WEBVTT - Talking Tech 2nd January 2024 0:00:08.238 --> 0:00:12.648 Hello everyone! Welcome to Talking Tech. This edition available from 0:00:12.648 --> 0:00:17.958 January the 2nd, 2024. Happy New Year. I'm Stephen Jolly, 0:00:17.958 --> 0:00:20.208 great to have you with us. Wherever you're listening, perhaps 0:00:20.208 --> 0:00:24.888 through Virgin Australia Radio, Associated Stations of Australia or the 0:00:24.888 --> 0:00:29.148 Community Radio Network, there is also the podcast. To catch that, 0:00:29.148 --> 0:00:31.068 all you need to do is search for the two 0:00:31.068 --> 0:00:34.638 words talking tech and Dan. It can all come usually 0:00:34.638 --> 0:00:38.178 on a Tuesday afternoon just after it's been produced. Another 0:00:38.178 --> 0:00:41.178 option is to ask a Siri device or smart speaker 0:00:41.178 --> 0:00:46.458 to play Virgin Australia Radio Talking Tech podcast, Virgin Australia 0:00:46.458 --> 0:00:51.438 Radio Talking Tech podcast with me, someone who can explain 0:00:51.438 --> 0:00:54.978 all this tech stuff really well. Vivian, Australia's national advisor 0:00:54.978 --> 0:00:58.998 on access technology, David Woodbridge happy New Year, David. 0:00:59.208 --> 0:01:01.308 Thank you and same to you. And look, I'm really 0:01:01.308 --> 0:01:05.478 looking forward to 2024. So I don't often say that. 0:01:05.478 --> 0:01:08.298 But this year I think it's going to be really amazing. 0:01:08.298 --> 0:01:12.978 So let's spend today looking at some of the technology 0:01:12.978 --> 0:01:16.308 that came to our attention last year and perhaps looking 0:01:16.308 --> 0:01:19.428 a little bit of what we'll get this year. Um, 0:01:19.638 --> 0:01:21.648 there's a lot to talk about. I'd like to start 0:01:21.648 --> 0:01:24.708 with the tactile graphics world, and a couple of interesting 0:01:24.708 --> 0:01:27.708 devices have sort of surfaced in the last year or so, 0:01:27.708 --> 0:01:29.748 even if they're not yet on the market. 0:01:29.958 --> 0:01:32.868 That's right. So the two main ones are the dot 0:01:32.868 --> 0:01:36.768 pad from Dot incorporated and the monarch, which is a 0:01:36.768 --> 0:01:41.178 combined product between AP meaning printing house for the blind 0:01:41.178 --> 0:01:46.188 and human wear. And interestingly enough, the basic hardware that 0:01:46.188 --> 0:01:48.738 the monarch uses is actually the dot pad. It's just 0:01:48.738 --> 0:01:53.088 different software and different philosophies. It's really funny because everybody 0:01:53.088 --> 0:01:56.238 was scrambling in 2023 to try and work out what 0:01:56.238 --> 0:02:01.188 these graphics tablets are, which were effectively ten lines of, quote, Braille, unquote, 0:02:01.188 --> 0:02:04.338 and probably about I think it's about 30 characters across. 0:02:04.338 --> 0:02:07.458 But remember that there's also display graphics in lines and 0:02:07.458 --> 0:02:10.608 shapes and so on. This year, I think people are 0:02:10.608 --> 0:02:13.428 going to be still scrambling to work out how you 0:02:13.428 --> 0:02:16.938 implement these in education and that sort of stuff. So again, 0:02:17.088 --> 0:02:21.108 I'm looking forward to what happens in 2024 because we 0:02:21.108 --> 0:02:23.328 weren't really getting there in 2023. 0:02:23.838 --> 0:02:27.318 Let's move now to media players is probably the best 0:02:27.318 --> 0:02:31.128 way to describe them. Human wear have continued their Vector 0:02:31.128 --> 0:02:36.078 Reader stream series with the Victor Reader stream three, and 0:02:36.078 --> 0:02:39.258 jumping out of the blocks early in the year was 0:02:39.258 --> 0:02:41.118 the sense player from Hims. 0:02:41.418 --> 0:02:44.028 I'll have to say that out of those two devices. 