WEBVTT - Talking Tech 6th February 2024 0:00:08.208 --> 0:00:12.108 Hello everyone! Welcome to Talking Tech. This edition available from 0:00:12.108 --> 0:00:16.308 February 6th, 2024. I'm Stephen Jolly. Great to have you 0:00:16.308 --> 0:00:19.818 with us. Wherever you're listening, perhaps through Virgin Australia Radio, 0:00:19.818 --> 0:00:24.588 Associated Stations of Australia, or maybe the Community Radio Network. 0:00:24.588 --> 0:00:27.708 There is also the podcast. To catch that, all you 0:00:27.708 --> 0:00:31.368 need to do is search for the two words talking tech. 0:00:31.368 --> 0:00:34.158 And then it can all come, usually on a Tuesday 0:00:34.158 --> 0:00:37.908 afternoon just after it's been produced. Another option is to 0:00:37.908 --> 0:00:41.058 ask your Siri device or smart speaker to play Virgin 0:00:41.058 --> 0:00:47.028 Australia Radio talking tech podcast, Vision Australia Radio Talking Tech 0:00:47.028 --> 0:00:50.598 podcast with me, someone who can explain all this tech 0:00:50.598 --> 0:00:55.218 stuff really well. Vision Australia's national adviser on access technology, 0:00:55.218 --> 0:00:59.778 David Woodbridge. David, let's start with another tech show and 0:00:59.778 --> 0:01:05.238 we're only in February. This is the Atea Assistive Technology 0:01:05.238 --> 0:01:08.748 Industry Association, another event in the United States. 0:01:08.748 --> 0:01:11.748 Correct. So this all happened, uh, I want to say 0:01:11.748 --> 0:01:16.008 about two weeks ago, and it's effectively the first conference 0:01:16.008 --> 0:01:19.068 for the year. And it's all different types of assistive technology. 0:01:19.068 --> 0:01:22.518 It's not just for blind and low vision people. Sam 0:01:22.518 --> 0:01:26.748 from The Blind Life, he did a really good compilation 0:01:26.748 --> 0:01:32.718 of interviewing quite a few different suppliers on his YouTube channel. 0:01:33.198 --> 0:01:36.228 And I think roughly, he sort of it sounded like 0:01:36.228 --> 0:01:38.868 he gave people every sort of like 20 to 30s. 0:01:39.138 --> 0:01:42.318 It's really been fascinating. There was quite a lot there 0:01:42.348 --> 0:01:47.328 are all different sorts of gadgets and software and services. 0:01:47.508 --> 0:01:50.088 So if you really want a good overview of what 0:01:50.088 --> 0:01:54.408 happened at the Atea conference, uh, that's a really good 0:01:54.408 --> 0:01:56.898 YouTube one to check out. And as I said, it's 0:01:57.108 --> 0:02:01.308 the blind life, um, from Sam. And the reason why 0:02:01.308 --> 0:02:03.078 I just say Sam, because that's the way it just 0:02:03.078 --> 0:02:05.118 tends to just introduce himself anyway. 0:02:05.298 --> 0:02:09.798 Yeah. Very interesting. You suggested that we introduce a new 0:02:09.798 --> 0:02:14.778 segment to this program, a product minute each week, a 0:02:14.778 --> 0:02:19.098 product from the store, the Vision Australia store. Hmm. What 0:02:19.098 --> 0:02:20.388 are you going to talk about this week? 0:02:20.568 --> 0:02:24.558 This one's going to be on the Sense player OCR. 0:02:24.558 --> 0:02:27.168 And the reason why I'm starting with this one is 0:02:27.168 --> 0:02:30.588 because one, it's a daisy player. So it plays all 0:02:30.588 --> 0:02:34.938 the Daisy books from the Vision Australia library. Two. It's 0:02:34.938 --> 0:02:39.078 got a built in camera that allows you to read, 0:02:39.078 --> 0:02:42.288 if you like, in quotes text. So it does optical 0:02:42.288 --> 0:02:47.358 character recognition. Three it's a system that's got a built 0:02:47.358 --> 0:02:50.538 in FM chip so you can listen to, you know, 0:02:50.538 --> 0:02:54.948 normal terrestrial radio, uh, if you don't have any access 0:02:54.948 --> 0:03:01.488 to cellular or Wi-Fi on your smartphone. And four important 0:03:01.488 --> 0:03:04.968 to me is the fact that you have access to 0:03:04.968 --> 0:03:08.718 your smartphone, whether it's Android iPhone, the sensor player actually 0:03:08.718 --> 0:03:13.848 turns into a smart keyboard for