WEBVTT - Talking Tech 6th May 2025 0:00:08.119 --> 0:00:12.160 Hello everyone. Welcome to Talking Tech. This edition available from 0:00:12.360 --> 0:00:16.360 May 6th, 2025. I'm Stephen Jolly. Great to have you 0:00:16.360 --> 0:00:20.480 with us listening maybe through Vision Australia Radio, associated stations 0:00:20.480 --> 0:00:23.960 of the Radio Reading Network or the Community Radio Network. 0:00:24.280 --> 0:00:27.080 There is also the podcast to catch that, all you 0:00:27.080 --> 0:00:29.760 need to do is search for the two words talking 0:00:29.800 --> 0:00:33.160 tech and it can all come. Another option is to 0:00:33.159 --> 0:00:36.879 ask your Siri device or smart speaker to play. Vision 0:00:36.879 --> 0:00:42.320 Australia radio talking tech podcast. Vision Australia radio talking tech 0:00:42.360 --> 0:00:49.160 podcast with me. Vision Australia's national access technology manager Damo McMorrow. Hey, Damo. 0:00:49.320 --> 0:00:50.160 G'day, Stephen. 0:00:50.959 --> 0:00:54.880 Well, you are the Vision Australia national Access Technology manager, 0:00:54.880 --> 0:00:56.400 but not for much longer. 0:00:56.959 --> 0:01:00.960 That's right. After 11.5 years, I am moving on from 0:01:00.959 --> 0:01:05.459 Vision Australia and taking up a position as assistant director 0:01:05.459 --> 0:01:11.300 of accessibility and User centered design for the Administrative Review Tribunal. 0:01:11.459 --> 0:01:15.420 So just tell us quickly what the Administrative Review Tribunal is. 0:01:16.140 --> 0:01:19.860 So that's the body that you would go to if 0:01:19.860 --> 0:01:24.020 you wanted to appeal a federal government decision. So a 0:01:24.020 --> 0:01:27.699 lot of people think it's just, um, ndia but it's not. 0:01:27.740 --> 0:01:31.140 It covers a whole range of things, including things like 0:01:31.140 --> 0:01:37.980 immigration decisions, child support, Centrelink, um, taxation, you know, all 0:01:37.980 --> 0:01:42.020 of those sorts of, uh, federal government type matters. Um, 0:01:42.020 --> 0:01:46.300 and the idea is that it gives people an opportunity to, um, 0:01:46.420 --> 0:01:49.700 have the decision reviewed independently and to put their case 0:01:49.700 --> 0:01:51.980 and that sort of thing. So my role will be 0:01:51.980 --> 0:01:58.860 around making sure that the processes are fully accessible. Uh, 0:01:58.860 --> 0:02:00.780 it is a new organisation. It used to be called 0:02:00.780 --> 0:02:03.990 the Administrative Appeals Tribunal, but it was, uh, sort of 0:02:04.030 --> 0:02:08.510 disbanded and set up as a new organization and, um, 0:02:08.510 --> 0:02:11.269 you know, to make sure also that people's chance of 0:02:11.270 --> 0:02:16.470 a fair hearing is not impaired or impacted by, you know, 0:02:16.750 --> 0:02:21.830 accessibility barriers, whether that be because of disability, ethnicity or 0:02:22.110 --> 0:02:23.470 any number of other things. 0:02:23.510 --> 0:02:26.270 Quite a responsible role there. Congratulations. 0:02:26.630 --> 0:02:29.950 Thank you. It feels a little, little bit scary after 0:02:29.990 --> 0:02:33.390 I say 11.5 years with Vision Australia. But you can't 0:02:33.390 --> 0:02:36.550 stay static. You have to sort of keep developing your 0:02:36.550 --> 0:02:39.950 skills and those sorts of things. And this will give me, uh, 0:02:39.950 --> 0:02:42.350 some different challenges to the ones that I've had at 0:02:42.350 --> 0:02:47.110 Vision Australia, but it's still accessibility related, which is something 0:02:47.110 --> 0:02:50.670 that has been extremely close to my heart, you know, 0:02:50.710 --> 0:02:53.270 particularly over the last 11 years. I wanted to stay 0:02:53.270 --> 0:02:56.510 in that that space, if you like. So, um, yeah, 0:02:56.550 --> 0:02:59.470 new challenges, but, uh, hopefully exciting ones. 0:02:59.510 --> 0:03:03.690 Just briefly reflect on some of your special memories from 0:03:03.690 --> 0:03:05.730 being at Vision Australia are. 0:03:05.970 --> 0:03:10.170 There are so many. I mean, I guess probably