WEBVTT - Talking Tech 25th July 2023 0:00:08.138 --> 0:00:12.248 Hello everyone. Welcome to Talking Tech. This edition available from 0:00:12.248 --> 0:00:16.148 July the 25th, 2023. I'm Stephen Jolly. Great to have 0:00:16.148 --> 0:00:18.878 you with us wherever you're listening, perhaps through Vision Australia 0:00:18.878 --> 0:00:23.498 Radio associated Stations of Australia or the Community Radio Network, 0:00:23.498 --> 0:00:26.048 there is also the podcast. If you haven't caught up 0:00:26.048 --> 0:00:27.968 with that yet, all you need to do is search 0:00:27.968 --> 0:00:30.998 for the two words talking tech and Dan can all 0:00:30.998 --> 0:00:34.868 come usually on a Tuesday afternoon just after it's been produced. 0:00:35.138 --> 0:00:37.868 Another option is to ask a Siri device or smart 0:00:37.868 --> 0:00:43.208 speaker to play Vision Australia Radio Talking Tech Podcast. Vision 0:00:43.208 --> 0:00:48.068 Australia Radio Talking Tech podcast. With me someone who can 0:00:48.068 --> 0:00:51.698 explain all this tech stuff really well. Vision Australia's National 0:00:51.698 --> 0:00:58.088 Advisor on Access Technology, David Woodbridge. David, let's pretend today 0:00:58.088 --> 0:01:00.758 that the internet is out of the way. Maybe you're 0:01:00.758 --> 0:01:04.268 on an aeroplane or somewhere. There are lots of options though, 0:01:04.268 --> 0:01:04.838 aren't there? 0:01:05.288 --> 0:01:08.498 There are because when you think when you you're not 0:01:08.498 --> 0:01:11.738 in cellular contact or you're not in internet range where 0:01:11.918 --> 0:01:13.868 I said you're in the sky and you've got airplane 0:01:13.868 --> 0:01:18.098 mode turned on, you sometimes think, Oh, you know, I 0:01:18.098 --> 0:01:21.218 can't do anything with my devices. But I spent the 0:01:21.218 --> 0:01:23.978 weekend going through my devices that I use in plus 0:01:23.978 --> 0:01:26.228 a few more ones at Vision Australia Vision store cell. 0:01:26.288 --> 0:01:29.288 And it's amazing what you can actually do if one 0:01:29.288 --> 0:01:32.468 if you're prepared and two, if the actual device you're 0:01:32.468 --> 0:01:36.368 using can work quite happily when it's not connected to the, 0:01:36.368 --> 0:01:37.928 you know, the vast superhighway. 0:01:38.468 --> 0:01:42.218 Let's start with some human wear products. The Victor Reader Stratus. 0:01:42.488 --> 0:01:44.678 This is one of these products that it's been around, 0:01:44.678 --> 0:01:48.158 would you believe, since about 2011. So it's been around 0:01:48.158 --> 0:01:50.258 for a long time. And what it is, it's basically 0:01:50.258 --> 0:01:53.348 a daisy player that still has wait for it a 0:01:53.348 --> 0:01:56.288 CD slot to put CDs into it, including Daisy CDs, 0:01:56.288 --> 0:02:00.818 audio CDs, music and or commercial audiobooks. And you can 0:02:00.818 --> 0:02:04.538 also plug in a SD card and a USB stick 0:02:04.538 --> 0:02:08.408 and get access to that content, including documents the WI 0:02:08.498 --> 0:02:11.078 fi portion of the player allows you to access the 0:02:11.078 --> 0:02:13.118 Vision Australia Library if you want to, but if you 0:02:13.118 --> 0:02:14.738 don't want to and you want to sit back and 0:02:14.738 --> 0:02:17.858 listen to you, your good old audio CD collection and 0:02:17.858 --> 0:02:21.248 other stuff, it's an absolutely amazing player. 0:02:21.728 --> 0:02:25.808 Now to a very current device, the Victor Reader Stream three. 