WEBVTT - Talking Vision 690 Week Beginning 21st of August 2023 0:00:38.450 --> 0:00:44.150 From Vision Australia. This is talking vision. And now here's 0:00:44.150 --> 0:00:46.160 your host, Sam Colley. 0:00:48.710 --> 0:00:51.800 Hello, everyone. It's great to be here with you. And 0:00:51.800 --> 0:00:54.800 for the next half hour, we talk matters of blindness 0:00:54.800 --> 0:00:55.850 and low vision. 0:00:56.060 --> 0:00:59.270 The main idea of the inclusive design is that the 0:00:59.270 --> 0:01:02.420 product should not put any barriers in front of anybody. 0:01:02.420 --> 0:01:05.300 So this is what we were aiming for. So with 0:01:05.300 --> 0:01:09.410 the brave brain, we wanted to make it fully, like 0:01:09.410 --> 0:01:12.170 enjoyable for both sighted and blind players. 0:01:12.380 --> 0:01:16.280 Welcome to the program. We're going globetrotting in some respects 0:01:16.280 --> 0:01:18.500 on the show this week as I chat with a 0:01:18.500 --> 0:01:21.890 game developer, joining me all the way from Brno in 0:01:21.890 --> 0:01:25.460 the Czech Republic. His name is Milos. He's part of 0:01:25.470 --> 0:01:29.540 Kiki Wicked Games, a mobile game studio with a focus 0:01:29.540 --> 0:01:33.560 on inclusive barrier free gaming for the blind and low 0:01:33.560 --> 0:01:37.730 vision community. They've just released a new game and he's 0:01:37.730 --> 0:01:40.310 here to tell me all about it. That interview is 0:01:40.310 --> 0:01:43.640 coming up right around the corner. Then after you hear 0:01:43.640 --> 0:01:47.030 from Milos, we say hello to a new regular voice 0:01:47.030 --> 0:01:50.240 on talking vision. It's Sam from the shop. Here to 0:01:50.240 --> 0:01:54.260 talk all about the latest from the Vision Australia Store. 0:01:54.680 --> 0:01:58.400 I hope you enjoy this week's episode of Talking Vision. 0:02:03.360 --> 0:02:05.940 A few months ago, I caught up with Yana and 0:02:05.940 --> 0:02:10.200 Melosh from Kicky Wicked Games, an inclusive game design studio 0:02:10.200 --> 0:02:13.680 from the Czech Republic following the release of their first 0:02:13.680 --> 0:02:17.130 game to the Dragon Cave. Well, now they've released a 0:02:17.130 --> 0:02:21.420 second game called Brave Brain, and Miller is back with 0:02:21.420 --> 0:02:25.050 me to chat all about it. Miller Welcome back to 0:02:25.050 --> 0:02:26.850 Talking Vision. How are you going? 0:02:27.660 --> 0:02:30.870 Hey, Sam, thank you for inviting us. And I'm doing good. Thanks. 0:02:30.990 --> 0:02:34.740 Excellent. Now, what has Kikuchi games been up to since 0:02:34.740 --> 0:02:37.410 the last time we spoke after the release of two 0:02:37.410 --> 0:02:38.520 of the Dragon Cave? 0:02:39.480 --> 0:02:42.670 Yeah. So after a release of the Dragon Cave, we were, like, 0:02:42.720 --> 0:02:47.040 collecting feedback and started considering what will be our next step. 0:02:47.340 --> 0:02:52.260 So from the feedback we received from players of Dragon Cave, 0:02:52.500 --> 0:02:56.040 we realized that the Like players from Blind Community were 0:02:56.040 --> 0:03:02.610 enjoying the game pretty like pretty much. But from the 0:03:02.610 --> 0:03:07.710 site IT players, there was this for them. It was 0:03:07.710 --> 0:03:10.650 pretty much difficult to play the game and it's only 0:03:10.650 --> 0:03:14.190 audio based and then the players just had to rely 0:03:14.190 --> 0:03:17.610 on their hearings. So we were thinking, okay, so we 0:03:17.610 --> 0:03:20.580 would like to make a game where everyone can play 0:03:20.580 --> 0:03:25.230 without any any issues that every, every group of of 0:03:25.230 --> 0:03:27.150 the players can enjoy playing the game. 0:03:27.630 --> 0:03:30.390 Tell us a bit about your new quiz game, Brave Brain. 0:03:30.390 --> 0:03:32.880 What sort of things does that involve? 0:03:33.060 --> 0:03:39.150 Yeah, so we chose the quiz because we noticed that 0:03:39.150 --> 0:03:42.480 there is many, many such games on the mobile market, 0:03:42.480 --> 0:03:46.950 but like nearly none of them is accessible for for 0:03:46.950 --> 0:03:49.830 screen readers. And we are thinking, okay, that's sad because 0:03:49.830 --> 0:03:52.800 this is like text based game. It could be easily 0:03:53.100 --> 0:03:55.860 accessible for readers. So let's, let's try to do this. 0:03:55.860 --> 0:03:59.730 And so we decided to do that. And one of 0:03:59.730 --> 0:04:02.910 the reasons was also that this is Jana's favorite genre. 0:04:02.910 --> 0:04:05.640 While the Dragon Cave, the shooter was my favorite genre. 