those devices. Uh, all 0:03:13.848 --> 0:03:18.168 the other stuff like podcasts and internet radio and the 0:03:18.168 --> 0:03:21.138 stopwatch and so on are all really great. But for me, 0:03:21.138 --> 0:03:23.748 there are four things that stand out for me of 0:03:23.748 --> 0:03:27.138 the sense player. And just one final thing which may 0:03:27.138 --> 0:03:31.548 be interesting for the future because it can run Android apps. 0:03:31.548 --> 0:03:35.358 Who's to say that at some stage this year we 0:03:35.358 --> 0:03:39.528 might even see some sort of ChatGPT or bard or 0:03:39.528 --> 0:03:43.008 something happening, uh, on that device as well. So I 0:03:43.008 --> 0:03:46.518 just think it's well placed to be a very customisable 0:03:46.518 --> 0:03:48.168 device moving forward. 0:03:48.408 --> 0:03:50.088 Physically. It's beautiful, isn't it? 0:03:50.088 --> 0:03:52.938 It is. I love it, and the little stereo speakers 0:03:52.938 --> 0:03:56.118 at each end, it looks really cool as well. I 0:03:56.118 --> 0:03:59.028 don't normally go on about sort of daisy player devices 0:03:59.028 --> 0:04:02.598 too much, but yeah, this one is just really, really attractive. 0:04:02.598 --> 0:04:04.998 Just sits in the palm of your hand and can 0:04:04.998 --> 0:04:10.338 Bluetooth to other devices speakers? Yep. AirPods etc. really? Well, 0:04:10.908 --> 0:04:13.698 I have to say and you did mention them in passing, 0:04:13.698 --> 0:04:18.708 but it's my go to device for radio web streaming 0:04:18.708 --> 0:04:21.468 and also for listening to podcasts because you can have 0:04:21.468 --> 0:04:25.728 them there so conveniently. So everyone has their their different 0:04:25.998 --> 0:04:30.318 applications that they go to in this multifunction device. It's 0:04:30.318 --> 0:04:32.418 quite amazing indeed. And the cost. 0:04:32.628 --> 0:04:38.628 It's around about $1,100, so it's fairly expensive. But then again, 0:04:38.628 --> 0:04:41.358 it's like that sort of Swiss Army knife. It's a 0:04:41.358 --> 0:04:45.558 Swiss Army knife of daisy devices, and you've got all 0:04:45.558 --> 0:04:47.658 those other functions built into it as well. 0:04:48.168 --> 0:04:51.348 We'll spend a little time now on the Apple Vision 0:04:51.348 --> 0:04:57.888 Pro device that has hit the streets. Um, just explain 0:04:57.888 --> 0:05:00.438 to people who are not aware of it what it is, 0:05:00.438 --> 0:05:02.718 and then we'll talk about how people can find out 0:05:02.718 --> 0:05:03.798 more about it. 0:05:03.798 --> 0:05:08.288 Yeah. So basically it's a virtual reality headset. Apple's terms. 0:05:08.288 --> 0:05:12.458 It's a spatial computing headset. It's basically a set of goggles. 0:05:12.458 --> 0:05:15.818 So if you've ever felt sort of snow goggles, which 0:05:15.818 --> 0:05:18.278 are those sort of big chunky goggles that people were 0:05:18.278 --> 0:05:21.068 in the snow, it looks like that. And I should 0:05:21.068 --> 0:05:27.068 say they're very weighty. They say it's about 650g. So 0:05:27.068 --> 0:05:30.428 and it really does push down on your forehead and 0:05:30.428 --> 0:05:34.298 your cheekbones because things are so heavy. You've got to 0:05:34.298 --> 0:05:36.428 wear the strap around the back of your neck and 0:05:36.428 --> 0:05:38.558 a strap over the top of your head to support 0:05:38.558 --> 0:05:43.928 the Vision Pro goggles on your face. And because they've 0:05:43.928 --> 0:05:46.478 sort of wanted to reduce the weight a little bit, 0:05:46.478 --> 0:05:49.628 the actual battery is not part of the headset. It 0:05:49.628 --> 0:05:54.668 goes on a wire, uh, into another thing that also weighs, 0:05:54.908 --> 0:05:57.968 I think it's 300g, this one, and it's a battery 0:05:57.968 --> 0:06:00.578 that sits in your pocket. So it's a wired connection 0:06:00.578 --> 0:06:04.838 to the battery. And that gives you about 2.5 hours 0:06:04.838 --> 0:06:11.108 of continuous video playing capability. So at the moment, I 0:06:11.108 --> 0:06:14.648 guess what you can say is that it's