the 0:03:10.170 --> 0:03:14.050 highlight has always been being able to help other people, uh, 0:03:14.330 --> 0:03:16.130 being able to sort of make a difference or show 0:03:16.130 --> 0:03:20.530 someone that's maybe, um, losing their vision that, you know, hey, 0:03:20.530 --> 0:03:22.850 there's all this great technology out there that means you 0:03:22.850 --> 0:03:26.330 can still lead a full and independent and fulfilling life 0:03:26.330 --> 0:03:29.850 if you want to. You know, I love working with kids. 0:03:29.850 --> 0:03:33.770 I've worked with children all over the country out in, 0:03:33.810 --> 0:03:37.970 you know, the Northern Territory, in communities like Yuendumu and 0:03:38.010 --> 0:03:40.330 Wugularr and so on, as well as in, in Darwin 0:03:40.330 --> 0:03:44.450 and Alice Springs, uh, work with children in Tasmania, all 0:03:44.450 --> 0:03:47.970 over Queensland. Um, and I've worked with people in their, 0:03:48.010 --> 0:03:50.810 in their 90s who, you know, want to, want to 0:03:50.810 --> 0:03:53.210 learn how to use technology to stay connected and that 0:03:53.210 --> 0:03:56.050 sort of thing. So, um, done a lot of work 0:03:56.050 --> 0:03:59.410 with job access, doing workplace assessments, and that's something that 0:03:59.410 --> 0:04:04.950 I've always found very satisfying. And also, I think just 0:04:04.950 --> 0:04:09.110 training other people, supporting our access technology specialists out in 0:04:09.110 --> 0:04:13.990 the field and teaching them about access technology so that 0:04:13.990 --> 0:04:18.150 they can make a difference to our community as well. 0:04:18.469 --> 0:04:21.750 You know, it really has been an extremely rewarding, uh, 0:04:21.830 --> 0:04:26.029 time and probably the, the happiest, uh, of my career. 0:04:26.630 --> 0:04:29.789 So Damo is leaving Vision Australia, and I'm sure many 0:04:29.790 --> 0:04:33.270 people listening are thinking, what about talking tech? Talking Tech's 0:04:33.310 --> 0:04:39.070 been running for 13 years, and we've decided for a 0:04:39.110 --> 0:04:42.710 range of reasons, that it's probably appropriate now to call 0:04:42.750 --> 0:04:47.830 time on talking tech. Uh, that doesn't mean there won't 0:04:47.830 --> 0:04:50.670 be technology covered in the future, and we might come 0:04:50.670 --> 0:04:54.070 back in some other form in the future. Damo. 0:04:54.430 --> 0:04:57.070 Yes, and it's something I've really enjoyed working with you 0:04:57.070 --> 0:05:01.010 over the last 7 or 8 months. Um, and uh, 0:05:01.010 --> 0:05:02.370 it was always sort of a bit of a highlight 0:05:02.410 --> 0:05:05.330 of the week, uh, sitting down and, uh, recording next 0:05:05.330 --> 0:05:07.970 week's show. So, um, I will definitely miss that. And 0:05:07.970 --> 0:05:10.810 I'll miss the, the interaction, the emails and so on 0:05:10.810 --> 0:05:12.930 from our listeners as well. So thank you everyone for 0:05:12.930 --> 0:05:15.570 your support and thanks for having me over the last 0:05:15.570 --> 0:05:16.490 few months. 0:05:16.490 --> 0:05:19.410 I just want to reflect on the 13 years of 0:05:19.610 --> 0:05:24.570 the history of blindness and low vision access technology that 0:05:24.570 --> 0:05:27.570 we've been covering in this program. Uh, it's been quite 0:05:27.570 --> 0:05:31.490 a change from the early days of the iPhone and 0:05:31.490 --> 0:05:34.490 the iOS and the Apple world, and then the Android 0:05:34.490 --> 0:05:38.090 world and lots of other things. And there are people 0:05:38.090 --> 0:05:40.690 who have been key to the success of the program. 