0:04:05.640 --> 0:04:08.000 So we wanted to balance this as well so that 0:04:08.070 --> 0:04:12.140 these were the decision points to make. Brave Brain. Okay. 0:04:12.180 --> 0:04:17.670 And in Brisbane you simply answer quiz questions. Thanks to this, 0:04:17.670 --> 0:04:20.820 you unlock more countries where you can visit and answer 0:04:20.820 --> 0:04:25.410 more quiz questions. You collect experience points with experience points. 0:04:25.530 --> 0:04:28.980 You can compare yourself with other players in the weekly 0:04:28.980 --> 0:04:34.620 or global leaderboards, and you can also collect the postcards 0:04:34.620 --> 0:04:37.230 in the game, which you can then share with your 0:04:37.230 --> 0:04:40.740 friends social networks or so. And yeah. 0:04:41.010 --> 0:04:41.580 Yeah. 0:04:41.880 --> 0:04:44.520 Some. I've had a go on my brain. It is 0:04:44.520 --> 0:04:47.400 quite a fun game and at some it is somewhat 0:04:47.400 --> 0:04:51.960 geography based and there's quite a few geography questions in there. 0:04:51.960 --> 0:04:55.500 And you know, you learn a lot of interesting facts 0:04:55.500 --> 0:04:59.670 about the landmarks in the countries, but also the cultures 0:04:59.670 --> 0:05:02.970 and foods and all that sort of thing from each country. 0:05:02.970 --> 0:05:05.730 So it's a lot of fun to find out some 0:05:05.730 --> 0:05:08.880 new fun facts every day when you're playing the game. 0:05:08.880 --> 0:05:13.110 So what was the thinking behind sort of making it 0:05:13.110 --> 0:05:16.620 geography based or country based? Was there any sort of 0:05:16.620 --> 0:05:18.600 particular reason behind that? 0:05:19.560 --> 0:05:23.640 Yeah, both me and now we love traveling. So this 0:05:23.640 --> 0:05:27.300 was something we wanted to project into the game. And 0:05:27.300 --> 0:05:30.180 we also think that the traveling and knowing the world 0:05:30.180 --> 0:05:33.810 around us is nicely connected with the with the knowledge. 0:05:33.810 --> 0:05:37.380 So it goes well together. Okay. That's our opinion. 0:05:37.380 --> 0:05:41.040 Yeah. Now for sure, 100% agree with that. And it's 0:05:41.040 --> 0:05:43.770 great to find out more about the world around us. 0:05:43.770 --> 0:05:46.470 And you know, it's always fun to learn some new 0:05:46.470 --> 0:05:49.170 fun facts and you never know when they'll come in 0:05:49.170 --> 0:05:52.110 handy for, you know, future trivia. If you go out 0:05:52.110 --> 0:05:54.330 in real life and play it with your friends. So 0:05:54.330 --> 0:05:58.110 it's yeah, it's a lot of fun. Now, Inclusive design 0:05:58.110 --> 0:06:02.010 was a major focus when creating Brave Brain. I understand. 0:06:02.010 --> 0:06:05.220 And you know, we've talked about that a little bit already, 0:06:05.220 --> 0:06:08.820 but you and Yana really focused on making it fully 0:06:08.820 --> 0:06:12.660 accessible for screen readers and for people who are blind 0:06:12.660 --> 0:06:16.230 or have very low vision. So what sort of inclusive 0:06:16.230 --> 0:06:19.500 design features can people look forward to when they play 0:06:19.500 --> 0:06:20.160 Brave Brain? 0:06:21.090 --> 0:06:24.450 Yeah. So, so the main idea of the inclusive design 0:06:24.450 --> 0:06:27.210 is that the product should not put any barriers in 0:06:27.210 --> 0:06:30.290 front of anybody. So this is what we were aiming for. 0:06:30.300 --> 0:06:34.230 So with the brave brain, we wanted to make it 0:06:34.230 --> 0:06:38.520 fully like enjoyable for both sighted and blind players. And 0:06:38.520 --> 0:06:41.010 so what we learned from the Dragon gave, okay, so 0:06:41.010 --> 0:06:43.830 we have to make it look like any other game 0:06:43.830 --> 0:06:45.630 or the on the market if we want to make 0:06:45.630 --> 0:06:50.260 it enjoyable for sighted players. So we decided to create rich, 0:06:50.280 --> 0:06:54.210 handcrafted visuals for the game. So every country and every 0:06:54.210 --> 0:06:58.050 location has its own visual representation and okay, so now 0:06:58.050 --> 0:07:02.640 we started thinking, so how to make this this visuals 0:07:02.640 --> 0:07:06.150 enjoyable for blind people as well. So we were thinking, okay, 0:07:06.150 --> 0:07:10.110 so maybe we should provide some nice audio representation for 0:07:10.110 --> 0:07:13.080 all these locations. So every location in the game has 0:07:13.080 --> 0:07:18.060 its own soundtrack. When you access location, we try to 0:07:18.060 --> 0:07:21.810 make the feeling of the place by the style of 0:07:21.810 --> 0:07:24.090 the music that's playing there. So this is how we 0:07:24.090 --> 0:07:27.540 try to provide both groups, the mood from the game, 0:07:27.540 --> 0:07:31.380 the similar feelings when you play it, regardless if you 0:07:31.380 --> 0:07:33.900 can see the visuals or not. So that was the 0:07:33.900 --> 0:07:35.010 main aim. Yeah. 0:07:35.010 --> 0:07:39.690 Okay. And what sort of things does the game audio describe? 