WEBVTT - Talking Tech 16th January 2024 0:00:08.268 --> 0:00:12.048 Hello everyone! Welcome to Talking Tech. This edition available from 0:00:12.048 --> 0:00:16.458 January 16th, 2024. I'm Stephen Jolly. Great to have you 0:00:16.458 --> 0:00:19.878 with us listening maybe through Virgin Australia Radio or associated 0:00:19.878 --> 0:00:24.708 Stations of Australia or perhaps the Community Radio Network. There 0:00:24.708 --> 0:00:27.468 is also the podcast to catch that, all you need 0:00:27.468 --> 0:00:30.708 to do is search for the two words talking tech 0:00:30.708 --> 0:00:33.798 and downer can all come usually on a Tuesday afternoon 0:00:33.798 --> 0:00:37.128 just after it's been produced. Another option is to ask 0:00:37.128 --> 0:00:41.088 your Siri device or smart speaker to play Vision Australia 0:00:41.088 --> 0:00:47.358 Radio talking tech podcast Vision Australia Radio talking Tech podcast 0:00:47.508 --> 0:00:50.028 with me, someone who can explain all this tech stuff 0:00:50.028 --> 0:00:57.048 really well. Vision Australia's national advisor on access technology, David Woodbridge. David, 0:00:57.048 --> 0:01:00.948 to begin, let's go back to that very brief conversation 0:01:00.948 --> 0:01:05.448 we had last week about Microsoft being and Microsoft Co-Pilot. 0:01:05.448 --> 0:01:08.508 Can you explain for us the roles of each of 0:01:08.508 --> 0:01:10.578 those two Microsoft features? 0:01:10.578 --> 0:01:15.048 In simple terms, Bing is actually the search engine, which 0:01:15.048 --> 0:01:20.088 incorporates a little bit of what Copilot does from an 0:01:20.088 --> 0:01:25.098 AI artificial intelligence point of view, but primarily its main 0:01:25.098 --> 0:01:27.498 function is as a search engine to find stuff on 0:01:27.498 --> 0:01:34.578 the internet, whereas Copilot is truly your 100% AI artificial 0:01:34.578 --> 0:01:38.928 intelligence generative system, which allows you to do research and 0:01:38.928 --> 0:01:42.798 ask questions and get it. To summarize, texts and emails 0:01:42.798 --> 0:01:46.788 help you write documents, uh, look at uploaded images and 0:01:46.788 --> 0:01:49.698 find out what they're about, and so on and so on. Uh, 0:01:49.698 --> 0:01:53.088 because after I did the show last week, I thought, oh, 0:01:53.118 --> 0:01:56.178 maybe a bit of check. So I asked both Microsoft 0:01:56.178 --> 0:02:00.018 Copilot and Microsoft Bing if they were the same system, 0:02:00.018 --> 0:02:02.148 and they came back and they said, no, they're not. 0:02:02.148 --> 0:02:06.618 They're two separate systems. So apologies for the misleading comment 0:02:06.618 --> 0:02:10.008 last week, but no, they're two completely different systems. 0:02:10.008 --> 0:02:13.608 And significant news has been that Microsoft is going to 0:02:13.608 --> 0:02:21.078 introduce a co-pilot key on its Windows 11 keyboards. But 0:02:21.078 --> 0:02:25.368 if you don't have the special Windows 11 keyboard, you 0:02:25.368 --> 0:02:27.798 can do it with the windows key and see which 0:02:27.798 --> 0:02:28.908 is very good news. 0:02:28.908 --> 0:02:31.758 It is because everybody was talking about the fact that 0:02:31.758 --> 0:02:33.888 all the new keyboards that are coming out this year 0:02:33.888 --> 0:02:36.858 are going to have a co-pilot key, and you'll be 0:02:36.858 --> 0:02:40.158 sitting there going, well, my laptop or my desktop keyboard 0:02:40.158 --> 0:02:42.978 doesn't have one. But yeah, I think it's a great idea. And, 0:02:42.978 --> 0:02:46.128 you know, in windows terms, they've always said there are 0:02:46.128 --> 0:02:49.068 lots of different ways of doing exactly the same thing. 