0:02:44.028 --> 0:02:47.148 So the Victor stream three in the sense player OCR 0:02:47.148 --> 0:02:52.908 at the sense player absolutely beats the Victor reader stream 0:02:52.908 --> 0:02:57.258 three hands down, because it does so many things. You 0:02:57.258 --> 0:03:01.698 can use it as a keyboard to your smartphone. You 0:03:01.698 --> 0:03:07.158 can actually listen to things like your audible content, Netflix 0:03:07.158 --> 0:03:11.418 and other applications that are Android based and that more 0:03:11.418 --> 0:03:15.018 will be get added. And it's always one of my 0:03:15.018 --> 0:03:18.378 favorite things, particularly as that we're getting into again, the 0:03:18.378 --> 0:03:22.128 fire season, as we did last month in December, is 0:03:22.278 --> 0:03:25.638 it's got an FM radio. So for emergency and listen to, 0:03:25.638 --> 0:03:27.828 you know, your emergency broadcast, which here in Australia is 0:03:27.828 --> 0:03:32.178 the ABC Australian Broadcasting Corporation. It's always really important to 0:03:32.178 --> 0:03:34.578 keep in contact with emergency alerts for floods and fires 0:03:34.578 --> 0:03:38.118 and so on. So for me that had a five 0:03:38.118 --> 0:03:40.638 star rating. If I have to get the victory to 0:03:40.638 --> 0:03:43.518 stream a star rating, I'd say it's a good, solid update. 0:03:43.518 --> 0:03:44.538 So three stars. 0:03:44.988 --> 0:03:49.068 And staying with human wear the brilliant series, the B 0:03:49.098 --> 0:03:53.208 X series, the 20 and the 40. Some interesting updates 0:03:53.208 --> 0:03:55.218 in 2023 indeed. 0:03:55.218 --> 0:03:57.318 So this is what I call a hybrid brow display. 0:03:57.318 --> 0:03:59.478 So it's not a brow display, it's not a note taker. 0:03:59.478 --> 0:04:03.288 It's an in-between thing because it has built in applications 0:04:03.288 --> 0:04:07.038 including Daisy. And of course, we had the update that 0:04:07.038 --> 0:04:09.558 allowed us not only to have speech output on the thing, 0:04:09.978 --> 0:04:13.158 but also to have speech output in Daisy boost, which 0:04:13.158 --> 0:04:16.638 is really amazing. And the fact that you can connect 0:04:16.638 --> 0:04:21.828 to multiple different devices around your house just with one 0:04:21.828 --> 0:04:26.748 brow system, it's pretty amazing. So whilst the human wear 0:04:26.958 --> 0:04:31.308 victory stream wasn't that overwhelming, uh, this one hit hit 0:04:31.308 --> 0:04:34.158 again the the ball out of the ballpark because it 0:04:34.158 --> 0:04:37.548 was really amazing stuff. So I'm very pleased to see that. 0:04:37.548 --> 0:04:39.828 And let's see what happens this year with the the 0:04:39.828 --> 0:04:40.818 brand as well. 0:04:40.818 --> 0:04:44.928 Let's talk Apple now the iPhone 14 Pro. That was 0:04:44.928 --> 0:04:45.948 an interesting one. 0:04:45.948 --> 0:04:49.878 Yes because they've replaced the like the silent ring switch 0:04:49.878 --> 0:04:52.368 such as the little switch that goes from, you know, 0:04:52.488 --> 0:04:54.918 major sound around muted on the side that flicks up 0:04:54.918 --> 0:04:57.318 and down. Well that's now been changed to a button. 0:04:57.318 --> 0:05:00.468 So you press the button and if you hold it 0:05:00.468 --> 0:05:02.808 in you can still do the, you know, the silent 0:05:03.138 --> 0:05:06.348 ring switch thingy. Uh, or you can attach a shortcut 0:05:06.348 --> 0:05:09.278 to it. To launch the application, so it's pretty amazing. 