0:07:39.690 --> 0:07:43.230 If you for instance, you go into the options menu 0:07:43.230 --> 0:07:46.890 and do tick accessibility, which is, you know, how you 0:07:46.890 --> 0:07:52.230 can access the the accessibility features. Does it read out 0:07:52.230 --> 0:07:55.200 the text boxes that come up on the game? What 0:07:55.200 --> 0:07:59.970 sort of audio description and screen reader capabilities does the 0:07:59.970 --> 0:08:00.720 game have? 0:08:01.080 --> 0:08:01.440 Yeah. 0:08:01.440 --> 0:08:03.480 So okay, so here I will mention that there are 0:08:03.480 --> 0:08:08.700 slight differences between Android and iPhone because in iPhone it 0:08:08.700 --> 0:08:12.120 was much easier for us to provide like accessibility that 0:08:12.120 --> 0:08:15.150 is very, very close to what you have naturally in 0:08:15.150 --> 0:08:17.670 the in the operating system. So when you play the 0:08:17.670 --> 0:08:21.030 game on iPhone where you have accessibility enabled, then the 0:08:21.030 --> 0:08:24.480 game automatically enables the accessibility. And if you disabled it, 0:08:24.630 --> 0:08:27.780 it disabled the accessibility in the game as well. On Android, 0:08:27.840 --> 0:08:32.910 there you have the special accessibility checkbox and the game 0:08:32.910 --> 0:08:36.090 recognizes that you run accessibility on the Android system. But 0:08:36.090 --> 0:08:39.120 there are some places where it was making us pretty 0:08:39.120 --> 0:08:42.690 difficult to make them accessible. When you open some native 0:08:42.690 --> 0:08:44.730 window in the game, like if you want to share 0:08:44.730 --> 0:08:48.240 the postcard or buy something or watch advertisement, it opens 0:08:48.240 --> 0:08:52.140 native windows and it in this place on Android, you 0:08:52.140 --> 0:08:56.040 have to disable the in-game accessibility, enable the talkback accessibility, 0:08:56.040 --> 0:08:59.760 and then you have the native accessible. So Android, it 0:08:59.760 --> 0:09:02.700 was much more difficult to provide accessibility there. But I 0:09:02.700 --> 0:09:07.110 believe that although it's not as comfortable as on iPhone, 0:09:07.110 --> 0:09:09.540 it's still still good enough to enjoy the game. 0:09:09.810 --> 0:09:13.740 So what is the progress like with that in the future? 0:09:13.740 --> 0:09:17.280 Will there perhaps be patches or updates that people can 0:09:17.280 --> 0:09:20.160 look forward to on Android that might iron out a 0:09:20.160 --> 0:09:23.820 couple of the little tiny issues with the accessibility? How's 0:09:23.820 --> 0:09:26.130 that sort of going from an Android standpoint? 0:09:26.580 --> 0:09:29.550 Yeah. So for both platforms we aim to keep the 0:09:29.550 --> 0:09:33.630 game alive and add more features, more content over time. 0:09:33.630 --> 0:09:37.950 So we will definitely be adding more countries, more quiz questions, 0:09:38.230 --> 0:09:41.940 new functionalities. We plan to like large features at Endgame 0:09:41.940 --> 0:09:45.000 over time. One of them will be some seasonal quizzes. 0:09:45.000 --> 0:09:48.600 So when there is like, I don't know, Christmas, then 0:09:48.600 --> 0:09:52.290 you will get some special time based quiz like time 0:09:52.290 --> 0:09:56.070 restricted quiz, connectivity, Christmas. And then another thing we plan 0:09:56.070 --> 0:09:58.710 to do will be like a huge step forward will 0:09:58.710 --> 0:10:02.340 be the option to play with some of your friends 0:10:02.340 --> 0:10:06.000 directly so you can challenge someone and play the quiz 0:10:06.000 --> 0:10:09.600 questions with your friend and then compare the results. And 0:10:09.600 --> 0:10:13.830 who is better than that person wins. So like online multiplayer. 0:10:14.010 --> 0:10:15.270 Wow. Yeah. Yeah. 0:10:15.270 --> 0:10:17.520 So that's we have big plans with this, unlike to 0:10:17.540 --> 0:10:20.700 the Random Game where the game was like more story 0:10:20.700 --> 0:10:24.060 based and there was not much options how to expand it. 0:10:24.060 --> 0:10:27.000 With this brave brain, we can see a lot of options, 0:10:27.000 --> 0:10:29.670 how to expand the game and add more features there, 0:10:29.670 --> 0:10:31.530 which is what we really like about. 