0:02:26.468 --> 0:02:28.748 I know this is always one of my favorite players, 0:02:28.748 --> 0:02:30.848 these ones. So the Victor Rita stream, of course, you've 0:02:30.848 --> 0:02:32.888 got two modes. You've got an online mode which will 0:02:32.888 --> 0:02:36.398 leave at the moment. The offline mode, though, allows you 0:02:36.398 --> 0:02:39.578 to read existing daisy books on the player, off an 0:02:39.578 --> 0:02:42.848 SD card or a USB stick. Yet again, you can 0:02:42.848 --> 0:02:48.398 record and playback audio notes, you can access documents. So again, 0:02:48.398 --> 0:02:51.938 you can do quite a huge variety of having the 0:02:51.938 --> 0:02:53.678 player just by its little self. 0:02:53.948 --> 0:02:57.308 And one of my favorite devices, the sense player from hymns. 0:02:57.848 --> 0:03:00.008 Yeah. And look, I must admit that this thing is 0:03:00.008 --> 0:03:02.168 also one of my favorite things as well. It's probably 0:03:02.168 --> 0:03:05.348 more favorite than the Victor Stream three, mainly because it 0:03:05.348 --> 0:03:07.478 does all the things that we just talked about for 0:03:07.478 --> 0:03:12.938 the Victor Reader Stream itself. Plus you can also do 0:03:12.938 --> 0:03:16.298 text notes so you can actually use, you know, the 0:03:16.298 --> 0:03:20.378 little little number pad keyboard to take text notes for yourself. 0:03:20.768 --> 0:03:23.828 You can also use and I know I keep banging 0:03:23.828 --> 0:03:25.748 on about this, Stephen, every now and again, but if 0:03:25.748 --> 0:03:28.058 you plug in a pair of headphones, you've got access 0:03:28.058 --> 0:03:31.298 to an FM radio with me for emergencies with floods 0:03:31.298 --> 0:03:34.718 and fires is also important. And plus, don't let me 0:03:34.718 --> 0:03:36.968 forget to mention the fact that you can connect it 0:03:36.968 --> 0:03:41.378 as a smart keyboard up to your smartphone or tablet. 0:03:41.378 --> 0:03:47.288 So it really is an extremely versatile, portable daisy player, etcetera. 0:03:47.498 --> 0:03:50.528 And we won't talk about the online or web radio 0:03:51.668 --> 0:03:54.908 facility built into it. The podcasts are very good. If 0:03:54.908 --> 0:03:57.848 you download your podcast before you lose your internet, very 0:03:57.848 --> 0:04:01.718 easy to navigate around those. Yeah. Now back to Human, 0:04:01.718 --> 0:04:07.358 where the brilliant Braille display series, the 20 X and 0:04:07.358 --> 0:04:08.888 the B 40 x. 0:04:09.248 --> 0:04:11.308 Yeah. So of course these are the 20 cell version, 0:04:11.318 --> 0:04:13.958 the 40 cell refreshed mobile display version. And the reason 0:04:13.958 --> 0:04:15.398 why I like that is, I guess is because they're 0:04:15.398 --> 0:04:19.508 not just dumb Braille displays. So dumb displays are where 0:04:19.508 --> 0:04:21.938 it just displays brown. There's nothing you can do unless 0:04:21.938 --> 0:04:24.028 you plug it into a, you know, a PC or 0:04:24.028 --> 0:04:28.178 a mobile device. These ones have also got built in applications. 0:04:28.178 --> 0:04:30.548 So and what I like in particularly about both of 0:04:30.548 --> 0:04:32.498 these units is the fact that you've got a little 0:04:32.498 --> 0:04:35.498 editor in it so you can, you know, take notes 0:04:35.498 --> 0:04:38.558 whenever you need to. And you can also, again, if 0:04:38.558 --> 0:04:41.498 you've downloaded a, you know, a daisy book to it, particularly, 0:04:41.498 --> 0:04:45.608 you know, a daisy text book to read offline. And 0:04:45.608 --> 0:04:49.778 of course, again, because it's a hybrid Braille display again, 0:04:49.778 --> 0:04:51.968 you can also link it up again to your smartphone 0:04:51.968 --> 0:04:54.008 or tablet or PC. 0:04:54.368 --> 0:04:57.728 So that's the brilliant Buy series from Human, where the 0:04:57.728 --> 0:05:01.838 20 X and the 40 x also from Human, where 0:05:01.838 --> 0:05:05.678 the Mantis Q 40. This is a quirky keyboard with Braille. 