a a 0:06:14.648 --> 0:06:18.668 device that's sort of definitely pushing forward the boundaries of 0:06:18.668 --> 0:06:22.898 what we can do with current technology. But just saying 0:06:22.898 --> 0:06:26.018 it's a fairly heavy set of goggles on your, on 0:06:26.018 --> 0:06:29.588 your face, uh, a battery that has to be connected 0:06:29.588 --> 0:06:33.128 via wire and it doesn't last very long. To me. 0:06:33.128 --> 0:06:36.728 It's almost like the technology to support. It's not quite 0:06:36.728 --> 0:06:40.988 there yet. So this is definitely a 1.0 release. Um, 0:06:40.988 --> 0:06:42.968 I'm sort of looking forward to the perhaps the one 0:06:42.968 --> 0:06:43.748 that's next year. 0:06:44.138 --> 0:06:46.688 Perhaps we've got the benefit in Australia of being one 0:06:46.688 --> 0:06:48.488 of the countries that doesn't have it and won't have 0:06:48.488 --> 0:06:52.328 it for some months, available in the US for around 0:06:52.328 --> 0:06:56.948 3,500 USD. So you can do your arithmetic on that. 0:06:56.948 --> 0:06:58.478 It's going to cost a fair bit. By the time 0:06:58.478 --> 0:06:59.498 it does get to us. 0:06:59.798 --> 0:07:02.228 It does. And by the way, all the reviews are 0:07:02.228 --> 0:07:05.468 coming out at the moment. It really looks like a 0:07:05.468 --> 0:07:08.468 lot of people are using it for a course. Watching 0:07:08.468 --> 0:07:13.238 movies and TV shows, not so much at the moment 0:07:13.238 --> 0:07:16.328 on productivity app. So because what what happens if the 0:07:16.328 --> 0:07:19.568 headset is that you can park? I like to say 0:07:19.568 --> 0:07:22.328 park because it sounds better. You can put these apps 0:07:22.328 --> 0:07:27.128 in different spots on your environment so you can put 0:07:27.128 --> 0:07:29.798 them on the wall. This is all virtual reality stuff, 0:07:29.798 --> 0:07:31.298 by the way. You can put them on the wall, 0:07:31.298 --> 0:07:35.438 the ceiling, the floor, um, in front of the kitchen window. 0:07:35.588 --> 0:07:39.158 So when you look around, you've got all these different 0:07:39.158 --> 0:07:41.528 apps that you can actually look at. And of course, 0:07:41.528 --> 0:07:46.028 once you look at them, they get activated. Uh, apparently 0:07:46.028 --> 0:07:48.128 one of the things that really annoys people at the 0:07:48.128 --> 0:07:52.958 moment is if you just use the on screen keyboard, uh, 0:07:52.958 --> 0:07:58.028 with the Vision Pro, it's one key at a time. 0:07:58.028 --> 0:08:00.668 So you look at the actual key to activate it, 0:08:00.668 --> 0:08:02.678 then you look at the next key, then you look 0:08:02.678 --> 0:08:07.538 at the next key. So it's actually very clunky. But luckily, uh, 0:08:07.538 --> 0:08:12.698 the Vision Pro also supports the use of a Bluetooth keyboard, 0:08:13.028 --> 0:08:15.308 but it doesn't support a mouse. And of course, the 0:08:15.308 --> 0:08:17.168 reason why it doesn't support a mouse is because you're 0:08:17.168 --> 0:08:21.938 actually using your hand gestures to control the device. Plus, 0:08:21.938 --> 0:08:24.248 you can also use your voice so you can do 0:08:24.248 --> 0:08:28.748 voice dictation as well. One of the things that people 0:08:28.748 --> 0:08:32.198 are getting a bit weirded out by, apparently, when you're 0:08:32.198 --> 0:08:36.698 watching a movie, when people look at you, they can 0:08:36.698 --> 0:08:40.658 see these sort of virtual eyes. And apparently people are 0:08:40.658 --> 0:08:43.868 getting really freaked out by it because it looks very, 0:08:43.868 --> 0:08:49.838 very weird. And when you FaceTime from, say, another Vision 0:08:49.838 --> 0:08:53.228 Pro or from your iPhone or Mac into somebody wearing 0:08:53.228 --> 0:08:57.968 a Vision Pro, you also get this made up character 0:08:57.968 --> 0:09:02.468 that supposedly looks like your face but isn't. So people 0:09:02.468 --> 0:09:06.518 are also saying that also looks a bit weird, and 0:09:06.518 --> 0:09:09.458 I can't understand why Apple would want to even do 0:09:09.458 --> 0:09:14.168 that in the first place. And there are some apps 0:09:14.168 --> 0:09:19.478 that sometimes will fall over for no apparent reason. People 0:09:19.478 --> 0:09:22.328 have been noticing that when they've been wearing them for 0:09:22.328 --> 0:09:25.958 a while, because you're looking at a virtual environment, when 0:09:25.958 --> 0:09:29.858 you come back to your normal environment, your spatial orientation 0:09:29.858 --> 0:09:34.958 is off, including your balance, reaching out for things, those 0:09:34.958 --> 0:09:38.438 sorts of things. So that's another thing that it'll be 0:09:38.438 --> 0:09:40.898 ironed out, you know, in the next couple of months 0:09:40.898 --> 0:09:43.688 or so. Because, you know, beta testing is one thing. 0:09:43.688 --> 0:09:45.998 Putting it to a mass market is another thing. And 0:09:45.998 --> 0:09:48.938 I think from memory, they said they sold around about 0:09:48.938 --> 0:09:53.918 200,000 units in the United States. So I guess we'll 0:09:53.918 --> 0:09:56.378 see what happens. We're now finding out what the device 0:09:56.378 --> 0:09:58.028 can really do. And of course, there's another call I've 0:09:58.028 --> 0:10:00.698 got in the show notes Vision Pro in the wild. 0:10:01.088 --> 0:10:04.238 And some people have been wearing them in public and 0:10:04.238 --> 0:10:06.878 trying to do, you know, things at the gym because 0:10:06.878 --> 0:10:10.988 it's not. Designed for fitness. Some silly person was wearing 0:10:10.988 --> 0:10:13.898 them in a Tesla car that was under self driving. 0:10:14.348 --> 0:10:16.748 And of course, one of the things in the notes 0:10:16.748 --> 0:10:18.908 about the Vision Pro is do not use this device 0:10:18.908 --> 0:10:21.638 when driving because you're literally looking at the world through 0:10:21.638 --> 0:10:24.848 a camera. So there's lots and lots of things. I've 0:10:24.848 --> 0:10:27.908 only scraped some of the major things to think about 0:10:27.908 --> 0:10:30.188 at the moment, but I do have some really interesting 0:10:30.188 --> 0:10:31.898 articles in the show. Notes about it. 0:10:32.048 --> 0:10:34.178 Yes, you've got quite a number of articles there in 0:10:34.178 --> 0:10:37.178 the show, notes a lot about accessibility and all sorts 0:10:37.178 --> 0:10:37.958 of things. 0:10:37.958 --> 0:10:43.748 That's correct. So we've got our standard things like voiceover, zoom, color, contrast, 0:10:43.748 --> 0:10:48.728 switch control. I will say now the hand gestures are 0:10:48.728 --> 0:10:54.698 very involved and it involves one hand, both hands or 0:10:54.698 --> 0:11:00.668 from 1 to 4 finger pinches or taps. So it's 0:11:00.668 --> 0:11:02.918 not something that you're going to pick up overnight. It's 0:11:02.918 --> 0:11:05.258 something that you're going to have to actually learn to do. 0:11:05.258 --> 0:11:10.268 But there is a proper voiceover tutorial, gesture practice mode. 0:11:10.568 --> 0:11:14.018 And if you're wondering, because when you see the setup 0:11:14.018 --> 0:11:17.588 demo for the Vision Pro, it wants to do your 0:11:17.588 --> 0:11:20.498 eye tracking for you. Now, of course, what they've done 0:11:20.498 --> 0:11:22.718 for VoiceOver is that's going to be turned off. Once 0:11:22.718 --> 0:11:25.538 it determines that you're using VoiceOver, it's not going to 0:11:25.538 --> 0:11:28.508 do your eye tracking because it knows you can't see anyway. 0:11:28.508 --> 0:11:30.848 So just in case you're wondering, that's not an issue. 0:11:31.148 --> 0:11:36.698 Staying with Apple. Tim Cook, the CEO, hinting that AI 0:11:36.698 --> 0:11:39.218 is going to be much more important in Apple products 0:11:39.218 --> 0:11:40.088 later this year. 0:11:40.328 --> 0:11:42.728 Correct. What people have been saying is, look, we don't 0:11:42.728 --> 0:11:46.448 care about the AI stuff behind the scenes with machine 0:11:46.448 --> 0:11:49.298 learning and so on. We want a Siri, see Siri 0:11:49.298 --> 0:11:52.718 in a proper non command system where we want to 0:11:52.718 --> 0:11:55.688 see it like a ChatGPT or a bird or a co-pilot. 