S1: Hello everyone! Welcome to Talking Tech. This edition available from
S1: October 17th, 2023. I'm Stephen Jolly. Great to have you
S1: with us. Wherever you're listening, perhaps through Virgin Australia Radio,
S1: Associated Stations of Australia, or maybe the Community Radio Network.
S1: There is also the podcast, if you haven't caught up
S1: with that yet. All you need to do is search
S1: for the two words. Talking tech and Diana can all come,
S1: usually on a Tuesday afternoon just after it's been produced.
S1: Another option is to ask your Siri device or smart
S1: speaker to play Vision Australia Radio talking tech podcast Vision
S1: Australia Radio talking tech podcast with me, someone who can
S1: explain all this tech stuff really well. Vision Australia's national
S1: advisor on access technology, David Woodbridge David, did you have
S1: a good White Cane day last Sunday?
S2: I actually did have a good white cane day because
S2: I actually do have a little ID cane, so it's
S2: not a proper mobility, cancer toning or cane that I've
S2: got in my over the shoulder bag or my tech bag,
S2: as I like to call it. And it's just a
S2: just in case type cane if I need sort of
S2: a bit of a, I think the take out and
S2: have a look at what's around me, so to speak,
S2: via touch. And the reason why I mentioned that particular
S2: bit is because the couple of key words for International
S2: White Cane Day, that was October 15th, was about clearing
S2: the way. And of course, if you're a traditional cane user,
S2: you know what it's like when you walk down a footpath,
S2: particularly in any city area, and you've got people who
S2: have tables and chairs and people sitting around and they've
S2: got their bags on the ground, then you've got the
S2: signage outside of some shops, you've got people that park
S2: the cars across the driveway, you've got overhanging branches on footpaths, etcetera, etcetera.
S2: And I think it's a really good reminder, particularly on
S2: the Guide Dogs website, which I referenced in the show notes.
S2: It's a good reminder for the general public to start
S2: thinking about what sort of things they may be able
S2: to do to clear the way a little bit better
S2: for people that are actually using a cane. So, you know,
S2: one of the things that I hate about using a
S2: white cane is the fact that you're still going to
S2: hit your head or contact branches above you. There's nothing
S2: worse than, you know, walking up behind a car that's
S2: parked on a footpath or across the driveway and, you know,
S2: trying to get past a cafe that's really busy with
S2: people sitting out on the footpath, it's almost impossible. You
S2: really almost feel like thinking, oh, well, I must just
S2: go and walk on the road and play up the traffic.
S2: So but I think it was a really good in
S2: mind because I had this little quiz on the page
S2: that is basically take this quiz and give yourself a
S2: bit of a point system on how good you are
S2: at maybe thinking about clearing the way. So I quite
S2: liked this idea, and it really brings it home to
S2: me and hopefully the general community about making life that
S2: just a little bit easier from, you know, being a
S2: bit more conscious of what you're doing.
S1: And on the flip side, it's a great celebration of
S1: our capacity to be able to get out there in
S1: the world, move around independently with dog or cane, and
S1: do lots of other things independently, too.
S2: Quite right, Stephen. I mean, it's the cane for such
S2: a simple tool. Makes our lives hugely independent these days,
S2: as always.
S1: Last week we started talking about tactile braille graphics devices,
S1: in particular the monarch. You've had to play with one.
S1: So let's go back and just explain exactly what it
S1: is physically and functionally and what your experience has been.
S2: So I've literally got the monarch right in front of
S2: me on the table here. What it is, it's a
S2: Braille graphics tablet with a Braille Perkins style input keyboard.
S2: So that's literally what it looks like. And for size wise,
S2: if you know how big a 15 inch laptop is
S2: and if you can imagine, it's probably about, I'd say
S2: about five five centimetres thick, then that's the sort of
S2: the size of the actual monarch. So what you have
S2: to think about the fact that is on the top
S2: face of the monarch taking up most of the area.
S2: You've got the the multi line braille display if you like,
S2: which is really a graphics tablets made up of lots
S2: and lots of little dots called braille when they raise up.
S2: And so I can produce both braille because it's a
S2: tactile thing and of course graphics. Now at the moment
S2: I've got the main menu for the monarch on the screen.
S2: And then of course, when I go into one of
S2: the functions, I can have diagrams showing and so on.
S2: Now what they've done, which I think is really cool
S2: with the monarch, is they've got these really cool controls
S2: for you to move, say, by ten lines at a time.