0:05:05.978 --> 0:05:09.068 That's right. So you've got your traditional. Bit like a laptop. 0:05:09.068 --> 0:05:12.188 And then underneath that you've got the 40. So Braille display, 0:05:12.698 --> 0:05:17.258 similar functionality. What the brilliant Bics and 40 X gave 0:05:17.258 --> 0:05:20.168 you as far as the, you know, editor and Daisy book, 0:05:20.168 --> 0:05:23.408 but you are using a cruder keyboard. So the main 0:05:23.408 --> 0:05:26.348 thing I like about this is normally when you use Braille, 0:05:26.348 --> 0:05:28.238 you have a, you know, your separate Braille display with 0:05:28.238 --> 0:05:31.838 your Perkins style keyboard to your query keyboard. This allows 0:05:31.838 --> 0:05:35.078 you to have one device that does both your keyboarding 0:05:35.078 --> 0:05:37.418 and also does your bar display. So so you're actually 0:05:37.418 --> 0:05:39.158 almost getting rid of what you are getting rid of 0:05:39.158 --> 0:05:41.048 one device, which is the keyboard. 0:05:41.428 --> 0:05:48.248 Mm Yeah. Let's move now to getting around, maybe moving around. 0:05:48.468 --> 0:05:50.288 We'll start with the we walk. 0:05:50.708 --> 0:05:52.808 So this is called a smart cane and people get 0:05:52.808 --> 0:05:55.838 a bit confused because the smart cane itself is a 0:05:55.838 --> 0:05:59.798 sonar based cane. So that's the handle that you attach 0:05:59.798 --> 0:06:02.138 to the cane. And then it's got a little sonar 0:06:02.138 --> 0:06:05.228 unit on it which sends out a pulse. So a 0:06:05.228 --> 0:06:08.738 sound pulse comes back and it vibrates depending on how 0:06:08.738 --> 0:06:11.828 close or far away an object is. Now, that sonar 0:06:11.828 --> 0:06:15.728 function is independent of the rest of the smart stuff, 0:06:15.728 --> 0:06:18.308 which comes off the We Walk app, which you then 0:06:18.308 --> 0:06:21.068 run on your Android phone or your iPhone, which does 0:06:21.068 --> 0:06:24.998 all the the map type stuff and navigation stuff. But 0:06:25.118 --> 0:06:29.348 the walk itself as far as a sonar based device 0:06:29.438 --> 0:06:32.978 is completely independent. I've been connected to a smartphone because 0:06:32.978 --> 0:06:35.348 you don't need the app to use the sonar function. 0:06:35.528 --> 0:06:40.208 Yeah, very interesting. And now let's go to more human 0:06:40.208 --> 0:06:44.588 wear stuff, the Vector Reader Trek and Stellar Trek. 0:06:45.068 --> 0:06:47.118 So what I like to say about both these devices. 0:06:47.118 --> 0:06:50.318 So in a nutshell, both of them are g-p-s based. 0:06:50.318 --> 0:06:52.688 And again, they don't need to be online to get 0:06:52.688 --> 0:06:54.308 access to the maps like you do and most of 0:06:54.308 --> 0:06:58.048 the time on your smartphone. So they're completely offline for 0:06:58.298 --> 0:07:00.248 the map. So you can download the maps and off 0:07:00.248 --> 0:07:03.578 you go. The main differences between the two of these 0:07:03.578 --> 0:07:07.748 is the Victoria Trek is is a little bit old. 0:07:08.228 --> 0:07:10.868 Some of it's g-p-s scanning technology is a bit old. 0:07:10.868 --> 0:07:14.348 So particularly if you are using it in a high 0:07:14.348 --> 0:07:17.438 populated environment with tall buildings, I always recommend going to 0:07:17.438 --> 0:07:20.588 the stellar trek. And the other major difference of course, 