350 sections are labelled. The stores are sort of broken up 0:01:27.350 --> 0:01:30.920 into categories, so you've got all of the sort of 0:01:30.950 --> 0:01:33.860 kitchen and daily living aids in one section, all of 0:01:33.860 --> 0:01:37.580 the magnifiers in one section, that kind of thing. They 0:01:37.580 --> 0:01:40.789 have all sorts of different things, as I said, daily 0:01:40.789 --> 0:01:47.600 living aids, games, toys, accessible technology, magnifiers, daisy players, all 0:01:47.600 --> 0:01:50.810 sorts of different equipment. It's a great place to browse 0:01:50.810 --> 0:01:55.790 around as a blind person. We also have our online stores, 0:01:55.940 --> 0:01:59.150 which you can access at Shop Vision Australia. 0:01:59.420 --> 0:02:02.779 Org shop Dot, Vision australia.org. 0:02:02.780 --> 0:02:06.430 It's again very easy to navigate and find what you want. 0:02:06.460 --> 0:02:09.820 It's all divided up nicely into categories. There's a very 0:02:09.820 --> 0:02:13.690 good search function there as well. So for people who 0:02:13.720 --> 0:02:17.110 don't necessarily want to go in and touch and feel 0:02:17.110 --> 0:02:20.140 and have a look at things or people who may 0:02:20.140 --> 0:02:23.650 live too far away from a vision store, you can 0:02:23.650 --> 0:02:27.010 certainly do your shopping online and have things delivered to 0:02:27.040 --> 0:02:27.669 your door. 0:02:27.700 --> 0:02:30.130 Or you can do some preparation for your visit by 0:02:30.130 --> 0:02:31.720 browsing the website first. 0:02:31.720 --> 0:02:34.480 That's right. And you can also do a click and collect. 0:02:34.480 --> 0:02:37.360 So if you know you're going to be, you know, 0:02:37.390 --> 0:02:39.460 one of our sites next week or something like that, 0:02:39.460 --> 0:02:41.560 you can do your online shopping and then just pick 0:02:41.560 --> 0:02:42.760 it up when you go in. 0:02:42.760 --> 0:02:45.370 Some nice demos on the website too. YouTube. 0:02:45.400 --> 0:02:48.610 Yes, there definitely is. And we're adding to that all 0:02:48.610 --> 0:02:49.720 the time as well. 0:02:49.750 --> 0:02:52.480 You went to the Peru store the other day and 0:02:52.480 --> 0:02:56.890 you sat down with Ruby Lacey. Tell us about Ruby's role. 0:02:57.130 --> 0:03:00.880 I'm based at Coorparoo, so that site is my nearest 0:03:00.880 --> 0:03:04.230 vision store site in Brisbane. So I caught up with Ruby, 0:03:04.230 --> 0:03:07.710 one of our vision store coordinators. We had a chat 0:03:07.710 --> 0:03:12.780 about a whole range of different products. We started out 0:03:12.780 --> 0:03:17.130 with an accessible toy called the Tony's. So I first 0:03:17.130 --> 0:03:20.190 asked her, can you tell me a little bit about these? 0:03:20.220 --> 0:03:23.490 Absolutely. I love the Tony's box. I was so, so 0:03:23.490 --> 0:03:27.660 excited when we had the Tony's box introduced into our 0:03:27.660 --> 0:03:35.280 vision store range. The Tony's is a tactile and audible toy. 0:03:35.310 --> 0:03:39.690 It consists of a Tony's box. The Tony's box is 0:03:39.690 --> 0:03:43.080 a cube shaped box with a speaker on the top, 0:03:43.080 --> 0:03:48.210 and a magnetic platform where you can put your. Tony's characters. 