0:10:31.530 --> 0:10:32.160 Yeah. 0:10:32.490 --> 0:10:36.360 So definitely a very different game to to the Dragon Cave, 0:10:36.360 --> 0:10:39.660 as you've mentioned. And it's really interesting to say you 0:10:39.660 --> 0:10:43.230 branch out into a completely different genre and we do 0:10:43.230 --> 0:10:46.890 look forward to following all the updates and patches when 0:10:46.890 --> 0:10:49.050 they do come out. And of course, you know, an 0:10:49.050 --> 0:10:55.380 inclusive design is a huge overarching focus for games. Throw 0:10:55.380 --> 0:10:58.080 out that. So we're looking forward to seeing the game, 0:10:58.080 --> 0:11:01.500 you know, become more and more accessible as time does 0:11:01.500 --> 0:11:05.430 go on and mellows during the game. You come across 0:11:05.430 --> 0:11:08.850 quite a few landmarks for each country tile that you 0:11:08.850 --> 0:11:13.350 land on. But what was the thought process behind choosing 0:11:13.350 --> 0:11:16.620 the landmarks and how they best represented each country? 0:11:17.970 --> 0:11:18.330 Yeah. 0:11:18.330 --> 0:11:21.840 So this was Jenna's job because she. And she's the 0:11:21.840 --> 0:11:25.680 game designer. So she did the research trying to recognize 0:11:25.680 --> 0:11:29.700 what's the landmark that most of the people could know 0:11:29.700 --> 0:11:32.550 well in the country. And she provided us with a 0:11:32.550 --> 0:11:36.030 list of, like many countries with many locations which we 0:11:36.030 --> 0:11:37.440 didn't implement it into the game. 0:11:37.650 --> 0:11:38.400 Okay. 0:11:38.400 --> 0:11:41.160 And are you willing to sort of give us a 0:11:41.160 --> 0:11:45.570 couple of clues about which ones feature for the Czech Republic? 0:11:45.570 --> 0:11:47.940 Are we going to see the rotunda of Saint Peter 0:11:47.940 --> 0:11:52.650 and Paul or maybe Franz Kafka's House or the Divorce Museum? 0:11:52.650 --> 0:11:56.040 What sort of things really captured the Czech Republic for you? 0:11:56.490 --> 0:12:02.190 Ah, for me, I definitely loved Franz Kafka because I 0:12:02.190 --> 0:12:05.190 visited it many times in the past year in Prague, 0:12:05.190 --> 0:12:07.500 so it might not be the most famous thing, but 0:12:07.500 --> 0:12:12.390 I really like it. And then for me, it's we 0:12:12.390 --> 0:12:15.270 have many old castles in Czech Republic. So again, this 0:12:15.270 --> 0:12:18.090 is more like personal thing. I don't think it's something that's. 0:12:18.090 --> 0:12:22.020 No, that's generally known. But yeah, but because like. 0:12:22.020 --> 0:12:25.830 When I sort of look it up and people mention Bowditch, 0:12:25.830 --> 0:12:29.910 which is like one of the oldest buildings and that's the, 0:12:30.300 --> 0:12:34.680 there's a lot of mythology around this building. And yeah, 0:12:34.680 --> 0:12:37.680 so it's really, really interesting to find out about that. 0:12:37.680 --> 0:12:40.650 But it's not, of course, just about the Czech Republic. 0:12:40.650 --> 0:12:44.730 There are lots of other countries out there on the map, 0:12:44.730 --> 0:12:47.970 Like for example, you start off with Grace and then 0:12:47.970 --> 0:12:51.480 there's there's the USA and Spain and Norway, and there's 0:12:51.480 --> 0:12:54.930 a lot of great little places to check out. So yeah, 0:12:54.930 --> 0:12:59.070 just play through and find out all about them. 0:12:59.070 --> 0:13:01.560 Maybe one thing I forgot to mention which, which was 0:13:01.560 --> 0:13:03.960 also part of the inclusive design, if I can, if 0:13:03.960 --> 0:13:04.670 I can mention it. 0:13:04.700 --> 0:13:05.730 Yeah, absolutely. 0:13:05.790 --> 0:13:08.250 You have these avatars in the game so you can 0:13:08.250 --> 0:13:11.910 personalize your profile. And these are like little like pictures 0:13:11.910 --> 0:13:15.600 of brain with some equipment. So that is brain swimming 0:13:15.600 --> 0:13:19.440 in under the water with, with the, with video diving equipment. 0:13:19.440 --> 0:13:23.610 So it's a like visual visual thing. But we try 0:13:23.610 --> 0:13:28.380 to provide a nice description. So even blind player like 0:13:28.500 --> 0:13:31.530 goes through the list of the avatars, you get description 0:13:31.530 --> 0:13:34.950 of each and we try to like again, make a 0:13:34.950 --> 0:13:38.970 feel by by text description about how how the avatar 0:13:38.970 --> 0:13:42.360 looks like. And the same is for postcards where you 0:13:42.360 --> 0:13:46.830 collect like nice graphically done postcard. And then we try 0:13:46.830 --> 0:13:51.150 to provide some like rich textual descriptions to provide the 0:13:51.150 --> 0:13:54.510 mood of of what's on the picture. So that was 0:13:54.510 --> 0:13:57.210 another things that we were like trying to provide with 0:13:57.570 --> 0:13:59.160 rich text description. 