0:07:20.588 --> 0:07:24.368 is the fact that the Victor Trek also has the 0:07:24.368 --> 0:07:26.468 victor Strain pointed into it as well. So it's got 0:07:26.468 --> 0:07:29.978 both the offline and online versions of all the stuff 0:07:29.978 --> 0:07:33.908 you get in a normal vector reader Stream three. And 0:07:33.908 --> 0:07:36.728 the other thing about the stellar trek is it's got 0:07:36.728 --> 0:07:38.558 a little built in camera. So if you want to 0:07:38.558 --> 0:07:42.308 do a bit of optical character recognition while you're out 0:07:42.308 --> 0:07:44.708 and about, you can also do that as well on 0:07:44.708 --> 0:07:49.058 the the stellar trek. But they're both extremely good. I 0:07:49.208 --> 0:07:51.038 have both of the units and I know if I'm 0:07:51.038 --> 0:07:53.558 travelling to Sydney on the train, I tend to use 0:07:53.558 --> 0:07:57.998 the Victoria Trek itself because I won't also listen to, 0:07:57.998 --> 0:08:01.268 you know, podcasts, check out documents, that sort of stuff, 0:08:01.268 --> 0:08:04.028 while I also got access to a GPS unit as well. 0:08:04.508 --> 0:08:09.398 Let's go now to the wearables, the glasses, the Orcam 0:08:09.398 --> 0:08:12.218 has been around a while now. Describe that one to 0:08:12.218 --> 0:08:14.378 people for non-smokers. 0:08:14.378 --> 0:08:15.878 You may not get this, but it's the size of 0:08:15.878 --> 0:08:18.038 a little cigarette lighter that people to use back in 0:08:18.038 --> 0:08:19.778 the old days, or maybe they still use them now. 0:08:20.018 --> 0:08:22.958 So it's very tiny, eclipsed to the side of your 0:08:22.958 --> 0:08:27.518 glasses via a magnetic connection. And it does things like 0:08:27.518 --> 0:08:30.728 optical character recognition of things that the camera or you 0:08:30.728 --> 0:08:35.678 are looking at. It also does face recognition, barcode identification, 0:08:36.278 --> 0:08:40.898 color identification, currency identification and so on and all that 0:08:40.898 --> 0:08:44.438 sort of stuff is actually done offline. So again, no 0:08:44.438 --> 0:08:47.918 internet required in this tiny little device. And again, what 0:08:47.918 --> 0:08:50.498 I like about it is that you do not have 0:08:50.498 --> 0:08:54.008 to use it connected to absolutely anything. It's a standalone 0:08:54.008 --> 0:08:57.398 unit completely. So if you're worried again about all this 0:08:57.398 --> 0:08:59.618 sort of stuff these days about getting, you know, traced 0:08:59.618 --> 0:09:02.828 and tracked, you physically cannot do it with the orcam. 0:09:02.828 --> 0:09:06.728 So it's a really great secure device, particularly for employment. 0:09:06.728 --> 0:09:09.758 Stephen Where you've got things to do in high security situations. 0:09:10.028 --> 0:09:13.568 Now let's move to the Envision glasses. 0:09:14.258 --> 0:09:18.488 So these are pretty spectacular. They do similar things to 0:09:18.488 --> 0:09:23.648 what the Orcam does. But I should say one of 0:09:23.648 --> 0:09:27.278 the intriguing online things to keep in mind with the 0:09:27.278 --> 0:09:32.708 Envision glasses now is that it's using ChatGPT for so 0:09:32.768 --> 0:09:36.938 the AI to ask interesting questions and you can also 0:09:36.938 --> 0:09:42.788 use it for contacting the IRA online video service. So 0:09:42.788 --> 0:09:45.098 I know I'm only talking about offline today, but I 0:09:45.098 --> 0:09:47.978 just wanted to remind people about that functionality. But as 0:09:47.978 --> 0:09:50.468 far as the the offline stuff is, it's very powerful 0:09:50.468 --> 0:09:53.438 and most of the functions these days, particularly with the 0:09:53.438 --> 0:09:56.678 current update to the Envision glasses, is most of its 0:09:56.678 --> 0:09:59.768 functionality now is pretty much offline, including all the the 0:09:59.768 --> 0:10:01.928 OCR stuff, facial recognition and so on. 0:10:02.408 --> 0:10:07.118 And that continues to evolve, doesn't it, because of the technology. 