0:02:49.068 --> 0:02:50.538 And this is just one of them. 0:02:50.868 --> 0:02:55.788 Apple news. Now the much talked about Vision Pro is 0:02:55.788 --> 0:02:58.488 about to become available in the United States. It is. 0:02:58.488 --> 0:03:02.838 Indeed. So it's pre-ordering on January the 19th and it'll 0:03:02.838 --> 0:03:06.948 be available in store on February. The I want to 0:03:06.948 --> 0:03:10.188 say second in the US it's going to be in 0:03:10.188 --> 0:03:13.188 short supply. Of course everybody wants one, but this is 0:03:13.188 --> 0:03:17.928 the first time I really felt comfortable saying, let's let 0:03:17.928 --> 0:03:21.228 the US have a go at this completely new system. 0:03:21.798 --> 0:03:25.188 Apple saying it's not an AR or a VR system, 0:03:25.188 --> 0:03:30.198 augmented reality or virtual reality, it's a spatial computer, uh, 0:03:30.198 --> 0:03:35.058 which means it actually accesses spatially what's around you. And 0:03:35.058 --> 0:03:38.808 you can put things in the particular environment like a 0:03:38.808 --> 0:03:42.348 computer screen or notification. You can access your Mac, your rights, 0:03:42.348 --> 0:03:45.948 your iPhone, all sorts of amazing things. But what's good 0:03:45.948 --> 0:03:48.978 for us from an accessibility point of view is we 0:03:48.978 --> 0:03:53.748 can see how people with different disabilities interact with their system, 0:03:53.748 --> 0:03:59.778 from VoiceOver users to low vision users to hearing impaired, 0:03:59.958 --> 0:04:04.878 to people that may have issues with their hands. You know, 0:04:04.878 --> 0:04:06.588 in a way. And I want to say this in 0:04:06.588 --> 0:04:09.678 the positive thing, the people in the US are going 0:04:09.678 --> 0:04:12.648 to be sort of our little guinea pigs, and we 0:04:12.648 --> 0:04:15.198 can sit back and then say, yeah, look, this looks 0:04:15.198 --> 0:04:19.458 really interesting, has great benefits. Or perhaps there's a few 0:04:19.458 --> 0:04:22.578 more things to work on. Let's wait for version two. 0:04:22.578 --> 0:04:25.548 So I'm really looking forward to the time after it's 0:04:25.548 --> 0:04:29.328 released to see what people over there do it. Within 0:04:29.328 --> 0:04:30.948 the disability area. 0:04:31.338 --> 0:04:35.568 Apple has discreetly changed its find my limits. 0:04:35.568 --> 0:04:40.008 They have so in the Find My Devices tab, you 0:04:40.008 --> 0:04:42.888 only had a maximum of six two items and one 0:04:42.888 --> 0:04:45.558 in mind. By devices are mainly mean things like your 0:04:45.558 --> 0:04:49.368 AirTags for example, and you only had a maximum of 16. Well, 0:04:49.368 --> 0:04:52.968 apparently in iOS 16 and above. And now at 17, 0:04:52.968 --> 0:04:56.928 they they increase the number to 32 but didn't tell anybody. 0:04:57.438 --> 0:05:00.438 So now they've released a support document saying, oh, and 0:05:00.438 --> 0:05:04.068 look by the way, you can have more AirTags now 0:05:04.068 --> 0:05:07.678 rather than just 32 because I hit. My 16 limit 0:05:07.678 --> 0:05:10.948 very quickly, because I was basically taking almost everything in 0:05:10.948 --> 0:05:13.258 my house to keep track of it. So now if 0:05:13.258 --> 0:05:15.238 you want, you can exceed that limit now and go 0:05:15.238 --> 0:05:18.388 up to 32 rather than just 16. So that's good news. 0:05:18.688 --> 0:05:22.978 Tell everyone what magic keyboards are and what Apple's doing there. 