0:13:59.550 --> 0:14:05.100 And it's also worth noting that Yana herself is totally blind, 0:14:05.100 --> 0:14:08.370 as I understand it, and that she really brings her 0:14:08.370 --> 0:14:12.420 lived experience to this game. And so inclusive design is 0:14:12.420 --> 0:14:16.320 super important for not only her, but, you know, the 0:14:16.320 --> 0:14:20.100 whole organization, Kiki Reiki games. And you know, that's that's 0:14:20.100 --> 0:14:24.270 definitely something at the forefront of everything you both do. 0:14:24.270 --> 0:14:28.230 So it's really interesting to hear about the games that 0:14:28.230 --> 0:14:30.660 you come up with. So looking forward to hearing all 0:14:30.660 --> 0:14:34.170 about them. Now the game is available, as I understand, 0:14:34.170 --> 0:14:37.740 on both the Apple Store and Google Play for Apple 0:14:37.740 --> 0:14:42.270 and Android users respectively. But does the game cost anything 0:14:42.270 --> 0:14:44.250 or is it free for people to play? 0:14:44.370 --> 0:14:47.340 You can download the game for free and play for free. 0:14:47.340 --> 0:14:51.150 There is some in-game currency that you use during the game, 0:14:51.150 --> 0:14:53.220 so when you run the quiz, it costs you some 0:14:53.220 --> 0:14:56.730 in-game coins. Then if you run out of the coins, 0:14:56.730 --> 0:14:59.370 that is daily reward every day where you can get 0:14:59.370 --> 0:15:02.160 some more so you can play a few more quizzes. 0:15:02.160 --> 0:15:05.370 If you like to play more, you can always purchase 0:15:05.370 --> 0:15:08.400 for early money some of these in-game currencies and then 0:15:08.490 --> 0:15:11.730 when you answering the questions, then when you get something wrong, 0:15:11.730 --> 0:15:15.960 then you can like save yourself and either skip or 0:15:15.960 --> 0:15:19.320 repeat the questions by another in-game currency, which is like diamonds. 0:15:19.320 --> 0:15:22.020 And again, here, if you don't have diamonds, you can 0:15:22.020 --> 0:15:24.450 still watch Advertisement or just quit the quiz and run 0:15:24.450 --> 0:15:26.940 it again. So you can use various strategies how to 0:15:26.940 --> 0:15:30.360 play the game when you don't have to pay. If 0:15:30.360 --> 0:15:33.120 you are happy to spend more time watching the diamonds, 0:15:33.120 --> 0:15:36.600 for example, or if you like to play more or 0:15:36.600 --> 0:15:38.500 you really like the game and want to support us, 0:15:38.500 --> 0:15:40.700 then you can always purchase something in the shop for 0:15:40.770 --> 0:15:41.310 the money. 0:15:41.520 --> 0:15:42.240 Okay. 0:15:42.300 --> 0:15:45.930 And for more details about Brave Brain, where can people 0:15:45.930 --> 0:15:47.250 go to find out more? 0:15:47.610 --> 0:15:52.020 So we have a Facebook page, Brave Brain Game, where 0:15:52.140 --> 0:15:54.720 we like we are pretty active there. So you can 0:15:54.720 --> 0:15:57.900 find every week some new post about the game. And 0:15:58.470 --> 0:16:02.700 just recently we started a competition there where you can 0:16:03.420 --> 0:16:07.290 win some of the in-game currencies. So we we like 0:16:07.500 --> 0:16:10.770 trying to share as much as we can about the 0:16:10.920 --> 0:16:12.690 game and and both of you are doing there. 0:16:13.110 --> 0:16:17.850 I've been speaking today with Melosh from Reiki games, the 0:16:17.850 --> 0:16:22.330 developers of a new quiz game Brave. Spine designed for 0:16:22.330 --> 0:16:25.060 people who are blind or have low vision to test 0:16:25.060 --> 0:16:28.910 their trivia skills. Melosh, thanks so much for your time today. 0:16:28.960 --> 0:16:31.060 It was great to have a chat with you again 0:16:31.060 --> 0:16:32.710 and hear all about Brave Bruin. 0:16:32.980 --> 0:16:33.460 Thank you, Sam. 0:16:33.460 --> 0:16:34.480 It was great to be here. 0:16:42.250 --> 0:16:45.340 I'm Sam Culley and you're listening to Talking Vision on 0:16:45.340 --> 0:16:50.050 Vision Australia Radio associated stations of Th and the Community 0:16:50.050 --> 0:16:54.130 Radio Network. I hope you enjoyed that interview with Milos 0:16:54.130 --> 0:16:57.520 from Kiki Wicked games telling us all about Brave Brain. 0:16:57.880 --> 0:17:00.610 If you missed any part of that interview or you'd 0:17:00.610 --> 0:17:03.670 love to hear from Melosh again, that interview will be 0:17:03.670 --> 0:17:08.200 available as an interview highlight on your favorite podcast platform 0:17:08.200 --> 0:17:11.890 or through the Vision Australia Library. And of course that's 0:17:11.890 --> 0:17:15.700 also where you'll find today's episode in full. Or you 0:17:15.700 --> 0:17:20.560 can also visit via radio. Org. That's RVA radio.org to 0:17:20.560 --> 0:17:23.020 listen to past episodes and find out more about the 0:17:23.020 --> 0:17:26.380 show coming up next. It's my great pleasure to welcome 0:17:26.380 --> 0:17:30.130 a new regular voice to talking vision. It's Sam Dry, 0:17:30.130 --> 0:17:32.950 otherwise known as Sam from the shop. Here to tell 0:17:32.950 --> 0:17:37.270 us all about the latest news from the Vision store. Sam, 0:17:37.270 --> 0:17:40.610 welcome to Talking Vision. Thanks so much for your time today. 