S2: So if you're reading a multi-line braille document, which I've
S2: got it in front of me as well, then when
S2: you get to the bottom of it, you want to
S2: press your your advanced key if you'd like to jump.
S2: Another ten lines or jump ten lines back, which is
S2: really cool. And then they've got another function which is
S2: basically using your arrow keys. And in that way you
S2: can go left, right, up or down, either when you're
S2: in a braille graphics or tactile graphic or when you're
S2: on one of the multi-line documents and so on. And
S2: then what's really cool, Stephen, are these keys down the bottom.
S2: And a lot of these keys, they're the zoom in
S2: and zoom out keys, which is if you're familiar with pictures,
S2: you zoom in or you zoom out to make a
S2: picture smaller or larger. So what you can do is
S2: if you go into the Braille tactile graphics library and
S2: you bring up a tactile image, you go, oh, that
S2: looks like an atomic cell with your protons and electrons
S2: and that sort of stuff. And then if you have
S2: a zoom in out, you can look into the actual
S2: atomic structure of an atom. And you can with again,
S2: those arrow keys, you can go left, right, up or down.
S2: You can again zoom in and zoom out. Another great
S2: example that I love to use with the monarch is
S2: I've got a thing called moon phases, and it's the
S2: phases of the moon. So you've got like a waxing
S2: gibbous and a full moon and so on. Now when
S2: you bring the default tactile up, it's sort of like
S2: thumbnail images. And as soon as you hit the zoom
S2: out button, you've got these really, really cool shapes of
S2: the moon. And they're all labeled in Braille. So you've
S2: got like full moon and like I said, Waxing gibbous
S2: and so on. But of course, that's not all going
S2: to fit on this bra display. So that's why you
S2: have to zoom around with the arrow keys as well.
S2: And of course, one of the things I haven't mentioned
S2: that I mentioned briefly in the beginning, I said it's
S2: got a perk and style keyboard. So right in front
S2: of me on the bottom of the top face, I've
S2: got my traditional one, two, three, four, five six bar keys, spacebar,
S2: and of course your dot seven and dot eight. And
S2: then right at the front of the display on the
S2: front face facing me. So it's the same side facing
S2: me is your traditional back home and recent buttons because
S2: this tablet is actually based on Android and I left
S2: this to the last is it's actually based on key soft.
S2: So if you know how to use key soft on
S2: your brilliant Braille display or on your Braille note touch,
S2: then I'm going to say that you're very quickly be
S2: able to pick up the monarch, because if I read
S2: down the list here, I've got the brow editor for
S2: doing multiline Braille editing, the tactile viewer. If you're viewing
S2: tactile graphics, the word processor for plugging in or using
S2: the keyboard to do your standard documents and so on.
S2: So really amazing. And then port wise I can plug
S2: this into a HDMI monitor. So anything that's on the
S2: on the monarch comes up on monitor. Like I just said,
S2: I can plug it in a standard USB A or
S2: a USB C keyboard. I can also plug in a
S2: USB stick if I also want. And I've got also
S2: got volume keys because this thing also talks to me
S2: as well. And of course, if you've got volume with
S2: internal speakers, you've also got an external headphone jack. Battery wise,
S2: this thing lasts for. Well, I think at the moment
S2: they're saying about ten hours. I get about 20 hours
S2: out of this thing at the moment. And just to note,
S2: this thing is still in private beta amongst organizations around
S2: the world, which is why Virgin Australia has got one.
S2: And we're still looking at a release date towards the
S2: end of 2024. So that's the monarch.
S1: That's going to be available from human wear, isn't it,
S1: in Australia.
S2: And it's going to be available from Humera in Australia. Yes,
S2: I probably will probably be also available from from Virgin Australia,
S2: but we haven't got that far yet on our planning stage.
S1: What sort of money are we looking at and where
S1: are these devices going to live? Because they're not going
S1: to live in people's homes.
S2: The price in US dollars is floating somewhere between 20,000
S2: to 30,000 US. So where these where these things are
S2: going to end up, I would imagine, Stephen. It's going
S2: to be like the original Kers while reading machine that
S2: we saw originally appear in the state libraries in different
S2: states of Australia. So I would assume that these are
S2: going to appear in. So those sort of places like libraries,
S2: higher education, so universities, tafes and hopefully with schools that
S2: I guess would want to share one from a main office,
S2: those sort of situation, particularly if people want to do science, technology,
S2: engineering and mathematics.
