WEBVTT - Talking Tech 19th December 2023 0:00:08.258 --> 0:00:11.918 Hello everyone. Welcome to Talking Tech. This edition available from 0:00:11.918 --> 0:00:15.578 December 19th, 2023. I'm Stephen Jolly. Great to have you 0:00:15.578 --> 0:00:18.998 with us. Wherever you're listening, perhaps through Virgin Australia Radio, 0:00:18.998 --> 0:00:23.978 associated stations of RPI Australia, or maybe the Community Radio Network. 0:00:24.008 --> 0:00:26.618 There is also the podcast. To catch that, all you 0:00:26.618 --> 0:00:29.258 need to do is search for the two words talking 0:00:29.288 --> 0:00:31.868 tech and downer can all come usually on a Tuesday 0:00:31.868 --> 0:00:35.438 afternoon just after it's been produced. Another option is to 0:00:35.438 --> 0:00:38.978 ask your Siri device or smart speaker to play Virgin 0:00:38.978 --> 0:00:43.898 Australia Radio talking tech podcast, Virgin Australia Radio Talking Tech 0:00:43.898 --> 0:00:47.378 podcast with me, someone who can explain all this tech 0:00:47.378 --> 0:00:52.898 stuff really well. Vivian, Australia's national advisor on access technology, 0:00:52.898 --> 0:00:56.858 David Woodbridge David, we'll start with something not so techie, 0:00:56.858 --> 0:01:01.868 but really useful. It relates to a product available from 0:01:01.868 --> 0:01:05.468 Virgin Australia's vision store, a new cane. 0:01:05.738 --> 0:01:11.918 Indeed. This is the South Korean telescopic cane. And the 0:01:11.918 --> 0:01:15.158 reason why it's so cool is because, number one, it's 0:01:15.158 --> 0:01:19.718 got nine segments that basically shoves into an end of 0:01:19.718 --> 0:01:23.738 the handle and, you know, on those sort of legs 0:01:23.738 --> 0:01:27.098 that you have, particularly for like bathroom, shower chairs and 0:01:27.098 --> 0:01:29.708 that sort of stuff where they've got that little button 0:01:29.708 --> 0:01:32.918 that pops out to keep the legs at a certain level. Well, 0:01:32.918 --> 0:01:34.928 each time you put one of these little segments out, 0:01:35.048 --> 0:01:37.868 it pops out a little stud to make it nice 0:01:37.868 --> 0:01:41.078 and solid. So you basically just keep pulling into the 0:01:41.078 --> 0:01:43.658 whole canes out, and then it's all rigid and ready 0:01:43.658 --> 0:01:47.618 to go. And because it's made of aluminium, this is 0:01:47.618 --> 0:01:52.478 the most lightweight cane I have ever felt and used. 0:01:52.808 --> 0:01:57.758 And then it also has these reinforced aluminium segments. So 0:01:57.758 --> 0:02:00.308 where the cane sort of joins up near that little 0:02:00.308 --> 0:02:05.288 stability button that holds the the cane rigid, it's reinforced. 0:02:05.288 --> 0:02:08.318 So not only is it light, it's also very strong. 0:02:08.528 --> 0:02:11.888 And I guess if I had to give people a 0:02:11.888 --> 0:02:13.838 little bit of warning about it, remember, if they sort 0:02:13.838 --> 0:02:17.588 of fold up canes, they're designed to be more sort 0:02:17.588 --> 0:02:21.338 of indoor canes rather than outdoor. And the reason why 0:02:21.338 --> 0:02:24.218 I said that is two things. The the tip, because 0:02:24.218 --> 0:02:28.598 it is such a beautiful small, you know, recessed cane. 0:02:28.868 --> 0:02:31.718 The tip is not that big. So you might get 0:02:31.718 --> 0:02:33.878 it sort of stuck into cracks in the concrete and 0:02:33.878 --> 0:02:37.448 that sort of stuff indoor. It's perfect on tiles and 0:02:37.448 --> 0:02:40.898 carpet and all that sort of surface changes because because 0:02:40.898 --> 0:02:44.378 you get such a great feedback through that aluminium frame 0:02:44.378 --> 0:02:47.648 of the actual cane. The second reason why I wanted 0:02:47.648 --> 0:02:52.028 to bring to people's attention is that because this kind 0:02:52.028 --> 0:02:55.838 concertina is back into itself and you've got those buttons, 0:02:56.438 --> 0:03:00.818 please don't open this cane rapidly. Now when I mean rapidly, 0:03:00.818 --> 0:03:04.208 I mean just don't go to open up. The whole 0:03:04.208 --> 0:03:06.488 