0:03:48.270 --> 0:03:52.590 All of the controls are done by hand. You have 0:03:52.590 --> 0:03:56.310 two little pointy ears on top of the Tony's box, 0:03:56.310 --> 0:04:00.450 and these can be used to control the volume of your. Tony's. 0:04:00.450 --> 0:04:05.180 The Tonys is an incredibly durable piece of equipment. I've 0:04:05.180 --> 0:04:08.330 heard that the Tonys box has been seen by one 0:04:08.330 --> 0:04:12.500 of our team members lobbed across the house, smashed into 0:04:12.500 --> 0:04:14.840 a cupboard, and it survived really well. 0:04:15.080 --> 0:04:17.510 Not that we'd encourage kids to do that with their toys, 0:04:17.510 --> 0:04:19.430 but even with the best will in the world, it happens, 0:04:19.430 --> 0:04:19.880 doesn't it? 0:04:19.910 --> 0:04:25.280 Absolutely. It does. So incredibly durable. So the Tonys box 0:04:25.280 --> 0:04:30.320 itself is really a platform to introduce the Tony's characters. Um, 0:04:30.350 --> 0:04:33.410 when you get your Tony's box, it comes with one 0:04:33.410 --> 0:04:37.760 Tony's character, and there's a whole range of different characters 0:04:37.760 --> 0:04:40.430 that you can get to go with your Tony's box. 0:04:40.610 --> 0:04:43.970 And they've really tapped into what's popular with children. So 0:04:43.970 --> 0:04:46.610 all of the popular things that you can think of 0:04:46.640 --> 0:04:50.360 that kids love from entertainment, there's most likely to be 0:04:50.360 --> 0:04:54.020 a Tony in that theme. So today, the characters that 0:04:54.020 --> 0:04:57.200 I have with the Tony box, I have a Lion 0:04:57.200 --> 0:05:01.480 King character. It's a Simba character, and it offers a 0:05:01.480 --> 0:05:06.700 range of different songs from The Lion King. I've got 0:05:06.700 --> 0:05:11.470 a Gruffalo character that's a well known children's literary character 0:05:11.470 --> 0:05:14.589 from a from a popular story, The Gruffalo, which is 0:05:14.590 --> 0:05:19.660 also actually been adapted from books into an animated series. 0:05:19.660 --> 0:05:23.200 So it's a really, really well loved character and across 0:05:23.200 --> 0:05:26.980 multiple generations. So I can remember The Gruffalo from when 0:05:26.980 --> 0:05:31.570 I was younger, and my children also know The Gruffalo. So, um, 0:05:31.570 --> 0:05:36.250 a lot of the Tony's characters do stretch across multiple generations, 0:05:36.280 --> 0:05:38.350 and you do have some of the newer ones, like 0:05:38.350 --> 0:05:40.930 your Paw Patrol and and all of those things that 0:05:40.930 --> 0:05:41.920 kids love. 0:05:42.370 --> 0:05:45.610 So what what happens? You stick the character to the 0:05:45.610 --> 0:05:47.260 top of the Tony's box? 0:05:47.290 --> 0:05:50.680 Absolutely. So your little character is magnetic, as is the 0:05:50.680 --> 0:05:53.470 top of the Tony's box. And you'll take your character 0:05:53.470 --> 0:05:56.290 and you'll place it on top of the Tony's box. 0:05:56.290 --> 0:06:01.270 And after a brief intermission. The character will prompt the 0:06:01.270 --> 0:06:04.900 Tony's box to start playing whatever content is loaded onto 0:06:04.900 --> 0:06:05.650 that individual. 0:06:05.680 --> 0:06:08.920 Tony by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler. 0:06:08.920 --> 0:06:11.770 In this particular one, you can hear in the background 0:06:11.800 --> 0:06:17.230 it will be the novel of The Gruffalo in audiobook form. Awesome. 0:06:17.350 --> 0:06:21.640 The character itself is shaped like the Gruffalo. Really kind 0:06:21.670 --> 0:06:27.220 of sturdy, hardy, tactile character with the Tony's box. If 0:06:27.220 --> 0:06:29.740 I wanted to skip through the first chapter, what I 0:06:29.740 --> 0:06:32.080 would do is I would take my hand and strike 0:06:32.110 --> 0:06:36.070 the box on the side and it will fast forward 0:06:36.070 --> 0:06:39.130 through to the next chapter. If I remove the Tony 0:06:39.160 --> 0:06:42.160 from the box, the audio will stop. 0:06:42.190 --> 0:06:47.680 Okay, excellent. The Tony's characters are like a small hard 0:06:47.680 --> 0:06:52.330 plastic figurine. That's probably, what, 3 or 4cm tall? 0:06:52.510 --> 0:06:56.710 That's correct. Big enough to grasp in little hands, but 0:06:56.710 --> 0:07:00.089 