0:05:23.278 --> 0:05:26.758 So Magic Keyboards are those little keyboards that we've been 0:05:26.758 --> 0:05:29.458 using for quite a long time as a Bluetooth keyboard 0:05:29.458 --> 0:05:33.208 to access primarily your Mac. And also, you know, I 0:05:33.208 --> 0:05:36.838 found in your iPad, but apparently there's been a bug 0:05:36.838 --> 0:05:41.038 for a while with the Bluetooth connection between the physical 0:05:41.038 --> 0:05:45.058 keyboard and then when it Bluetooth connects to the device 0:05:45.058 --> 0:05:49.258 that it's using because apparently a hacker close by, as 0:05:49.258 --> 0:05:54.088 in near that keyboard, can hack the Bluetooth signal to 0:05:54.088 --> 0:05:58.348 get the key to the Bluetooth pairing, which means then 0:05:58.348 --> 0:06:02.968 they can actually monitor what's being sent over that Bluetooth connection, i.e. 0:06:03.118 --> 0:06:05.668 what you're typing on the computer, like passwords and that 0:06:05.668 --> 0:06:08.278 sort of stuff. So it's a bit of a dangerous one. 0:06:08.278 --> 0:06:10.168 And like I said, the person has to be in 0:06:10.168 --> 0:06:13.678 physical proximity to the keyboard, but now they've actually repaired 0:06:13.678 --> 0:06:17.338 that particular bug and like with your AirPods and so on. 0:06:17.338 --> 0:06:20.248 Once you connected this device, like the Magic Keyboard, it'll 0:06:20.248 --> 0:06:22.078 get updated automatically in the background. 0:06:22.438 --> 0:06:27.508 Let's talk about CES, the Consumer Electronics Show. It's the 0:06:27.508 --> 0:06:29.638 big event that takes place in the first part of 0:06:29.638 --> 0:06:33.058 the year, and some accessibility announcements that might be of interest. 0:06:33.058 --> 0:06:37.498 So let's talk indoor navigation first. And the AC mobility 0:06:37.528 --> 0:06:38.488 smart cane. 0:06:38.758 --> 0:06:43.318 So this one uses a cane linked up to a 0:06:43.318 --> 0:06:47.608 smartphone I'm assuming. And what it allows you to do 0:06:47.608 --> 0:06:52.978 is to navigate independently around a building inside. So they 0:06:52.978 --> 0:06:55.198 were talking about being in a museum and you could 0:06:55.198 --> 0:07:00.028 locate a particular artwork or museum display area, and it 0:07:00.028 --> 0:07:03.148 would describe it to you. This one sounds good in theory, 0:07:03.148 --> 0:07:06.148 but it would mean that somebody would have to map 0:07:06.148 --> 0:07:08.578 that inside of the building and update it all the time. 0:07:08.578 --> 0:07:12.478 So a great idea. Let's just see how it gets implemented. 0:07:12.478 --> 0:07:16.018 Now remember again, all these devices are coming in this year. 0:07:16.378 --> 0:07:20.128 Just because they were talked about at CES doesn't mean 0:07:20.128 --> 0:07:24.148 either one they'll actually come to be in the marketplace 0:07:24.148 --> 0:07:26.908 or two that will actually go anywhere. So but let's see. 0:07:26.908 --> 0:07:28.378 Let's keep fingers crossed for this one. 0:07:28.618 --> 0:07:31.888 Now, when I first heard about a good year or 0:07:31.888 --> 0:07:34.648 so ago, the gliding self-driving cane. 0:07:34.648 --> 0:07:37.468 This is the kind that uses two wheels and you 0:07:37.468 --> 0:07:43.348 basically pushes it along and it gives you indications about 0:07:43.348 --> 0:07:46.648 obstacles that the system's detecting. So it's very much like 0:07:46.648 --> 0:07:48.898 a bit of a smart car in a way. Uh, 0:07:48.898 --> 0:07:51.028 so it'll indicate you whether it's an obstacle that you 0:07:51.028 --> 0:07:54.028 should slow down or it'll indicate that you want to 0:07:54.028 --> 0:07:56.218 go around to the left or right. Go around an obstacle. 