came up in my little extend the polymers if you 0:03:06.488 --> 0:03:08.798 do it too hard like I did at karate last week, 0:03:09.278 --> 0:03:11.918 parts of the cane will actually pull out from the 0:03:11.918 --> 0:03:14.318 other parts of the cane. And I've done that and 0:03:14.318 --> 0:03:18.878 it was fixable. Um, I actually got my sighted daughter 0:03:18.878 --> 0:03:21.398 to do it for me when I got back to home. 0:03:21.968 --> 0:03:25.088 But you can imagine if you did that very quickly, 0:03:25.088 --> 0:03:27.818 about to get on a train or in the middle 0:03:27.818 --> 0:03:29.798 of a city street, and you had no one around 0:03:29.798 --> 0:03:32.318 to help you, or you couldn't get it back together again, 0:03:32.438 --> 0:03:36.248 you've just lost your mobility, right? So when you open 0:03:36.248 --> 0:03:39.548 it gently, so like a sort of a type matching 0:03:39.548 --> 0:03:42.368 that sort of sounds opening it, it's fine. So you're 0:03:42.368 --> 0:03:45.218 not going to break it, just opening it normally. But 0:03:45.218 --> 0:03:47.858 when I saw that bit of paper in the the 0:03:47.858 --> 0:03:50.978 carrying case for the cane that said warning, please do 0:03:50.978 --> 0:03:54.848 not open this cane roughly or quickly, they really do 0:03:54.848 --> 0:03:58.838 mean that. But besides that it comes in different sizes. 0:03:58.838 --> 0:04:02.798 I've got a 54 inch whatever it is in centimeters cane. 0:04:02.798 --> 0:04:05.618 Like I said, it retracts back into the handle. It's 0:04:05.618 --> 0:04:09.158 so tiny. It's light, it's sturdy. So as an indoor 0:04:09.158 --> 0:04:11.618 cane and a backup cane that I always carry around 0:04:11.618 --> 0:04:15.488 with me anyway. Absolutely fantastic. So again, it's called the 0:04:15.488 --> 0:04:19.148 South Korean telescopic cane. And if you want to make 0:04:19.148 --> 0:04:21.278 sure it's the right one that says nine segments, or 0:04:21.278 --> 0:04:23.138 if you want to go down in the description, it 0:04:23.138 --> 0:04:26.018 does have that warning about not opening it up too rapidly. 0:04:26.198 --> 0:04:28.928 I think you like it. It's available from the vision 0:04:28.928 --> 0:04:34.358 store of Vision Australia, and the vision store will be closing, uh, 0:04:34.358 --> 0:04:38.588 as expected over the Christmas period last day, December 22nd. 0:04:38.588 --> 0:04:41.738 Probably a good idea to get in by midday Monday 0:04:42.068 --> 0:04:47.908 and then opens again on January 8th. Now tell us 0:04:47.908 --> 0:04:51.568 about Site Tech Global which happened a couple of weeks ago. 0:04:52.318 --> 0:04:55.168 So from memory I think they started in 2020. But 0:04:55.168 --> 0:04:58.558 it's a series of two day workshop or a conference 0:04:59.038 --> 0:05:01.498 where they get major players in the field of assistive 0:05:01.498 --> 0:05:06.148 technology to talk about relevant tech for particularly blind and 0:05:06.148 --> 0:05:09.748 low vision. And by the way, the word site is 0:05:09.748 --> 0:05:14.188 actually s I g h t not site, hence the name. 0:05:15.028 --> 0:05:17.728 But this time around, on the sixth and 7th of December, 0:05:17.728 --> 0:05:22.918 they had quite a few discussions on computer artificial intelligence, 0:05:22.918 --> 0:05:25.498 and they had a professor on there from one of 0:05:25.498 --> 0:05:28.228 the universities in the states talking about what exactly a 0:05:28.228 --> 0:05:32.398 large language model is, how it's built up over time, 0:05:32.548 --> 0:05:35.158 and sort of what we consider to be, you know, 0:05:35.158 --> 0:05:40.318 artificial intelligence or real computer AI type stuff. So it 0:05:40.318 --> 0:05:42.178 was really fascinating. The link I've got in the show 0:05:42.178 --> 0:05:44.638 notes takes you to the website, where you can listen 0:05:44.638 --> 0:05:50.758 to all the main stage discussions, and there's also some 0:05:50.758 --> 0:05:52.798 stuff on there on the on the dot pad and 0:05:52.798 --> 0:05:56.488 some other stuff as there as well. But primarily I 0:05:56.488 --> 0:05:59.848 think this year was really focusing quite heavily on AI. 0:05:59.878 --> 0:06:02.878 So really interesting to listen to and I think you'll 0:06:02.878 --> 0:06:03.748 get a lot out of it. 0:06:04.318 --> 0:06:08.158 The Haber one, which is a nice device for giving 0:06:08.158 --> 0:06:13.978 people Braille keyboard access to iOS devices, now works with Android. 