too big to swallow. And they have a nice, a 0:07:00.090 --> 0:07:02.790 nice kind of weight to them. Um. 0:07:03.660 --> 0:07:05.550 Yeah, they do feel solid, don't they? 0:07:05.580 --> 0:07:07.620 I think that's the magnet in there. So they're they're 0:07:07.620 --> 0:07:09.990 quite a solid toy. Wouldn't want to get one thrown 0:07:09.990 --> 0:07:11.730 at your head. But that's not where they belong. They 0:07:11.730 --> 0:07:14.880 belong on the tiny box, I think with the Chinese 0:07:14.880 --> 0:07:18.270 characters as well. One of my favorite Chinese character is 0:07:18.270 --> 0:07:21.960 the customizable Chinese character. So there are certain amount of 0:07:21.960 --> 0:07:26.760 Tony's that don't have content loaded onto them, but you 0:07:26.760 --> 0:07:29.880 have the opportunity to load whatever content you wish onto 0:07:29.880 --> 0:07:32.340 that Tony and customize it to your liking. 0:07:32.340 --> 0:07:35.790 So you could perhaps narrate a story or something like that, 0:07:35.790 --> 0:07:38.190 or record a story or record some songs. 0:07:38.190 --> 0:07:42.360 Correct. And you don't have to necessarily be present with 0:07:42.360 --> 0:07:45.510 the physical Tony to load that content on, because it's 0:07:45.510 --> 0:07:48.120 done through an app, which means that you have the 0:07:48.120 --> 0:07:51.600 ability to allow people who are not in your immediate 0:07:51.600 --> 0:07:54.540 area to load content onto it. So I think, you know, 0:07:54.570 --> 0:07:58.130 grandma living across the country. She could read a story 0:07:58.130 --> 0:08:01.910 onto the Tony. You could record things like Christmas messages 0:08:01.910 --> 0:08:05.270 or birthday messages onto the Tony. You could read your 0:08:05.270 --> 0:08:08.180 child's favorite story on it, so you sometimes get a 0:08:08.180 --> 0:08:12.110 break from reading that story out loud. But it really 0:08:12.110 --> 0:08:15.020 gives you the ability to customize it in, in whatever 0:08:15.020 --> 0:08:19.190 way kind of suits your family. And you can rerecord 0:08:19.190 --> 0:08:22.430 over that. Tony. So once you've customized it, you can 0:08:22.430 --> 0:08:24.860 customize over that again and again. 0:08:24.890 --> 0:08:27.200 Fantastic. I think if I was a kid in this 0:08:27.200 --> 0:08:30.470 day and age, I would want one now. Um, one 0:08:30.470 --> 0:08:32.840 of the ones that I'm really excited to note that 0:08:32.840 --> 0:08:36.530 we have back in stock is the Tape King. Um, 0:08:36.530 --> 0:08:40.070 which is a talking tape measure that also has a 0:08:40.069 --> 0:08:43.219 spirit level. The the spirit level function I really want 0:08:43.250 --> 0:08:46.189 for when we take our caravan away camping. So I 0:08:46.189 --> 0:08:48.860 can level the van myself because I can't see the 0:08:48.859 --> 0:08:51.740 little bubble thing that's on the, on the drawbar. But 0:08:51.740 --> 0:08:54.319 the number of times that we find at home and 0:08:54.319 --> 0:08:56.920 we're about to start sort of doing some renovations and things, 0:08:56.920 --> 0:08:58.929 and I want to be able to measure stuff. So 0:08:58.929 --> 0:09:02.349 really excited that we have a talking tape measure in 0:09:02.349 --> 0:09:03.310 once again. 0:09:03.400 --> 0:09:06.910 Yes, as am I. It's actually been a long time waiting. 0:09:06.910 --> 0:09:11.110 So we've been greatly anticipating being able to have this 0:09:11.109 --> 0:09:15.099 talking tape measure again. It's such a such a great 0:09:15.130 --> 0:09:17.949 object to have for all of those things you've described. 