0:05:09.728 --> 0:05:13.598 I think this year it's going to be extended because 0:05:13.598 --> 0:05:15.998 at the moment you can sort of hack around a 0:05:15.998 --> 0:05:19.178 bit and do multiple presses to get to the different things. 0:05:19.328 --> 0:05:22.208 I can't see it right. It can't do all sorts 0:05:22.208 --> 0:05:24.998 of amazing things. If you press it once, twice, three times, 0:05:24.998 --> 0:05:29.558 hold it in. So again, to me, that's yet another 0:05:29.558 --> 0:05:34.418 thing that's going to be expanded upon in 2024. Uh, 0:05:34.418 --> 0:05:36.638 and let's just see how it goes. But again, to me, 0:05:36.638 --> 0:05:39.038 that was a really cool thing that came out of 0:05:39.038 --> 0:05:43.028 last year. Was this extra button or replacement button on 0:05:43.028 --> 0:05:45.728 the side of the iPhone 15 Pro. 0:05:46.388 --> 0:05:50.408 The newest member of the Apple family, going through a 0:05:50.408 --> 0:05:53.918 long gestation at the moment. It should come to the 0:05:53.918 --> 0:05:57.458 surface later this year. The Vision Pro tell us all 0:05:57.458 --> 0:05:58.208 about that. 0:05:58.478 --> 0:06:03.788 This got announced at Wwdc, uh, Worldwide Developers Conference, uh, 0:06:03.788 --> 0:06:09.848 in June last year. This is basically the AR virtual 0:06:09.848 --> 0:06:14.228 headset from Apple which will plug into your iPhone. It's 0:06:14.228 --> 0:06:16.808 also going to be, uh, synced up to your Apple 0:06:16.808 --> 0:06:20.618 Watch as well. And it's going to give you amazing visual, 0:06:20.618 --> 0:06:24.938 audio and haptic, uh, feedback about what's going on in 0:06:24.938 --> 0:06:29.468 your environment. So I've seen a few accessibility features of 0:06:29.468 --> 0:06:32.108 it because it does have built in gestures. Uh, so 0:06:32.108 --> 0:06:34.448 you wave your hands around in front of the system 0:06:34.538 --> 0:06:38.018 and it does have particular has voiceover gestures, it has 0:06:38.018 --> 0:06:42.758 large print and so on. So I'm looking forward now. 0:06:42.758 --> 0:06:44.888 The gossip is, Stephen, that it's going to come out 0:06:44.888 --> 0:06:48.638 in March this year. Um, I wouldn't be surprised if 0:06:48.638 --> 0:06:52.628 it probably gets announced at Wwdc for a June launch 0:06:52.628 --> 0:06:55.628 for developers, so who knows. But I wish I could 0:06:55.628 --> 0:06:58.778 have thought it for it because it's about 3500. Uh, 0:06:58.778 --> 0:07:01.448 us uh, but hopefully I might get a bit of 0:07:01.448 --> 0:07:04.568 an invite down to Apple Australia in Sydney and get 0:07:04.568 --> 0:07:06.638 my hands on one to let people know how it goes. 0:07:06.638 --> 0:07:08.858 And I'll certainly do a podcast on it as well. 0:07:08.858 --> 0:07:11.558 So what are you hearing that it's actually going to 0:07:11.558 --> 0:07:12.938 do for the user? 0:07:12.938 --> 0:07:16.358 It's basically replaced your computer. So you'll be able to 0:07:16.358 --> 0:07:21.698 do things like, um, watch videos, listen to music. This 0:07:21.698 --> 0:07:23.768 is more facade of people. So be able to stand 0:07:23.768 --> 0:07:27.488 in a room and do virtual reality type things. Or 0:07:27.488 --> 0:07:30.608 let's say, for example, you want to rearrange your house, 0:07:30.608 --> 0:07:33.488 you're looking at buy, you buy new furniture, then you'll 0:07:33.488 --> 0:07:37.058 be able to actually put furniture in your house that's 0:07:37.058 --> 0:07:41.378 