0:06:14.278 --> 0:06:17.608 It does. So I've been mentioning this device on and 0:06:17.608 --> 0:06:20.938 off for probably the last two years now, and it 0:06:20.938 --> 0:06:22.978 was only this year that they brought out, and I 0:06:22.978 --> 0:06:24.538 think it was back in April this year. They brought 0:06:24.538 --> 0:06:26.968 out an iOS version. And the reason for the app 0:06:26.968 --> 0:06:30.088 is that that's the way that you can update the 0:06:30.088 --> 0:06:33.208 firmware or the software inside the Haber one. And for 0:06:33.208 --> 0:06:35.278 people that can't remember what it is, if you can 0:06:35.278 --> 0:06:42.538 imagine A8K custom device, but just imagine a Braille cell. 0:06:42.538 --> 0:06:44.758 So you've got keys going down the left hand side 0:06:44.758 --> 0:06:47.038 in the middle of this device. So one, two, three. 0:06:47.278 --> 0:06:49.618 And then you've got the right column of your browser 0:06:49.618 --> 0:06:51.688 with keys 4 or 5 and six. And then of 0:06:51.688 --> 0:06:55.168 course being sort of an eight dot brow thing, you've 0:06:55.168 --> 0:06:57.538 got dot seven next to dot three to the left 0:06:57.538 --> 0:07:01.888 and you've got eight to the right of of course, six. 0:07:02.638 --> 0:07:05.038 So a combination of those keys allow you to navigate. 0:07:05.218 --> 0:07:08.578 So I think it was only, I want to say 0:07:08.578 --> 0:07:10.828 the end of November or the early part of December 0:07:10.828 --> 0:07:14.818 this year that they released the Android version, which means 0:07:14.818 --> 0:07:19.288 every time they bring up a new improvement for Harbor One, uh, 0:07:19.288 --> 0:07:22.438 then you can update it very easily, because I always 0:07:22.438 --> 0:07:27.598 used to hate updating my orbit writer or even my 0:07:27.598 --> 0:07:29.908 Revo keyboard. I just felt like I had to do 0:07:29.938 --> 0:07:32.848 weird and wonderful things to update it. Well, this one 0:07:32.848 --> 0:07:37.378 you simply, um. If it's Bluetooth connected across to your smartphone, 0:07:37.378 --> 0:07:40.378 iPhone or Android, you run the app, it goes, hello, 0:07:40.378 --> 0:07:43.168 there it is. And you simply press the update button 0:07:43.168 --> 0:07:46.048 on the screen. You couldn't get much easier to keep 0:07:46.048 --> 0:07:47.758 your hardware device up to date. 0:07:48.268 --> 0:07:52.648 Apple has dropped some new versions of its software last week. 0:07:52.768 --> 0:07:58.048 Indeed. So iOS 17.2 and to be completely correct, iPad 0:07:58.198 --> 0:08:03.118 OS 17.2 as well. But in the iPhone version. And 0:08:03.118 --> 0:08:04.888 the reason why I mention this because I think it's annoying. 0:08:04.888 --> 0:08:07.798 It's not available in the iPad. They released a lovely 0:08:07.798 --> 0:08:11.548 app called the Journal App and basically what it is, 0:08:11.548 --> 0:08:14.488 it's a journal, or in old terms, it's a diary 0:08:14.878 --> 0:08:17.338 for you to sort of keep track of your thoughts 0:08:17.338 --> 0:08:20.758 and feelings and things that you just might want to quote, 0:08:20.758 --> 0:08:24.628 write down, uh, as you live your life. And I 0:08:24.628 --> 0:08:27.898 was listening to a very interesting mainstream chit chat last week. 0:08:27.898 --> 0:08:31.948 So people often, you know, they'll actually often Twitter and, uh, 0:08:31.948 --> 0:08:35.098 Mastodon and whatever else. And yes, I did say Twitter. 