0:10:07.408 --> 0:10:10.858 That's there that can take the software upgrades. 0:10:11.428 --> 0:10:14.038 Yeah, I keep saying, you know, we're on a bit 0:10:14.038 --> 0:10:17.068 of a wave at the moment. We haven't stopped developing 0:10:17.068 --> 0:10:18.958 and we haven't even hit the crest of the wave yet. 0:10:18.958 --> 0:10:21.628 So let's just keep riding the wave and see where 0:10:21.628 --> 0:10:22.348 it takes us. 0:10:22.608 --> 0:10:24.748 Michael the cost of those devices that you all came in, 0:10:24.748 --> 0:10:28.378 the envision, they are in the vicinity of $5,000. It 0:10:28.378 --> 0:10:30.478 sort of varies depending on what you purchase. 0:10:31.018 --> 0:10:34.018 That's right. And you can get, you know, based on 0:10:34.018 --> 0:10:36.268 reports and assessments and that's the stuff you can get 0:10:36.268 --> 0:10:39.208 them both funded, you know, for such things such as 0:10:39.208 --> 0:10:43.888 the NDIS or job access workplace assessments as well. So 0:10:43.978 --> 0:10:45.838 I know a lot of this stuff sounds very expensive, 0:10:45.838 --> 0:10:48.358 but you can actually usually get some sort of funding 0:10:48.358 --> 0:10:49.168 for them as well. 0:10:49.168 --> 0:10:50.338 If you qualify for that. 0:10:50.498 --> 0:10:51.178 Indeed, yeah. 0:10:52.198 --> 0:10:56.458 Now let's talk about the Kinect 12 for low vision people. 0:10:57.148 --> 0:11:00.808 What this is, it's a basically based on an Android tablet, 0:11:00.808 --> 0:11:03.178 but when you use it, it comes with a little 0:11:03.178 --> 0:11:06.778 external camera and it allows you to do knee and 0:11:06.778 --> 0:11:10.408 distance viewing. And this is particularly of use for students 0:11:10.408 --> 0:11:14.158 at school or university or TAFE, because what you can 0:11:14.158 --> 0:11:16.678 do is use a video magnifier and then hey presto, 0:11:16.678 --> 0:11:18.898 you can switch back to that quote Android part of 0:11:18.898 --> 0:11:21.928 it and you can take notes and all that sort 0:11:21.928 --> 0:11:24.778 of other cool stuff. So it's a really good device 0:11:24.778 --> 0:11:28.078 for having basically a 2 in 1 video magnifier and 0:11:28.078 --> 0:11:29.578 a night tracker in one device. 0:11:30.118 --> 0:11:33.028 That's available through the Vision Store of Vision Australia, isn't it? 0:11:33.418 --> 0:11:35.278 Correct. So all the stuff that we've talked about so 0:11:35.278 --> 0:11:37.348 far in this show, well, actually everything we've talked about, 0:11:37.348 --> 0:11:40.168 it's all available from the Vision Australia Vision Store. Yes. 0:11:40.258 --> 0:11:43.048 So staying with low vision devices, tell me about the 0:11:43.048 --> 0:11:44.788 Mercury 13 Pro. 0:11:45.208 --> 0:11:47.488 Yeah, this is an intriguing one because this is actually 0:11:47.488 --> 0:11:51.478 a surface pro laptop. So again, it's running the Mercury 0:11:51.478 --> 0:11:55.828 magnification software again with a really, really, really, really good 0:11:55.828 --> 0:12:00.568 distance and near viewing camera again for using whiteboards and 0:12:00.568 --> 0:12:03.808 lab work at, you know, school, TAFE, uni, whatever else. 0:12:04.168 --> 0:12:07.618 And the fact it's running windows