0:11:56.048 --> 0:12:00.068 And he did strongly suggest that in iOS 18, which 0:12:00.068 --> 0:12:04.088 is coming out in June at the Worldwide Developers Conference, 0:12:04.898 --> 0:12:10.148 we will be very surprised on how fantastic AI will be. 0:12:10.628 --> 0:12:14.918 You read an article recently that saying that perplexity and 0:12:15.248 --> 0:12:19.808 other AI applications threatening the Google search. 0:12:19.898 --> 0:12:23.558 And I also read another article which was brought up 0:12:23.558 --> 0:12:27.398 by perplexity and ChatGPT because I said to it, what's 0:12:27.398 --> 0:12:30.398 the difference between a ChatGPT and a Google search? And 0:12:30.398 --> 0:12:34.178 what it actually said simply was the chat function or 0:12:34.178 --> 0:12:38.288 perplexity gives you a summary and goes through all the 0:12:38.288 --> 0:12:42.728 searches and gives you definite points on what you need 0:12:42.728 --> 0:12:45.488 to think about or explore next. What a Google search 0:12:45.488 --> 0:12:48.458 primarily does. It just brings up all the links and 0:12:48.458 --> 0:12:51.518 then you decide what you want to actually look at. 0:12:51.518 --> 0:12:55.508 I must say, I'm using Perplexity and ChatGPT and copilot 0:12:55.508 --> 0:12:58.028 a lot more now that I'm using Google search. 0:12:58.178 --> 0:13:03.038 Some updates coming to the blind shell classic to phone correct? 0:13:03.248 --> 0:13:06.008 If you've been chatting to quantum lately about your blind 0:13:06.008 --> 0:13:10.418 shell not connecting so well to your carrier, uh, there's 0:13:10.418 --> 0:13:14.078 some issues going on with those different systems at the 0:13:14.078 --> 0:13:17.318 moment around Australia, we have Telstra, Vodafone and Optus. They're 0:13:17.318 --> 0:13:20.438 supposed to be a system update coming sooner than later. 0:13:20.438 --> 0:13:22.928 So as soon as it happens I will let people know. 0:13:22.928 --> 0:13:25.598 So that's all to do with the mobile carriers at 0:13:25.598 --> 0:13:26.228 the moment. 0:13:27.078 --> 0:13:31.398 And some good news for talking tech that it's now available. 0:13:31.398 --> 0:13:34.188 The most recent editions of it on the Vision Store 0:13:34.188 --> 0:13:35.148 web page. 0:13:35.418 --> 0:13:37.698 That's right. So it's decided to put up the last 0:13:37.698 --> 0:13:41.298 three episodes so it'll be updated every week. But of course, 0:13:41.298 --> 0:13:43.968 if you want to catch up with the latest episode, 0:13:43.968 --> 0:13:46.518 you're probably a bit off just using your favorite podcast 0:13:46.518 --> 0:13:49.218 or smart speaker and do it that way. Dare I 0:13:49.218 --> 0:13:51.468 say even using the sense player to do it as well. 0:13:51.888 --> 0:13:57.798 That's it. Shop Dot Vision Australia. Org shop dot Vision australia.org. 0:13:57.798 --> 0:13:59.718 And that's where you can find out about the sense 0:13:59.718 --> 0:14:03.318 player that we were talking about earlier. Indeed, before we go, 0:14:03.318 --> 0:14:05.778 a reminder of where there are details of what we've 0:14:05.778 --> 0:14:09.048 been talking about in this and previous editions of the program. 0:14:09.048 --> 0:14:11.508 As always, you can check out my blog site, which 0:14:11.508 --> 0:14:15.528 is David. Would it be a dot Podbean pad be 0:14:15.528 --> 0:14:16.698 a incom? 0:14:16.698 --> 0:14:22.188 David would be dot Podbean pod be a incom to 0:14:22.188 --> 0:14:23.208 write to the program? 0:14:23.208 --> 0:14:25.608 You can write to me at Vision Australia where I work, 0:14:25.608 --> 0:14:30.648 which is David Woodbridge sounds at Vision Australia, George. 0:14:30.648 --> 0:14:35.628 David Woodbridge at Vision Australia. Org this has been talking 0:14:35.658 --> 0:14:39.168 tech with me has been Vision Australia's national advisor on 0:14:39.168 --> 0:14:42.948 access technology David Woodbridge I'm Stephen Jolley. Take care. We'll 0:14:42.948 --> 0:14:44.298 talk more tech next week. See you.