0:17:40.630 --> 0:17:42.510 Thanks, Sam. It's great to be here. 0:17:42.520 --> 0:17:46.600 Now, firstly, Sam, tell us about the exciting additions to 0:17:46.600 --> 0:17:48.310 the vision store that have come in. 0:17:48.310 --> 0:17:51.790 Yeah, of course. So we've basically got our calendar and 0:17:51.790 --> 0:17:55.510 diary pre-sales which are now open. So we've got three 0:17:55.510 --> 0:17:58.660 calendars this year. You've got your Seeing Eye Dog's Calendar, 0:17:58.660 --> 0:18:01.900 which showcases the incredible work of the seeing Eye dogs 0:18:01.900 --> 0:18:05.110 where you'll get pictures of puppies in training. You've got 0:18:05.110 --> 0:18:08.620 your artwork calendar, which features artwork from our community of 0:18:08.620 --> 0:18:12.010 talented blind and low vision artists, and you've got your 0:18:12.010 --> 0:18:15.220 extra large print calendar, which is a double page calendar 0:18:15.220 --> 0:18:17.950 with extra large print and bold text. So dates are 0:18:17.950 --> 0:18:18.970 easier to read. 0:18:19.180 --> 0:18:22.540 All right, wonderful. And how can people grab a copy 0:18:22.540 --> 0:18:24.400 of the calendar if they're interested? 0:18:24.400 --> 0:18:27.280 So on our website, simply click on the link and 0:18:27.280 --> 0:18:30.820 then you'll have the options for all the calendars available. Otherwise, 0:18:30.820 --> 0:18:33.160 if you're in store, feel free to drop into the 0:18:33.160 --> 0:18:35.680 store and basically order with one of the staff. 0:18:35.680 --> 0:18:39.340 They're awesome. And I understand there's some diaries that are 0:18:39.340 --> 0:18:41.260 also coming out. Tell us about those. 0:18:41.260 --> 0:18:44.290 Yeah, so it's a large print diary where each date 0:18:44.290 --> 0:18:47.380 has its own page. It's perfect for writing down important 0:18:47.380 --> 0:18:49.930 dates that you can keep track of throughout the year. 0:18:50.230 --> 0:18:53.170 And what else is there in store for people if 0:18:53.170 --> 0:18:55.450 they head along to the Vision Australia Shop? 0:18:55.720 --> 0:18:57.580 We've got a huge range of products, so I was 0:18:57.580 --> 0:18:59.710 thinking maybe today I can just go through two of 0:18:59.710 --> 0:19:02.470 my favourites. Okay. The first one we've got is one 0:19:02.470 --> 0:19:05.680 of our magnifiers called the Explorer eight. Yeah, it's probably 0:19:05.680 --> 0:19:08.170 one of our best selling pieces of technology and it's 0:19:08.170 --> 0:19:11.560 one of my personal favorites. So the Explorer eight is 0:19:11.560 --> 0:19:15.040 an eight inch magnifier, which magnifies any piece of text, 0:19:15.040 --> 0:19:17.410 and it can do up to 30 times of its 0:19:17.410 --> 0:19:20.350 original size. Or you have to do is rest it 0:19:20.350 --> 0:19:23.770 over the text and slide it around. It's a perfect 0:19:23.770 --> 0:19:26.560 gift for avid readers who are struggling with small text 0:19:26.560 --> 0:19:30.460 that you often see in newspapers and books. It even 0:19:30.460 --> 0:19:32.560 comes with a travel case, so it's perfect tool to 0:19:32.560 --> 0:19:34.540 carry around if you're going on holiday. 0:19:34.540 --> 0:19:37.660 Wow, that sounds incredible. What's your other favorite? Tell us about. 0:19:37.660 --> 0:19:40.270 That. My other favorites, probably the Oli tech easy flip 0:19:40.270 --> 0:19:43.390 to mobile phone. So it's an easy to use mobile phone, 0:19:43.390 --> 0:19:47.080 which has a high contrast keyboard and large tactile buttons. 0:19:47.080 --> 0:19:49.990 It's got voice guidance, so it speaks up the numbers 0:19:49.990 --> 0:19:53.170 when you dial. And probably one of my favorite features 0:19:53.170 --> 0:19:56.650 about it is its simplicity. If you receive a call, 0:19:56.650 --> 0:19:59.320 as soon as you flip it open, it answers the call. 0:19:59.320 --> 0:20:02.170 And when you close the phone, it hangs up. It 0:20:02.170 --> 0:20:05.050 makes it a great aid for people who struggle to 0:20:05.050 --> 0:20:07.840 find the buttons on their phones. And a great gift 0:20:07.840 --> 0:20:10.060 for somebody who needs a mobile phone. 0:20:10.420 --> 0:20:14.500 That's super important for people everywhere to have a mobile phone. So, 0:20:14.500 --> 0:20:16.750 you know, that's a great little gift for sure to 0:20:16.750 --> 0:20:20.800 keep people connected. And Sam, Father's Day, of course, is 0:20:20.800 --> 0:20:23.650 coming up right around the corner. So what sort of 0:20:23.650 --> 0:20:27.100 gifts has the vision store got for the blind and 0:20:27.100 --> 0:20:28.660 low vision dads of the world? 