0:05:41.370 --> 0:05:43.970 I think of my partner in crime, David Woodbridge, who 0:05:44.010 --> 0:05:48.210 for over 12 years drove the content and explained it 0:05:48.210 --> 0:05:52.770 so well on this program. David has made and continues 0:05:52.770 --> 0:05:58.050 to make an enormous contribution to access technology across Australia 0:05:58.050 --> 0:06:02.380 and around the world. He's with Humanware these days, making 0:06:02.380 --> 0:06:07.260 a difference for very many people behind the scenes. We've 0:06:07.260 --> 0:06:11.580 had people like Mark Ridout for many years at Vision 0:06:11.620 --> 0:06:15.820 Australia Radio. Nick Thompson now looking after the show, terrific 0:06:15.820 --> 0:06:21.700 support from Vision Australia radio manager Conrad Brown. I'd also 0:06:21.700 --> 0:06:25.980 like to acknowledge the the great support and encouragement from 0:06:25.980 --> 0:06:30.940 various radio stations across the Vision Australia Radio Network, the 0:06:30.940 --> 0:06:34.980 Radio Reading Network and the Community Radio Network. Without you 0:06:35.060 --> 0:06:39.100 connecting us with our vast audience, uh, we just wouldn't 0:06:39.100 --> 0:06:41.540 have been able to get as far as we have got. 0:06:41.900 --> 0:06:45.060 And to all of you who have been tuning in 0:06:45.060 --> 0:06:51.339 through various modern radio devices, uh, downloading the program. Daimyo, 0:06:51.380 --> 0:06:54.820 it's been really important to us, hasn't it? The appreciation 0:06:54.820 --> 0:06:57.100 and encouragement from our audience. 0:06:57.760 --> 0:07:00.600 It absolutely has. Um, and I'm, you know, I'm so 0:07:00.600 --> 0:07:03.720 glad that, um, you know, people have found the content 0:07:03.760 --> 0:07:07.280 helpful and, uh, enjoyed it. Uh, hopefully it's made you 0:07:07.280 --> 0:07:10.360 think or helped you learn along the way. And, uh, yeah, 0:07:10.360 --> 0:07:13.480 we certainly have enjoyed bringing it to you each week. 0:07:13.480 --> 0:07:16.200 So thank you, everyone for your support. It really does 0:07:16.200 --> 0:07:17.440 mean a lot to both of us. 0:07:17.880 --> 0:07:21.120 Another form of technology program will come to air in 0:07:21.120 --> 0:07:24.120 the near future. Keep an eye out for news of 0:07:24.160 --> 0:07:27.600 that over the coming months. In the meantime, things are happening. 0:07:27.760 --> 0:07:30.520 And Daiso. You bought another toy the other day? 0:07:31.040 --> 0:07:35.520 I did, yeah, I can't help myself. Um, the. I've 0:07:35.520 --> 0:07:38.160 always had a bit of an interest in drones, but 0:07:38.160 --> 0:07:42.040 I'd always dismissed it as something that wasn't particularly useful 0:07:42.040 --> 0:07:44.640 or that I wouldn't be able to, uh, play around 0:07:44.640 --> 0:07:47.400 with until the other day. And I was chatting to 0:07:47.440 --> 0:07:50.840 my brother about the idea of using a drone, uh, 0:07:50.840 --> 0:07:53.680 as part of the filming for my YouTube channel. So 0:07:53.960 --> 0:07:56.900 to have something that can hover in front of me. 0:07:56.940 --> 0:08:00.060 Track me as I move around, just as an alternative 0:08:00.060 --> 0:08:02.900 to using my phone on a gimbal. And I know 0:08:02.900 --> 0:08:06.220 we've talked about that in a previous program. So I 0:08:06.220 --> 0:08:11.580 came across a device called the Hover Air X1. It's 0:08:11.780 --> 0:08:15.140 probably about the size of your hand. And the idea 0:08:15.140 --> 0:08:17.900 of it, it has a camera on the front that 0:08:17.900 --> 0:08:20.700 can swivel and move up and down and that sort 0:08:20.700 --> 0:08:24.180 of thing. The I suppose you would call them wings 0:08:24.180 --> 0:08:27.900 where the the rotors are unfold from the main body 0:08:27.900 --> 0:08:29.980 of the drone. So you can, you can fold it 0:08:29.980 --> 0:08:34.420 away for, for transporting. And uh, there's a couple of 0:08:34.420 --> 0:08:36.420 little buttons on the top of the device, and it 0:08:36.420 --> 0:08:39.660 has a number of different modes. So you can, for example, 0:08:39.660 --> 0:08:41.300 have it hover in front of you. And if you 0:08:41.300 --> 0:08:43.699 move to the left or right, it will turn and 0:08:43.740 --> 0:08:46.740 track you. You can have it follow behind you. So 0:08:46.740 --> 0:08:50.059 for example, if I was, uh, wanted to film something 0:08:50.059 --> 0:08:53.140 while riding my tandem or while out in my boat, 0:08:53.140 --> 0:08:54.700 I could have it follow me. It'll do up to 0:08:54.839 --> 0:08:56.360 25km an hour. 0:08:56.400 --> 0:08:57.999 And it's very small. You said, isn't it? 0:08:58.040 --> 0:09:01.040 Yeah. It's about the size of your hand and you 0:09:01.040 --> 0:09:03.559 can have it also do things like a bird's eye 0:09:03.559 --> 0:09:06.400 view so it can go up about 5 or 10m 0:09:06.400 --> 0:09:09.040 and sort of look down at you while you're doing something. 