been mapped out by a 3D mapping system and say, oh, look, 0:07:41.378 --> 0:07:44.018 you know, that lounge might look well over there and 0:07:44.018 --> 0:07:45.548 I can change the colour of it. I can change 0:07:45.548 --> 0:07:47.828 the size of it. Maybe I might put a bookshelf 0:07:47.828 --> 0:07:50.828 over there and change the lighting. That'll be all done 0:07:50.828 --> 0:07:53.978 by just you using the Vision Pro headset and of course, 0:07:53.978 --> 0:07:56.918 gaming with gestures and all sorts of cool stuff. So 0:07:56.918 --> 0:08:01.748 it's really hands free use in a way of your computer. 0:08:01.748 --> 0:08:04.268 And by the way, it will also interact with your 0:08:04.268 --> 0:08:06.578 computer as well. So not only just it will just 0:08:06.578 --> 0:08:09.698 work with your iPhone and more often not probably for 0:08:09.698 --> 0:08:12.338 Apple Watch, but you'll be able to also use it 0:08:12.338 --> 0:08:15.998 as a headset to your computer. I'm going to say computer. 0:08:15.998 --> 0:08:18.278 I'm in your Mac, so I think it's going to 0:08:18.278 --> 0:08:20.768 be something that's going to be very flexible, and I 0:08:20.768 --> 0:08:24.128 think it will just extend the computing power and access 0:08:24.128 --> 0:08:26.078 to stuff that you're using every day. 0:08:26.498 --> 0:08:29.498 Do you think we're going to see advances in obstacle 0:08:29.498 --> 0:08:30.968 detection this year? 0:08:31.238 --> 0:08:34.808 Look, I hope so because at the moment it's very 0:08:34.808 --> 0:08:38.288 hit and miss. Um, because it sort of depends on 0:08:38.288 --> 0:08:40.928 how big the object is and how hard it is 0:08:40.928 --> 0:08:43.808 and what sort of things bounce off it effectively, you know, 0:08:43.808 --> 0:08:45.788 is is it lidar or is it sonar or is 0:08:45.788 --> 0:08:48.938 it radar? Uh, all the types of stuff that self-driving 0:08:48.938 --> 0:08:52.148 cars have to put up with. Um, so I just 0:08:52.148 --> 0:08:55.148 hope we really end up with the type of system. 0:08:55.148 --> 0:08:57.158 And I'm sort of hoping that maybe the Vision Pro 0:08:57.158 --> 0:09:01.118 will do that, but certainly, um, other applications running on 0:09:01.118 --> 0:09:05.438 smartphones or that might be, um, stuff that are running on, 0:09:05.438 --> 0:09:08.438 you know, dedicated devices. And the other thing about object 0:09:08.438 --> 0:09:12.218 recognition is at the moment it still gets things wrong. 0:09:12.218 --> 0:09:15.368 So it still reckons that my red bin outside is 0:09:15.368 --> 0:09:17.708 a fire hydrant, and it still reckons the back of 0:09:17.708 --> 0:09:21.278 my wife's car, which is a red SUV, um, is 0:09:21.278 --> 0:09:24.548 the back of a bus. So, you know, this stuff's improving, 0:09:24.548 --> 0:09:26.048 but I think we've still got a way to go 0:09:26.048 --> 0:09:30.278 for proper and correct object recognition. Just a quick note. 0:09:30.278 --> 0:09:33.248 The guy that, uh, brought in voiceover on the Mac, uh, 0:09:33.248 --> 0:09:37.778 back in 2005, I want to say Mike semantic. He's 0:09:37.778 --> 0:09:41.798 now on the accessibility team at meta. So he's been 0:09:41.798 --> 0:09:45.218 talking about accessibility with the meta headset. So it's not 0:09:45.218 --> 0:09:47.408 just the Vision Pro from Apple that's getting into it. 0:09:47.408 --> 0:09:50.648 Matt is getting into it both from a mainstream point 0:09:50.648 --> 0:09:52.898 of view but an accessible point of view. So I 0:09:52.898 --> 0:09:55.208 think the more headsets we get in the market, the 0:09:55.208 --> 0:09:57.608 good old competition thing says the better it is for 0:09:57.608 --> 0:09:58.598 the whole industry. 