0:20:28.870 --> 0:20:32.200 Yeah. So Father's Day right around the corner. The two 0:20:32.200 --> 0:20:35.980 that come to mind would be firstly, our talking watch range. 0:20:35.980 --> 0:20:39.250 So as we know, everybody needs to know the time 0:20:39.250 --> 0:20:42.040 with the watches. What we would say is essentially you've 0:20:42.040 --> 0:20:46.360 got talking and large print watches, the talking watches have 0:20:46.360 --> 0:20:48.700 a little button on the top corner that you can click, 0:20:48.700 --> 0:20:51.310 which will tell you the time perfect for people with 0:20:51.310 --> 0:20:54.790 low vision. The other watch that we've got, which is 0:20:54.790 --> 0:20:58.720 somewhat new, is our E one Bradley Range. These watches 0:20:58.720 --> 0:21:02.680 have two metal ball bearings that basically you feel and 0:21:02.680 --> 0:21:06.130 you can tell the time from. They're quite stylish so 0:21:06.130 --> 0:21:08.770 they're definitely a good option for the more fashionable dads 0:21:08.770 --> 0:21:09.790 out there. Okay. 0:21:09.790 --> 0:21:12.340 And what sort of colors do those watches come in? 0:21:12.460 --> 0:21:15.250 So you've got a range of five colors. There's three 0:21:15.250 --> 0:21:20.380 metal mesh bands which come in black, silver and gold. 0:21:20.380 --> 0:21:23.620 And then you have a green moss color, which is 0:21:23.620 --> 0:21:26.170 a leathery band. And then you also got a tan 0:21:26.170 --> 0:21:27.190 leather option. 0:21:27.190 --> 0:21:31.240 All right, wonderful. And Sam, for the sporty dads out there, 0:21:31.240 --> 0:21:34.180 I understand there's some exciting gifts for them to get 0:21:34.180 --> 0:21:34.990 their hands on. 0:21:35.080 --> 0:21:38.740 Yeah, definitely. So we've got a large range of different 0:21:38.740 --> 0:21:43.230 sort of audio. Ranging from cricket to soccer balls, but 0:21:43.230 --> 0:21:45.360 the one where most looking forward to and the one 0:21:45.360 --> 0:21:48.030 which seems to be popular at the moment is our 0:21:48.240 --> 0:21:52.440 audible AFL ball. So this basically has a button that 0:21:52.440 --> 0:21:56.520 is clicked internally and so the ball makes a sort 0:21:56.520 --> 0:21:59.640 of buzzing sound, meaning that anybody with low vision can 0:21:59.640 --> 0:22:01.380 join in and play AFL. 0:22:01.500 --> 0:22:06.570 Oh wonderful. And that's in addition to the balls that 0:22:06.570 --> 0:22:09.240 contain bells inside them. Is that correct? 0:22:09.240 --> 0:22:12.480 Correct, yes. So you can get an audible tennis ball, 0:22:12.480 --> 0:22:15.540 an audible soccer football, and you can even get an 0:22:15.540 --> 0:22:18.000 audible cricket rugby ball as well. 0:22:18.030 --> 0:22:22.290 Oh, well, that's very exciting. Okay. And just to wrap up, Sam, 0:22:22.560 --> 0:22:26.190 if there are people who are interested in heading along 0:22:26.190 --> 0:22:29.940 to the vision store, or perhaps they'd like to know 0:22:29.940 --> 0:22:33.240 more just about the shop in general, what's that website 0:22:33.240 --> 0:22:34.380 for them to head to? 0:22:34.500 --> 0:22:37.650 So you can find it on the Vision Australia website. 0:22:37.650 --> 0:22:40.680 There's a link that says Vision Store, or you can 0:22:40.680 --> 0:22:43.260 just type in Vision store into Google and click on 0:22:43.260 --> 0:22:44.250 the first link. 0:22:44.460 --> 0:22:48.780 That's right. Or you can head to shop dot Vision australia.org. 0:22:48.780 --> 0:22:53.730 That's shop dot Vision australia.org. To find out more. I've 0:22:53.730 --> 0:22:57.330 been speaking today with Sam Raji, otherwise known as Sam 0:22:57.330 --> 0:23:00.360 from the shop all about the latest from the Vision 0:23:00.360 --> 0:23:03.540 Australia Store. Sam, thanks so much for your time today. 0:23:03.570 --> 0:23:05.730 It was great to catch up and hear all about 0:23:05.730 --> 0:23:07.380 the latest from the Vision Store. 