0:07:56.728 --> 0:08:00.418 It looks very interesting. What they're saying is this thing 0:08:00.418 --> 0:08:03.628 will indicate to you it will not try and drag 0:08:03.628 --> 0:08:05.788 you around things unless you don't want to go there. 0:08:05.788 --> 0:08:08.278 So it sounds like it's more of a by the way, 0:08:08.278 --> 0:08:10.528 we can go around this obstacle left. Or by the way, 0:08:10.528 --> 0:08:12.538 there's an obstacle in front of you. So I think 0:08:12.538 --> 0:08:15.238 that's an interesting way to do it. And hopefully we 0:08:15.238 --> 0:08:18.628 might see more information on this because again, yeah, I 0:08:18.628 --> 0:08:21.238 was reading about this last year and we'll see how 0:08:21.238 --> 0:08:21.868 they go this year. 0:08:22.348 --> 0:08:26.278 You found an article about several different smart glasses products. 0:08:26.398 --> 0:08:28.618 Yes. It was all sort of labeled into one article, 0:08:28.618 --> 0:08:30.358 which was a bit weird the way it was labeled, 0:08:30.358 --> 0:08:35.548 but basically there's a set of glasses to enable better hearing. Um, 0:08:35.548 --> 0:08:38.878 so it sort of amplifies the sounds around you. So 0:08:38.878 --> 0:08:41.008 if you've got a slight bit of hearing loss, this 0:08:41.008 --> 0:08:44.728 is actually quite handy for that. That particular purpose. Second 0:08:44.728 --> 0:08:49.198 one was about smart glasses to indicate changes in your environment, 0:08:49.198 --> 0:08:52.888 like again, like obstacles or changes to the footpaths and 0:08:52.888 --> 0:08:58.408 that sort of stuff. A little bit of hi messaging 0:08:58.408 --> 0:09:01.738 to say that it would be absolutely amazing and change 0:09:01.738 --> 0:09:04.288 people's lives forever. And you could get rid of your 0:09:04.288 --> 0:09:06.328 guide dog or your cane, which is another one that 0:09:06.328 --> 0:09:09.058 also said that, uh, but we'll see. But again, this 0:09:09.058 --> 0:09:11.548 is another tool. And again, with all this sort of 0:09:11.548 --> 0:09:15.238 navigation and orientation mobility stuff, I noticed that people try 0:09:15.238 --> 0:09:17.608 it out first. If it works, brilliant. If it doesn't, 0:09:17.608 --> 0:09:19.528 then nobody says you have to use it. 0:09:19.558 --> 0:09:22.438 Tell us about Lighthouse Tech and their product. 0:09:22.618 --> 0:09:26.368 This one was a lot more substantial than the other 0:09:26.368 --> 0:09:30.088 glasses that I just talked about to do with obstacle detection. 0:09:30.508 --> 0:09:33.778 This one was apparently saying that it'll actually be able 0:09:33.778 --> 0:09:37.948 to do a lot with your environment, identifying objects and 0:09:37.948 --> 0:09:40.678 all that sort of stuff. So this one's going to 0:09:40.678 --> 0:09:43.768 be very interesting to look at. But again, I just 0:09:43.768 --> 0:09:47.188 wish people would stop saying that, you know, this is 0:09:47.188 --> 0:09:50.458 a time to replace the cane or the guide dog. Um, 0:09:50.458 --> 0:09:52.678 and like I said with the previous one, this is 0:09:52.678 --> 0:09:54.928 just an adjunct to what you are using. As far 0:09:54.928 --> 0:09:55.858 as I'm concerned. 