0:09:58.808 --> 0:10:03.728 It's still not easy to scan a document with your 0:10:03.728 --> 0:10:07.128 mobile device or take a photo. We can do it, 0:10:07.128 --> 0:10:10.038 but it's still not easy. Is that going to improve? 0:10:10.278 --> 0:10:13.098 I hope so, because most things nowadays will tell you 0:10:13.098 --> 0:10:15.558 if it's a document in view and which way it's 0:10:15.558 --> 0:10:19.398 up and if it's skewed and everything else, but it's 0:10:19.398 --> 0:10:22.938 actually finding the text that's the problem. So people talk 0:10:22.938 --> 0:10:25.038 about these wearable things where you can just look at 0:10:25.038 --> 0:10:27.738 a sign or you can look at a bus. And 0:10:27.738 --> 0:10:30.138 that's the problem with them is it's all well and 0:10:30.138 --> 0:10:32.538 good to look in that direction. But the question is 0:10:32.838 --> 0:10:35.508 it doesn't give you any information at the moment about 0:10:35.508 --> 0:10:39.258 where you should be effectively looking or when the systems 0:10:39.258 --> 0:10:42.588 found the text, and it just needs you to stop moving. Um, 0:10:42.588 --> 0:10:45.168 so I think, you know, I think more head mounted 0:10:45.408 --> 0:10:48.078 wearable things or whatever else they might come up with 0:10:48.108 --> 0:10:50.748 is going to be really important. Because at the moment, 0:10:50.748 --> 0:10:53.808 if I try pointing my iPhone in particular at a 0:10:53.808 --> 0:10:56.328 sign or the bus doesn't work. Hmm. 0:10:57.048 --> 0:11:01.128 What are you seeing ahead with our virtual assistants like 0:11:01.398 --> 0:11:06.048 we call a sometimes a lady or Google or Siri? 0:11:06.198 --> 0:11:10.398 I think the answer to that is these large language models. 0:11:10.608 --> 0:11:13.638 So rather than just being able to say to all 0:11:13.638 --> 0:11:18.048 these virtual assistants, set the time, uh, what's the date? 0:11:18.048 --> 0:11:22.068 What's the weather? Uh, turn on and off my air conditioner. Um, 0:11:22.068 --> 0:11:27.198 you'll be able to use them for things like, uh, ChatGPT, copilot, slash, Bing, 0:11:27.198 --> 0:11:32.718 perplexity and other systems, uh, to really engage in a conversation. 0:11:32.718 --> 0:11:34.608 And what I really want to see is, is something 0:11:34.608 --> 0:11:36.978 like what jet GPT does, and that is having a 0:11:37.008 --> 0:11:40.278 two way conversation. So it's responding to you with speech. 0:11:40.278 --> 0:11:43.128 You're talking to it with speech. And you can have 0:11:43.128 --> 0:11:47.838 a conversation of I've had lengthy conversations with, uh, ChatGPT 0:11:47.868 --> 0:11:51.678 about computer AI, and it's been absolutely amazing. I actually 0:11:51.678 --> 0:11:53.778 talked to it for about 35 minutes, and at one 0:11:53.778 --> 0:11:57.168 stage I actually even found myself thinking it for the information. 0:11:57.528 --> 0:12:01.668 Tell us about satellite communication. Apple have started to use 0:12:01.668 --> 0:12:04.518 it a bit for emergency stuff. Is there going to 0:12:04.518 --> 0:12:05.838 be more of that, do you think. 