0:09:17.949 --> 0:09:20.859 And there's been a real hole in the vision store 0:09:20.859 --> 0:09:23.199 that the tape measure used to fill. So we're really, 0:09:23.199 --> 0:09:26.800 really glad to have it back. So the tape measure itself, 0:09:26.800 --> 0:09:30.009 you have the talking measuring function, of course. And as 0:09:30.010 --> 0:09:34.629 you mentioned, the spirit level function as well. You also 0:09:34.630 --> 0:09:39.309 have the ability to add up and memorize. So if 0:09:39.309 --> 0:09:41.920 you have to do things in more than one kind 0:09:41.920 --> 0:09:47.080 of extension, it can remember the measurement before and add 0:09:47.079 --> 0:09:50.139 it up. So if you were measuring an area that 0:09:50.140 --> 0:09:53.500 was longer than the total length of that tape measure, 0:09:53.500 --> 0:09:55.390 it's able to add that up so it can give 0:09:55.390 --> 0:09:57.460 you the total length of, say, a room. 0:09:57.550 --> 0:10:00.040 That's definitely going to be handy because of course, the 0:10:00.040 --> 0:10:02.740 minute you're doing any kind of renovations at home, you 0:10:02.740 --> 0:10:04.449 go into a carpet place and they say, well, how 0:10:04.449 --> 0:10:06.429 many square meters of flooring do you want? You go, 0:10:06.459 --> 0:10:10.479 I don't know. So I think that's going to be really, 0:10:10.479 --> 0:10:12.759 really helpful for me. So as you pull the tape 0:10:12.760 --> 0:10:13.959 out it speaks. 0:10:13.990 --> 0:10:17.440 That's correct. So I'm just going to get this this 0:10:17.439 --> 0:10:20.440 tape King started. We're just going to turn it on. 0:10:21.880 --> 0:10:24.610 I'll just do a little demonstration by just pulling out 0:10:24.609 --> 0:10:27.459 the tape. Measure a small amount and we'll just get 0:10:27.459 --> 0:10:29.050 a reading from that. 0:10:31.150 --> 0:10:34.059 Ten centimeters four millimeters. 0:10:34.359 --> 0:10:38.050 So at the moment I have it set in centimeters. 0:10:38.050 --> 0:10:40.929 If you're not really a metric guy you could change 0:10:40.929 --> 0:10:42.309 that to inches. 0:10:42.339 --> 0:10:45.339 Now I'm really excited about that one. I think that's 0:10:45.339 --> 0:10:47.740 that's going to be a huge help for me. The 0:10:47.740 --> 0:10:50.469 other one that I'm really interested to hear about is 0:10:50.469 --> 0:10:54.870 the Colorino color detector. I have tried over the years 0:10:54.870 --> 0:10:58.170 to use some of the sort of color detector type 0:10:58.170 --> 0:11:00.660 phone apps, but I've never found it works as well 0:11:00.660 --> 0:11:03.449 as a color detector that you can actually press against 0:11:03.449 --> 0:11:07.319 the clothing and sort of eliminate other external light sources 0:11:07.319 --> 0:11:09.029 and things. Tell me about this one. 0:11:09.059 --> 0:11:13.710 So the color Reno is a small handheld device, sort 0:11:13.740 --> 0:11:17.279 of rectangular in shape. It's probably. Let's have a look 0:11:17.339 --> 0:11:20.219 at the tape, King says. Let's find out exactly how 0:11:20.219 --> 0:11:21.059 big this one is. 0:11:21.089 --> 0:11:23.520 Yeah. Why not 11cm. 0:11:23.819 --> 0:11:28.170 Okay, so your color Reno is 11cm. On the bottom surface. 0:11:28.170 --> 0:11:31.349 You have a battery cover. So this one just takes 0:11:31.349 --> 0:11:35.280 standard batteries. It is not a rechargeable device. On the 0:11:35.280 --> 0:11:38.760 top side of the device, you've got a speaker and 0:11:38.760 --> 0:11:42.929 you have two buttons. The front of the device has 0:11:42.929 --> 0:11:46.229 the lens that acts as the color detector. So I'm 0:11:46.229 --> 0:11:50.670 just going to turn the color Reno on. What I'm 0:11:50.670 --> 0:11:53.000 going to do now is I'm going to hold it 0:11:53.000 --> 0:11:57.050 towards this Tony's box. I'm having a look around this room, 0:11:57.050 --> 0:12:00.140 and I'm finding a lot of things are really nondescript colors. 