0:09:56.098 --> 0:09:59.398 The one comes find and keyboard for gaming. 0:09:59.698 --> 0:10:03.868 This is a two pronged device if you like. It's 0:10:03.868 --> 0:10:07.048 they're going to try and incorporate it into things like the. Controller, 0:10:07.048 --> 0:10:09.118 the Xbox controller and so on. But for us, blind 0:10:09.118 --> 0:10:13.258 and light vision people, it's a six key Qwerty keyboard. 0:10:13.258 --> 0:10:17.248 So by different combinations of those six keys, you can 0:10:17.248 --> 0:10:20.638 actually effectively type as a if you're on a query keyboard. 0:10:20.908 --> 0:10:23.848 So they were saying it's not only good for gamers 0:10:23.848 --> 0:10:25.558 if you want to, you know, type into your text 0:10:25.558 --> 0:10:28.408 chat box, but it's also good for blind and low 0:10:28.408 --> 0:10:31.168 vision people because you've only got six keys to to 0:10:31.168 --> 0:10:34.708 deal with. So let's see what happens with that one. 0:10:34.708 --> 0:10:37.918 I get a bit overwhelmed with custom keyboards, but if 0:10:37.918 --> 0:10:41.188 this ends up in, uh, game controllers, there may be 0:10:41.188 --> 0:10:43.258 it might not be a bad thing to get involved with. 0:10:43.618 --> 0:10:46.468 Orcam have moved into the hearing world. 0:10:46.468 --> 0:10:49.288 Yes, this is actually pretty amazing because all can we 0:10:49.288 --> 0:10:52.588 know about the, you know, the Orcam camera and the 0:10:52.588 --> 0:10:55.588 Orcam read and so on. Well, this is to allow 0:10:55.588 --> 0:10:59.878 you to do a profile of a person's voice. So 0:10:59.878 --> 0:11:02.488 if you're talking to a person in a restaurant or 0:11:02.488 --> 0:11:04.858 a couple of people, and you've set up different voice 0:11:04.858 --> 0:11:08.848 profiles for them via an app, you can zero in 0:11:08.968 --> 0:11:12.658 by moving a hearing focus on the screen and you're 0:11:12.778 --> 0:11:14.758 able to hear them, and you'll be able to hear 0:11:14.758 --> 0:11:17.638 any sort of background sounds at all. So I think 0:11:17.638 --> 0:11:20.638 this is a really interesting thing that both it's been 0:11:20.638 --> 0:11:25.348 developed and to that Orcam is going out into other areas, 0:11:25.348 --> 0:11:29.188 rather than just focusing on blind or low vision assistive tech. 0:11:29.728 --> 0:11:33.118 There's a bit of stuff been happening with head tracking, 0:11:33.118 --> 0:11:37.378 silent speech, um, whispering into your device, etc.. 0:11:37.528 --> 0:11:39.778 There has been there's been a few devices that see 0:11:39.778 --> 0:11:41.578 us that have sort of done this. So one of 0:11:41.578 --> 0:11:45.118 them is, uh, this sort of dental insert that you 0:11:45.118 --> 0:11:47.278 get scanned to put it inside your mouth to control 0:11:47.278 --> 0:11:51.118 your computer, uh, by moving your tongue around in your head. 0:11:52.018 --> 0:11:55.108 There's another one. If you could only whisper, for example, 0:11:55.108 --> 0:11:59.158 that you've damaged your lyrics, uh, then this would actually 0:11:59.158 --> 0:12:02.488 generate either your samples of your own voice or use, 0:12:02.488 --> 0:12:04.648 I guess, a computer type voice to be able to 0:12:04.648 --> 0:12:09.358 speak clearly. Uh, so that was also pretty amazing. And 0:12:09.358 --> 0:12:14.458 there was another device that you could actually muffle your voice, uh, 0:12:14.458 --> 0:12:16.828 so that people could not hear what you were saying. 