0:09:09.040 --> 0:09:10.199 And very accessible. 0:09:10.479 --> 0:09:13.520 It is. This was the cool thing about it. The 0:09:13.520 --> 0:09:17.640 device has spoken prompts so you can cycle through the 0:09:17.640 --> 0:09:20.599 various modes and it will say, you know, hover mode, 0:09:20.640 --> 0:09:25.639 bird's eye mode or whatever. And then if you hold 0:09:25.640 --> 0:09:28.280 the mode button down, you can adjust the parameters for 0:09:28.280 --> 0:09:31.839 that mode. So if you want it to hover for 0:09:31.839 --> 0:09:34.839 30s or hover for a minute or hover continuously, you 0:09:34.839 --> 0:09:39.160 can adjust those parameters for each mode. You then point 0:09:39.160 --> 0:09:42.320 the camera towards you. You press the take off button 0:09:42.319 --> 0:09:44.520 and it'll beep for a few seconds and the camera 0:09:44.520 --> 0:09:47.839 will focus on on you. Then it will just lift 0:09:47.839 --> 0:09:50.599 off your hand and do what you've you've set it 0:09:50.599 --> 0:09:52.839 to do. And then when you want it to come 0:09:52.839 --> 0:09:55.569 back to you, just put your hands out and the 0:09:55.569 --> 0:09:59.050 drone will land in your hands and switch off the propellers. 0:09:59.809 --> 0:10:02.329 Sounds like an obedient budgie. Remember as a kid you 0:10:02.329 --> 0:10:03.849 have a budgie land on your hand? 0:10:04.170 --> 0:10:07.770 Yes. Yeah. Uh, the other the other nifty thing, though, 0:10:07.770 --> 0:10:11.849 is that you can record audio because the AI that's 0:10:11.849 --> 0:10:15.010 built into the iPhone app, which is also very accessible, 0:10:15.329 --> 0:10:18.889 actually cancels out the whine of the propellers. So the 0:10:18.890 --> 0:10:21.530 thing with drones is that people often use it for 0:10:21.569 --> 0:10:24.969 sort of B-roll footage or visual footage. But with this, 0:10:24.969 --> 0:10:29.329 because of that feature, you can also record the audio 0:10:29.370 --> 0:10:33.569 using your phone's microphone. Um, so yeah, it was really 0:10:33.569 --> 0:10:36.130 impressed with how accessible it was. It comes with a 0:10:36.130 --> 0:10:40.209 couple of batteries. Um, and as I said, lots of 0:10:40.209 --> 0:10:42.929 spoken prompts. The app is nice and accessible, and you 0:10:42.929 --> 0:10:46.089 can then download the footage from the drone, uh, to 0:10:46.130 --> 0:10:48.850 your phone so you can then edit it or post 0:10:48.849 --> 0:10:50.610 it or do whatever you want to do. 0:10:50.650 --> 0:10:55.670 You're very good at finding Mainstream devices that are fully accessible. 0:10:55.910 --> 0:10:57.309 How much does this one cost? 0:10:57.829 --> 0:11:04.069 So the price ranges from 4.99 to 6.49, depending on 0:11:04.069 --> 0:11:06.589 where you get it from. Uh, so you can get 0:11:06.589 --> 0:11:09.550 it off Amazon. But it's also available from places like 0:11:09.550 --> 0:11:14.390 JB Hi-Fi as well. Um, so uh, and you can 0:11:14.390 --> 0:11:15.870 get it in a couple of different colors. You can 0:11:15.870 --> 0:11:18.429 get black or white, and I think you can get 0:11:18.429 --> 0:11:21.510 it as a combo with, um, two batteries and a 0:11:21.510 --> 0:11:23.910 little carry bag, which is what I got. And it 0:11:23.910 --> 0:11:26.390 has the, the sort of a drop in charger for 0:11:26.390 --> 0:11:28.990 the battery. So you can charge both batteries at once. 0:11:29.030 --> 0:11:30.030 And what's it called. 