S1: Well, it'll be interesting to see how that one plays
S1: out over the next few years, really. Now you've got
S1: a little bit of advice for people who are purchasing
S1: their cane, their long cane online.
S2: I didn't actually realize this because by accident, I've been
S2: getting a cane that I've ordered online with a tip
S2: already on it. So I've always assumed, as I don't
S2: know if most people do, that. When you buy a
S2: white cane, it actually comes with a tip. But. They don't.
S2: So depending on the certain brand of cane you get
S2: and because there's a few of them, I won't go
S2: into the into the different brands because I'll confuse people.
S2: But so the thing is, when you buy your 54
S2: inch or your 56 inch cane, whatever it might be,
S2: make sure in the description that it actually says it
S2: comes with a tip, because I think about two thirds
S2: of our canes don't. So that means that you'll have
S2: to also order a tip. Now, the tricky bit about
S2: that is, and if you're not sure about this, is
S2: why you need an old person orientation mobility instructor, or
S2: talk to the person face to face in their shop
S2: because I don't know myself what's what. Be available for
S2: a like a cane that maybe had as a hook
S2: tip a screw on one and so on. So just
S2: be careful. If you're a traditional cane, you and you think, oh, look,
S2: I don't know, to go into a shop or talk
S2: to anybody, I order one online. Well, that's all hunky dory,
S2: but just make sure that you get one that has
S2: a tip on it, or go into your local Vision
S2: Australia office and say, I'd like to buy a replacement cane.
S2: I'm going to buy a new one. Do I need
S2: to buy a tip? And quite most of the time
S2: is that the person will also be able to assist
S2: you in fitting the tip onto the cane. So at
S2: least that way when you walk out of the shop door,
S2: you know the canes up and running ready to go.
S1: A very interesting provider of technology from the United States,
S1: but their products are available all around the world is
S1: at guys. Tell us about the Versus slate.
S2: I love the IT guys because they're always bringing in
S2: interesting and new technology for people who are blind. So
S2: the versus slate is for people that know what a
S2: hand slate is. And that's of course, where you use
S2: your stylus to push up pins onto a piece of
S2: paper and you take it apart, flip the flip the
S2: thing over, and then you can read the braille.
S1: Sometimes called a braille frame. Yeah.
S2: Apparently we call a brow frame in Australia. Apparently the
S2: US and Europe are a bit more trendy and they
S2: call it the slate. But when you use this one,
S2: they're actually magnetic pins. So you push the pins out
S2: again with a stylus, but there's no paper involved. So
S2: when you flip it over on the back of the versus,
S2: like the bra comes up. And then of course when
S2: you're finished, you can just flatten all the pins with
S2: your hand or your fingers, flip it back over and
S2: effectively start Braille again with a stylus.
S1: Very interesting. And how much are those?
S2: There are about $170 Australian. I've got mine. It's always
S2: next to my desk because sometimes I don't have access
S2: to my my smartphone or my computer in particular. I'm
S2: just taking down a reference number or a phone number.
S2: I just grab it and start, you know, browsing on
S2: the versus like, so to speak.
S1: Of that product from 80 guys, the cable one.
S2: We have mentioned this on the show before. This is
S2: the eight dot braille input keyboard. So if you think
S2: of a braille cell with dots one, two, three down,
S2: left hand side, four, five, six down the other, and
S2: then normally dot seven would be on the left hand
S2: side next to dot three, and dot eight would be
S2: on the right hand side next to dot six. And
S2: that is your Braille input keyboard. So not only can
S2: you use a combination of those keys to actually produce
S2: Braille letters and so on, but you can also use
S2: combinations to navigate around your smartphone. So, you know, smartphone
S2: or tablet. And because it is such a tiny device,
S2: you can simply basically hold it in your hand when
S2: you finish with it, pop up back in your pocket
S2: and off you go. So it's such a nice little
S2: device to use that every time I see it, or
S2: a different organization, bring it on board for sale. We
S2: always like to mention it.
S1: Just before we go, a reminder of where there are
S1: details of what you've been talking about in this and
S1: previous editions of the program.
S2: As always, the information is on my blog site, which
S2: is David. Would it be a dot podbean pad be
S2: a incom?
S1: David would be dot podbean Podbean to write to the program.
S2: You can write to me at Vision Australia where I work,
S2: which is David Dot Woodbridge at Vision australia.org.
S1: David Dot Woodbridge at Vision Australia. 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.