0:12:06.078 --> 0:12:08.328 Last year you might have noticed a few places were 0:12:08.328 --> 0:12:11.718 talking about being able to use a standard mobile phone 0:12:11.718 --> 0:12:15.588 to access satellite information? And where this becomes particularly interesting 0:12:15.588 --> 0:12:18.768 is if you're in, particularly in Australia, in a remote 0:12:18.768 --> 0:12:20.868 part of Australia, you're not going to be near a 0:12:20.868 --> 0:12:24.468 cellular tower, so you won't get cellular information. You may 0:12:24.468 --> 0:12:28.098 not be near a Wi-Fi network which connected to, you know, uh, 0:12:28.098 --> 0:12:33.648 cabled or satellite information services. So this not only adds, 0:12:33.648 --> 0:12:36.138 you know, the emergency SOS that we've got in Australia 0:12:36.138 --> 0:12:41.808 with both Android and iOS, uh, for contacting systems for emergency, 0:12:41.958 --> 0:12:45.138 but being able to maybe, perhaps just initially, maybe just 0:12:45.138 --> 0:12:47.928 send text, normal text messages, or in the end of 0:12:47.928 --> 0:12:51.768 the day, hopefully by the end of I'd probably say 2025, 0:12:51.768 --> 0:12:54.018 I was going to have a guess for 2026, um, 0:12:54.018 --> 0:12:56.898 being able to make phone calls and send videos and 0:12:56.898 --> 0:12:59.748 that sort of cool stuff. But hopefully this year at least, 0:12:59.748 --> 0:13:02.628 to be able to send text messages, uh, to friends 0:13:02.628 --> 0:13:03.678 and family and so on. 0:13:04.098 --> 0:13:06.738 You know what I would describe as a basic phone, 0:13:06.738 --> 0:13:09.558 low cost. What's going to happen there in the future? 0:13:09.558 --> 0:13:10.908 Are they going to get better? 0:13:11.148 --> 0:13:16.368 They will get better. Because remember, in 2022, I think 0:13:16.368 --> 0:13:19.188 I talked about one of the basic phones that we 0:13:19.188 --> 0:13:21.798 saw primarily for low vision, and that was called the 0:13:21.798 --> 0:13:27.558 Oli tech flip phone. And that's coming back hopefully this year. 0:13:27.558 --> 0:13:30.618 So people might remember that when it was available it 0:13:30.618 --> 0:13:33.648 had it had talkback on it. So not only did 0:13:33.648 --> 0:13:35.808 the keyboard speak for low vision people, but you could 0:13:35.808 --> 0:13:38.238 turn the full talkback on and use it like a 0:13:38.238 --> 0:13:43.908 talkback Android phone. Maybe before midway through this year, uh 0:13:43.908 --> 0:13:49.878 will have a $200 accessible basic feature phone for not 0:13:49.878 --> 0:13:52.518 only low vision people to use, but for blind people 0:13:52.518 --> 0:13:54.348 to use as well. So that's something that I'm really, really, 0:13:54.348 --> 0:13:55.488 really looking forward to. 0:13:55.578 --> 0:13:59.988 So that's our talking tech change of year pivot show. 0:14:00.018 --> 0:14:03.528 We'll do another one next year, hopefully before we go 0:14:03.528 --> 0:14:06.828 a reminder of where we can find a details. David, 0:14:06.828 --> 0:14:09.018 of the things you've been talking about in this and 0:14:09.018 --> 0:14:10.128 previous programs. 0:14:10.128 --> 0:14:12.348 Indeed. So as always, you can check out my blog site, 0:14:12.348 --> 0:14:17.148 which is David would be dot Podbean pad Ben comm. 0:14:17.148 --> 0:14:22.578 David would be uh podbean Podbean. Com to write to 0:14:22.578 --> 0:14:23.478 the program, you. 0:14:23.478 --> 0:14:26.118 Can email me at Vision Australia where I work which 0:14:26.118 --> 0:14:30.198 is David Woodbridge out sounds at Vision australia.org. 0:14:30.198 --> 0:14:35.958 David Woodbridge at Vision Australia George this has been talking 0:14:35.958 --> 0:14:39.198 tech with me has been Vision Australia's national advisor on 0:14:39.198 --> 0:14:42.888 access technology David Woodbridge. Stay safe. We'll talk more tech 0:14:42.888 --> 0:14:43.788 next week. See you.