0:08:35.098 --> 0:08:38.368 I hate using the word x, um, about, you know, 0:08:38.368 --> 0:08:41.548 how their day went or how the holiday was. Well, 0:08:41.548 --> 0:08:44.368 this is not you sharing with the world. This is 0:08:44.368 --> 0:08:47.908 your you sharing with yourself. So it's a way of just, 0:08:48.238 --> 0:08:51.598 you know, popping down the occasional note. Or you might 0:08:51.598 --> 0:08:54.178 have just like me, I've just got my karate purple 0:08:54.178 --> 0:08:57.658 advance belt, so that's something to write down. Um, towards 0:08:57.658 --> 0:08:59.638 the end of the year for me now, so I 0:08:59.638 --> 0:09:01.648 can just, you know, I can look back, you know, 0:09:01.648 --> 0:09:03.868 next year. And so I wonder if there was anything 0:09:03.868 --> 0:09:07.768 in December that I did in 2023. And the nice 0:09:07.768 --> 0:09:12.628 thing about these apps that Apple produces, they're not all singing, 0:09:12.628 --> 0:09:16.738 all dancing, feature rich. They're just enough to do the job. 0:09:16.738 --> 0:09:18.778 And and I guess from that point of view is 0:09:18.778 --> 0:09:22.618 that if you don't like the, the basic features of it, uh, 0:09:22.618 --> 0:09:25.138 because it does give you suggestions, then you can always 0:09:25.138 --> 0:09:27.508 go and use a much more advanced journaling app. 0:09:27.748 --> 0:09:29.548 Yep. And what about the Mac? 0:09:30.538 --> 0:09:36.298 The Mac has released Mac OS version 14.2. So Sonoma, 0:09:36.298 --> 0:09:40.708 it's the name of the operating system version and supposedly 0:09:40.708 --> 0:09:45.268 exclamation mark. The fix the bug that would cause VoiceOver 0:09:45.268 --> 0:09:49.888 to respond with. Not responding for safari. When you're opening Safari, 0:09:49.918 --> 0:09:53.308 you're refreshing a page and so on. Well, supposedly that's 0:09:53.308 --> 0:09:55.168 been fixed. And I know that's one thing there have 0:09:55.168 --> 0:09:57.958 been people have been whinging about for I know I 0:09:57.958 --> 0:10:00.778 almost want to say good decade now, so fingers crossed. 0:10:00.778 --> 0:10:04.498 But yes, that's that's now a brand spanking new update 0:10:04.828 --> 0:10:08.908 for me. There's nothing really that stands out besides that fixed. 0:10:09.448 --> 0:10:12.838 And the watch operating system also up to 9.2. 0:10:13.408 --> 0:10:15.898 Yeah, and apparently I haven't double checked this one, but 0:10:15.898 --> 0:10:20.968 apparently the watch version, they've fixed the fact that you 0:10:20.968 --> 0:10:24.598 can do your two fingers swipe again between your watch 0:10:24.598 --> 0:10:26.818 face screens. If my two year old grandson's over here, 0:10:26.818 --> 0:10:30.748 I've normally got their Mickey Mouse watch for him. And 0:10:30.748 --> 0:10:33.028 then when I'm doing my normal workout, I switch back 0:10:33.028 --> 0:10:35.788 to the watch face for my workout stuff. So it's 0:10:35.788 --> 0:10:38.338 nice again that they've actually fixed that issue, particularly with 0:10:38.338 --> 0:10:40.168 VoiceOver changing your watch faces. 0:10:40.948 --> 0:10:44.698 There's some very useful, shall we say, tech newsletters that 0:10:44.698 --> 0:10:50.728 we see each week, uh, the information access news and 0:10:50.728 --> 0:10:54.358 also the top tech tidbits. They're pretty good, aren't they? 0:10:54.808 --> 0:10:57.988 They're actually very well done. Because what they do, they 0:10:57.988 --> 0:11:01.228 have a lot of, um, if you like, contributing editors, 0:11:01.228 --> 0:11:05.278 including me, uh, that gives them information about all different 0:11:05.278 --> 0:11:10.318 types of accessibility. As far as assistive tech in mainstream 0:11:10.318 --> 0:11:13.618 tech's concerned. The problem I find sometimes, and they do 0:11:13.618 --> 0:11:16.108 warn you about this, that sometimes this stuff ends up 0:11:16.108 --> 0:11:19.048 in your spam folder in your email. So it's always 0:11:19.048 --> 0:11:22.078 a good idea to double check that if you haven't 0:11:22.078 --> 0:11:24.748 researched it on. I think I normally get mine on 0:11:24.748 --> 0:11:30.358 a Monday evening, our time and Thursday evening our time. Uh, 0:11:30.358 --> 0:11:32.968 and of course I use this for when I've gone 0:11:32.968 --> 0:11:35.308 through all my social media stuff for talking tech as well. 0:11:35.488 --> 0:11:37.408 But if you really need to keep up to date, 0:11:37.408 --> 0:11:38.998 or you just out of interest, you want to keep 0:11:38.998 --> 0:11:42.478 up to date, this is a really great source of information. 