0:12:00.140 --> 0:12:01.760 So I want to give the color Reno a fair 0:12:01.790 --> 0:12:05.749 chance to give us a good reading. So I'm just 0:12:05.750 --> 0:12:08.210 holding it up to the Tony's Box intensive. 0:12:08.209 --> 0:12:08.839 Red. 0:12:09.319 --> 0:12:11.150 Were you able to hear that? Yeah. 0:12:11.179 --> 0:12:12.020 Intensive red. 0:12:12.050 --> 0:12:15.500 Intensive red. I'd say that's a pretty good interpretation. The 0:12:15.500 --> 0:12:18.439 Tony's box. I've always described it as red, but I 0:12:18.439 --> 0:12:20.929 think I'll now be calling it intensive red. I think 0:12:20.929 --> 0:12:24.260 that's a very fair description. Yeah, it has a lot 0:12:24.290 --> 0:12:27.320 of applications, as you mentioned. It can prevent you from 0:12:27.319 --> 0:12:31.459 committing crimes against laundry. It can make sure that things 0:12:31.459 --> 0:12:34.550 that you're wearing are coordinated and make sure you're wearing 0:12:34.550 --> 0:12:36.890 the appropriate gear if you're going to go support your 0:12:36.890 --> 0:12:40.460 favorite team. Yes. Yeah. No faux pas at the football 0:12:40.459 --> 0:12:41.449 with the color Reno. 0:12:41.479 --> 0:12:42.410 That's right. 0:12:43.609 --> 0:12:44.059 Which is. 0:12:44.059 --> 0:12:47.300 Definitely handy. Thank you very much, Ruby, for joining me 0:12:47.300 --> 0:12:50.589 for talking tech. And I want to take the opportunity 0:12:50.589 --> 0:12:52.780 to wish you a merry Christmas, and I hope that 0:12:52.780 --> 0:12:55.239 we get lots of people through the store between now 0:12:55.240 --> 0:12:56.110 and Christmas time. 0:12:56.140 --> 0:12:59.620 Thank you so much for having me and Merry Christmas 0:12:59.620 --> 0:13:02.110 to everyone listening, and I hope to see you in 0:13:02.109 --> 0:13:02.920 the vision store. 0:13:02.949 --> 0:13:07.300 And Happy Christmas to you too. Ruby. Ruby. Lacey speaking 0:13:07.300 --> 0:13:12.880 there with Damo McMorrow at Vision Australia's Vision store in Coorparoo, Brisbane. 0:13:12.880 --> 0:13:15.550 But there's lots of those stores around the country at 0:13:15.550 --> 0:13:19.179 various Vision Australia sites, as well as the online shop 0:13:19.179 --> 0:13:24.609 Dot Vision australia.org. Damo, let's just let people know how 0:13:24.609 --> 0:13:27.339 much money they'll need for these wonderful devices. 0:13:27.490 --> 0:13:36.010 Sure. So the Tony's box is one 9999 that comes 0:13:36.010 --> 0:13:40.809 with one figurine, and the additional figurines are 29.95. Uh, 0:13:40.809 --> 0:13:43.690 if Marian wanted to buy me the tape King talking 0:13:43.719 --> 0:13:50.200 tape measure. Uh, that'll cost her $550 and the Colorino 0:13:50.199 --> 0:13:53.829 color detector was three 9999. 0:13:53.829 --> 0:13:59.290 From the Vision Australia Vision store, available through Shop Vision 0:13:59.319 --> 0:14:04.479 australia.org or at our various centers around the country. Before 0:14:04.479 --> 0:14:07.059 we go, a reminder of where you can find details 0:14:07.059 --> 0:14:09.400 of what we've been talking about in this program. All 0:14:09.400 --> 0:14:13.209 you need to do is go to VA Radio Vision Australia, 0:14:13.479 --> 0:14:19.120 org slash Talking Tech, VA Radio Vision Australia, dot org 0:14:19.120 --> 0:14:21.850 slash talking tech and to write to the program. 0:14:21.880 --> 0:14:30.250 Damo Damo McMorrow mkmo o r o w at Vision australia.org. 0:14:30.280 --> 0:14:35.140 Damo McMorrow at Vision Australia. Org this has been talking 0:14:35.170 --> 0:14:38.620 tech with me has been Vision Australia's national access technology 0:14:38.620 --> 0:14:42.520 manager Damo McMorrow. I'm Stephen Jolly. Stay safe. We'll talk 0:14:42.520 --> 0:14:43.870 more tech next week. See you.