is very important because 0:12:07.618 --> 0:12:12.298 if you're using other applications such as, you know, Microsoft Word, 0:12:12.298 --> 0:12:16.528 Excel Outlook, all that sort of cool stuff, then you 0:12:16.528 --> 0:12:19.398 can do that as well. So primarily it's the it's 0:12:19.408 --> 0:12:21.358 a focusing of the magnifier as it does with the 0:12:21.358 --> 0:12:25.138 Kinect 12. But because it's running Windows, in some ways 0:12:25.138 --> 0:12:27.388 you've got a lot more flexibility than you are with 0:12:27.388 --> 0:12:30.538 the Kinect tool, which is Android. But again, it's different 0:12:30.538 --> 0:12:33.988 courses for horses and you can choose which one fits 0:12:33.988 --> 0:12:35.398 you most appropriately. 0:12:35.908 --> 0:12:40.048 For those who particularly like the physical buttons, the Blind 0:12:40.048 --> 0:12:43.498 Shell Classic two phone is very popular, isn't it? 0:12:43.978 --> 0:12:47.188 It is because it's basically custom made apps for us 0:12:47.188 --> 0:12:50.068 blind and low vision folks. So there's no complicated stuff. 0:12:50.068 --> 0:12:52.618 It's all really done with basically up and down and 0:12:52.618 --> 0:12:56.218 the select key on the blind shell. And because there's 0:12:56.218 --> 0:12:59.218 a lot of stuff on there, such as your contacts, 0:12:59.488 --> 0:13:04.378 your calendar games, the magnifier that's built into it, using 0:13:04.378 --> 0:13:08.218 the camera, the flashlight, looking in the pantry. There's quite 0:13:08.218 --> 0:13:09.598 a lot of things that you can do with the 0:13:09.928 --> 0:13:13.138 phone when you're not connected to a cellular network or 0:13:13.138 --> 0:13:14.218 the Wi-Fi network. 0:13:14.598 --> 0:13:16.768 We haven't got time to go through everything that's on 0:13:16.768 --> 0:13:20.488 your list, but smart watches should be paid some attention. 0:13:21.208 --> 0:13:23.848 That's right. So when you think about it, smartwatches normally 0:13:23.848 --> 0:13:27.148 come off your smartphone. So there's quite a few things 0:13:27.148 --> 0:13:29.368 that you can do if you've just got your smartwatch 0:13:29.368 --> 0:13:32.218 by itself. And there are things like keeping track of 0:13:32.218 --> 0:13:36.418 your health and wellbeing, time and date, checking your calendar, 0:13:36.418 --> 0:13:40.318 because most of the stuff's already synced up from your smartphone, 0:13:41.068 --> 0:13:43.498 including even books and music. 0:13:43.798 --> 0:13:46.618 Terrific. Just before we go, a reminder of where people 0:13:46.618 --> 0:13:48.838 can find details of what we've been talking about in 0:13:48.838 --> 0:13:50.818 this and previous editions of the program. 0:13:50.998 --> 0:13:53.038 It needs, and including all the links that we've talked 0:13:53.038 --> 0:13:55.228 about today For all the products, you can check out 0:13:55.228 --> 0:13:58.258 my website, which is David, would it be a dot 0:13:58.258 --> 0:13:59.908 podbean Podbean. 0:14:00.088 --> 0:14:06.028 Com David would be dot podbean podbean to right to 0:14:06.028 --> 0:14:06.628 the program. 0:14:06.778 --> 0:14:08.788 You can write to me at Vision Australia where I work, 0:14:08.788 --> 0:14:12.718 which is David Dot Woodbridge at Vision australia.org. 0:14:12.988 --> 0:14:18.028 David Dot Woodbridge at Vision Australia. Dawg this has been 0:14:18.028 --> 0:14:21.088 talking tech with me has been Vision Australia's National Advisor 0:14:21.088 --> 0:14:25.648 on Access Technology David Woodbridge. I'm Stephen Jolley. Stay safe. 0:14:25.648 --> 0:14:27.358 We'll talk more tech next week. See you.