0:11:42.958 --> 0:11:46.588 Let's think a bit now about the future. Uh, a 0:11:46.588 --> 0:11:51.238 work in progress is object recognition and screen detection on 0:11:51.238 --> 0:11:52.918 our smart devices. 0:11:53.548 --> 0:11:56.428 I know there's been a lot of talk about object recognition, 0:11:56.728 --> 0:11:59.998 particularly in the field, and then using AI to interpret, 0:11:59.998 --> 0:12:02.488 you know, what what the camera's taking a picture of 0:12:02.488 --> 0:12:04.558 and what's in the field of view and that sort 0:12:04.558 --> 0:12:07.708 of stuff. Now, I decided with my friend Caitlin to 0:12:07.708 --> 0:12:11.818 go out and do a bit of a non-official research project, 0:12:11.818 --> 0:12:15.268 which took about four hours. So we set out with 0:12:15.268 --> 0:12:19.138 both my Android phone and my iPhone. Uh, primarily we're 0:12:19.138 --> 0:12:22.738 using seeing AI because it's available on both and also 0:12:22.738 --> 0:12:26.488 be my eyes virtual assistant again on both. So we 0:12:26.488 --> 0:12:31.018 went around to, uh, parks, shopping centers, train stations and 0:12:31.018 --> 0:12:34.918 anything else I could possibly think of. And we took 0:12:34.918 --> 0:12:38.098 photos and we kept comparing them to what iOS did 0:12:38.098 --> 0:12:43.888 and what Android did on those applications. And unofficially, the 0:12:43.888 --> 0:12:48.808 unofficial research, I think we decided that it was about 85% accurate, 0:12:49.108 --> 0:12:52.678 because what it almost seemed to do it, it almost 0:12:52.678 --> 0:12:56.788 seemed like it was not identifying an item as such. 0:12:56.788 --> 0:13:01.288 It was identifying an item based on the location. So, 0:13:01.288 --> 0:13:04.318 for example, when it determined that we were in a 0:13:04.318 --> 0:13:08.248 park and there was a swing and a seesaw, it 0:13:08.248 --> 0:13:11.818 decided that the little round thing that kids sit in, 0:13:11.818 --> 0:13:16.588 which is actually like a round shape, it decided that 0:13:16.588 --> 0:13:21.628 that was a little toy shed for apparent reason. Um, 0:13:21.628 --> 0:13:24.028 and it was doing some other strange things as well. 0:13:24.028 --> 0:13:26.968 So it was almost like saying, oh, look, I know 0:13:26.968 --> 0:13:29.338 that on the train station there should be this thing there, 0:13:29.338 --> 0:13:31.018 or I know in a shopping center there should be 0:13:31.018 --> 0:13:34.018 this thing there. So is I must like it wasn't 0:13:34.018 --> 0:13:38.128 looking directly at the object, it was looking what things 0:13:38.128 --> 0:13:41.038 should be in that in particular environment that I was 0:13:41.038 --> 0:13:43.888 having to interpret of the photo of. It was interesting. 0:13:44.008 --> 0:13:47.248 Um, before we go, a reminder of where people can 0:13:47.248 --> 0:13:49.738 find details of what we've been talking about in this 0:13:49.738 --> 0:13:51.598 and previous editions of the program. 0:13:51.718 --> 0:13:53.998 As always, you can check out my blog site, which 0:13:53.998 --> 0:13:57.058 is David would be a dot podbean pad. 0:13:57.058 --> 0:14:02.218 Ben from David would be our dot podbean pod be 0:14:02.218 --> 0:14:05.308 a incom to write to the program. 0:14:05.308 --> 0:14:07.438 You can write to me at Vision Australia where I work, 0:14:07.438 --> 0:14:11.788 which is David Woodbridge Sounds at Vision Australia. 0:14:11.998 --> 0:14:17.158 Org David Dot Woodbridge at Vision Australia. George this has 0:14:17.158 --> 0:14:20.128 been talking tech with me has been Vision Australia's national 0:14:20.128 --> 0:14:24.838 advisor on access technology David Woodbridge I'm Stephen Jolley. Have 0:14:24.838 --> 0:14:27.388 a good Christmas everyone. Stay safe. We'll talk more tech 0:14:27.388 --> 0:14:28.258 next week. See you.