0:11:30.670 --> 0:11:35.030 It's called a hover air X1. There is also an 0:11:35.030 --> 0:11:39.030 X1 Pro and an X1 Pro Max. Um, the main 0:11:39.030 --> 0:11:43.629 difference is just being the quality of the footage, uh, 0:11:43.670 --> 0:11:46.589 like the resolution that it can shoot and also the 0:11:46.589 --> 0:11:49.949 speed that it can travel. So for example, the X1 0:11:49.949 --> 0:11:54.890 will do 25km an hour, whereas the X1 Pro Max, 0:11:54.890 --> 0:11:57.210 I think can do about 42 and it can cope 0:11:57.209 --> 0:12:00.809 with higher winds and things, whereas mine you probably wouldn't 0:12:00.809 --> 0:12:04.209 want to use it on a really windy day outside. Um, 0:12:04.250 --> 0:12:06.689 but you know, for what I want to do with it, um, 0:12:06.729 --> 0:12:08.809 it was really just a bit of an experiment. I 0:12:08.849 --> 0:12:10.969 kind of wanted a drone, but I also wanted a 0:12:10.969 --> 0:12:14.770 flying camera. Um, you know, it's perfectly fine for the 0:12:14.770 --> 0:12:16.130 stuff that I'm using it for. 0:12:16.490 --> 0:12:21.770 The hover air x1. Now, tell us about meta. I 0:12:22.410 --> 0:12:24.530 it's hard to keep up with this meta app. 0:12:25.050 --> 0:12:30.170 It is, isn't it? So people who already have the glasses, um, 0:12:30.170 --> 0:12:33.410 will know that the app that you currently use to 0:12:33.449 --> 0:12:37.329 control them is called Meta View. It's now been rebranded 0:12:37.329 --> 0:12:41.530 as meta AI, and, um, it sort of serves as 0:12:41.689 --> 0:12:45.369 the means for controlling your meta glasses, but you can 0:12:45.370 --> 0:12:48.690 also use it as sort of a an alternative to 0:12:48.729 --> 0:12:52.270 things like ChatGPT and so on. So you can, um, 0:12:52.309 --> 0:12:55.109 you know, fire I. Request at it from your phone 0:12:55.109 --> 0:12:58.590 as well. And I think it sort of gives them 0:12:58.589 --> 0:13:02.429 a new platform from which they can launch things like the, um, 0:13:02.630 --> 0:13:06.189 meta live AI feature when that's released and some of 0:13:06.189 --> 0:13:12.109 the other things. There is now a translation language translation option, um, 0:13:12.150 --> 0:13:14.150 and a couple of other things. The look and feel, 0:13:14.189 --> 0:13:15.989 you know, if you can, if you know your way 0:13:15.990 --> 0:13:19.110 around meta view, you won't have any problem with meta AI. 0:13:19.229 --> 0:13:22.110 And when you do your app updates, it will just 0:13:22.109 --> 0:13:25.830 automatically replace your meta view app with the meta AI app. 0:13:25.829 --> 0:13:27.750 So you don't need to do anything. All your settings 0:13:27.750 --> 0:13:30.470 and everything come across. Um, but it does have a 0:13:30.469 --> 0:13:31.109 new name. 0:13:31.750 --> 0:13:34.230 So that brings us to the end of talking tech 0:13:34.229 --> 0:13:36.510 for this week. And it brings us to the end 0:13:36.510 --> 0:13:40.950 of a 13 year run of talking tech. For details 0:13:40.949 --> 0:13:44.189 of what we've been talking about in this and previous 0:13:44.189 --> 0:13:49.280 editions of the program, you can go to Varadero. Slash 0:13:49.319 --> 0:13:55.079 talking tech VA radio.com. Now to right to the program demo. 0:13:55.559 --> 0:14:05.400 People can still email me demo. At Vision Australia. And 0:14:05.400 --> 0:14:09.160 that address will stay current until about the 16th of May. 0:14:09.719 --> 0:14:13.279 After that, people are welcome to contact me on Facebook 0:14:13.280 --> 0:14:16.759 or LinkedIn if they would like to stay in touch, 0:14:16.880 --> 0:14:18.959 and if they'd like to hear about sort of what 0:14:18.959 --> 0:14:21.080 I'm up to and what we might come back with 0:14:21.120 --> 0:14:21.879 in the future. 0:14:22.359 --> 0:14:27.720 Damo McMorrow at Vision Australia. And you could chase me 0:14:27.760 --> 0:14:30.200 down on Facebook too, if you'd like to do that. 0:14:30.680 --> 0:14:34.120 Thank you Damo, it's terrific working with you. This has 0:14:34.120 --> 0:14:36.960 been talking tech with me has been Vision Australia's national 0:14:36.960 --> 0:14:41.760 access technology manager, Damo McMorrow. I'm Stephen Jolly. Take care. 0:14:41.960 --> 0:14:44.080 We'll talk more tech sometime. See you.