0:23:07.410 --> 0:23:09.120 Thanks so much for having me, Sam. 0:23:16.280 --> 0:23:19.370 And finally, in some news this week, before we go, 0:23:19.400 --> 0:23:23.810 the blonde citizens Australia c r is stepping down. Blind 0:23:23.810 --> 0:23:28.370 Citizens Australia has recently announced the resignation of CEO Sally 0:23:28.700 --> 0:23:32.630 Andrews as she takes up an opportunity to dedicate herself 0:23:32.630 --> 0:23:36.920 to academic study. Sally has been with BCA for almost 0:23:36.920 --> 0:23:42.290 six years, becoming CEO. In January of 2022. Sally will 0:23:42.290 --> 0:23:46.370 depart in late September following a recruitment process to select 0:23:46.370 --> 0:23:50.300 her replacement from the team at Talking Vision. We'd love 0:23:50.300 --> 0:23:54.020 to thank Sally for her passion and the valuable contributions 0:23:54.020 --> 0:23:57.710 she has made for many years to policy and advocacy 0:23:57.710 --> 0:24:01.040 endeavours in the blind and low vision sector, which of 0:24:01.040 --> 0:24:05.030 course only increased during her time as CEO. We wish 0:24:05.030 --> 0:24:08.180 her every success in the next chapter in her career. 0:24:08.180 --> 0:24:11.150 And further to this, we wish to thank Sally for 0:24:11.150 --> 0:24:15.920 her tremendous generosity with her time over the past few years, 0:24:15.920 --> 0:24:19.760 making herself available to chat with us about a range 0:24:19.760 --> 0:24:23.810 of important issues that affect the blind and low vision community. 0:24:24.080 --> 0:24:27.290 It's also my great pleasure to welcome Sally onto the 0:24:27.290 --> 0:24:29.960 show in the next couple of weeks to chat about 0:24:29.960 --> 0:24:33.710 her time at Blind Citizens Australia and things she's looking 0:24:33.710 --> 0:24:37.190 forward to in the next stage of her career. You 0:24:37.190 --> 0:24:40.280 can also find more information about this story on the 0:24:40.280 --> 0:24:46.700 Blind Citizens Australia website at BCA for you. That's BCA 0:24:46.700 --> 0:24:52.160 for you. In other news, there's some exciting developments in 0:24:52.160 --> 0:24:56.630 the world of public transport accessibility. It's hoped that blind 0:24:56.630 --> 0:25:00.020 and low vision passengers on Melbourne's tram network may be 0:25:00.020 --> 0:25:02.870 able to get where they need to more easily, with 0:25:02.870 --> 0:25:05.900 a trial of a new navigation app to be installed 0:25:05.900 --> 0:25:09.590 on every tram stop on Route 96, as well as 0:25:09.590 --> 0:25:14.570 on all 100 A-class trams which run on routes 1130, 0:25:14.570 --> 0:25:18.680 58 and 86. When the codes are scanned, the app 0:25:18.680 --> 0:25:23.810 audibly provides passengers with information on their current location routes 0:25:23.810 --> 0:25:28.040 serving the location as well as live tram arrival information. 0:25:28.040 --> 0:25:31.280 The app is called Navi Lens and Yarra Trams have 0:25:31.280 --> 0:25:37.130 introduced the wayfinding and passenger information concept to Melbourne's tram network. 0:25:37.280 --> 0:25:39.770 The way it works is it takes the concept of 0:25:39.770 --> 0:25:42.620 QR codes and makes it possible for a mobile app 0:25:42.620 --> 0:25:47.480 to describe object than locations or present dynamic content, increasing 0:25:47.480 --> 0:25:51.170 tram accessibility and assisting those who are blind or have 0:25:51.170 --> 0:25:55.400 low vision with audible real time information. Yarra Trams is 0:25:55.400 --> 0:25:59.600 currently running a trial of the Netherlands technology and I 0:25:59.600 --> 0:26:02.360 invite you to join the trial. All you need to 0:26:02.360 --> 0:26:05.780 do is download the Netherlands app onto your smartphone and 0:26:05.780 --> 0:26:08.630 you're ready to go. You can register as a trial 0:26:08.630 --> 0:26:13.670 participant to provide feedback and subscribe to new regular app updates. 0:26:13.670 --> 0:26:17.060 The app is currently available on both the Apple Store 0:26:17.060 --> 0:26:20.300 and Google Play for people to download. And if you'd 0:26:20.300 --> 0:26:23.210 like to find out more about the app or you'd 0:26:23.210 --> 0:26:26.960 like to sign up as a trial participant, head to 0:26:26.960 --> 0:26:32.660 the Yarra Trams website at Yarra Trams for you. That's 0:26:32.660 --> 0:26:37.280 Yarra Trams, Dot Edu and that's all we have time 0:26:37.280 --> 0:26:42.200 for today. You've been listening to Talking Vision. Talking Vision 0:26:42.200 --> 0:26:46.070 is a production of Vision Australia Radio. Thanks to all 0:26:46.070 --> 0:26:49.820 involved with putting the show together. And remember we love 0:26:49.820 --> 0:26:53.150 your feedback and comments, so please do get in touch 0:26:53.150 --> 0:26:58.640 on Talking vision at Vision australia.org. That's talking vision all 0:26:58.640 --> 0:27:03.500 one word at Vision australia.org. But until next week it's 0:27:03.500 --> 0:27:05.690 Sam Culley saying bye for now. 0:27:09.230 --> 0:27:13.280 You can contact Vision Australia by phoning us anytime during 0:27:13.280 --> 0:27:21.200 business hours on one 308 4746. That's one 308 474 0:27:21.320 --> 0:27:27.440 W6 or by visiting Vision australia.org that's Vision australia.org.