0:12:16.828 --> 0:12:19.948 If you're on a smartphone talking on a phone call, 0:12:19.948 --> 0:12:24.178 and or it would actually muffle the sounds around you 0:12:24.178 --> 0:12:26.968 so you could actually concentrate on a phone call, for example. 0:12:26.968 --> 0:12:30.538 So yeah, so interesting stuff to do with audio there. 0:12:30.958 --> 0:12:34.108 Some other service announcements clicks. 0:12:34.228 --> 0:12:38.548 This is a mini full sized keyboard if you like 0:12:38.548 --> 0:12:43.018 quality keyboard for your smartphone. So it's iPhone 14 and 0:12:43.018 --> 0:12:47.128 iPhone 15 and the Pro versions. Uh, it's only about 0:12:47.158 --> 0:12:48.748 a third of the size of the screen. It's going 0:12:48.748 --> 0:12:51.958 to have very tiny keys. You can do shortcuts with it. 0:12:51.958 --> 0:12:55.678 I'll be interested to see how it actually interacts with VoiceOver, 0:12:55.678 --> 0:12:58.498 for example. So I think that's one of these devices 0:12:58.498 --> 0:13:01.468 to keep an eye on because it is a mainstream product. 0:13:01.618 --> 0:13:03.088 What about this ring? 0:13:03.118 --> 0:13:06.748 This ring is wearing a little ring that if you 0:13:06.748 --> 0:13:12.748 want to then whisper to ChatGPT or talk to Siri, etc. 0:13:12.988 --> 0:13:15.388 then you can bring the ring to your mouth and 0:13:15.388 --> 0:13:18.598 you can whisper to it. So apparently this is rather 0:13:18.598 --> 0:13:21.088 than hearing people shouting at their device, you can just 0:13:21.088 --> 0:13:22.918 whisper it to it now via the little ring on 0:13:22.918 --> 0:13:24.628 your finger shocks. 0:13:24.628 --> 0:13:27.568 We used to know them as aftershocks, but their shocks 0:13:27.658 --> 0:13:31.678 shock Z. They've gone to the water. 0:13:31.828 --> 0:13:33.598 They have gone to the water. They had a device 0:13:33.598 --> 0:13:36.808 back in 2019, uh, which was sort of okay, this 0:13:36.808 --> 0:13:40.738 is an updated version. It's got a microphone in it now, 0:13:40.738 --> 0:13:44.938 32GB of Ram. And it's really good for people that 0:13:44.938 --> 0:13:47.578 if you want to listen to music, uh, and I 0:13:47.578 --> 0:13:50.248 guess talk because it's got a microphone, uh, then you 0:13:50.248 --> 0:13:52.018 can do that while you're swimming now as well. 0:13:52.288 --> 0:13:55.468 Lots more has come out of CES. You'll have a 0:13:55.468 --> 0:13:58.018 link to all that in your show notes. 0:13:58.018 --> 0:14:01.858 I certainly will, plus some really great articles from TechCrunch, etc.. 0:14:02.038 --> 0:14:04.918 Just before we go, a reminder of where there are 0:14:04.918 --> 0:14:07.258 details of what you've talked about in this and previous 0:14:07.258 --> 0:14:08.458 editions of the program. 0:14:08.608 --> 0:14:11.188 Indeed. So as always, you can check out my blog site, 0:14:11.188 --> 0:14:15.808 which is David Wood Beer dot Podbean pad Ben comm. 0:14:15.808 --> 0:14:21.568 David would be AirPod bean pod b e a incom 0:14:21.568 --> 0:14:22.798 to write to the program. 0:14:22.798 --> 0:14:24.808 You can write to me at vision share where I work, 0:14:24.808 --> 0:14:29.308 which is David Woodbridge how it sounds at Vision Australia. 0:14:29.578 --> 0:14:34.798 Org David Woodbridge at Vision Australia. Org this has been 0:14:34.798 --> 0:14:38.128 talking tech with me, has been Vision Australia's national advisor 0:14:38.128 --> 0:14:42.298 on access technology David Woodbridge I'm Stephen Jolley. Take care. 0:14:42.298 --> 0:14:43.888 We'll talk more tech next week. See you.