Very cool. The technology is moving ahead in leaps and bounds. It’s funny, when
I try to explain things to my family or friends that I do on the computer, they
must look at me like I have lobsters hanging off my earlobes or something. The
room, or phone goes quiet, and then I hear a “ wow”, and then more silence. Grin
I love new technology, and thinking about it, I couldn’t have picked a better
time to lose my vision.
Thanks for the posts David. Much appreciation.
Deon
Sent from my ever curious Windows 10 machine
From: David Goldfield
Sent: Tuesday, May 16, 2017 9:27 PM
To: Philadelphia Computer Users Group for the Blind and Visually Impaired
Subject: [blind-philly-comp] Article: New Technology Gives Blind Musician the
Ability to See Words, Faces
What a cool kid. From the Beaumont Enterprise ...
The 16-year-old sits at the piano bench and peers over his sunglasses at
nonexistent sheet music. He begins to play a piece by Bach - then Handel
- moving quickly to John Williams' "Star Wars" theme song.
It's all from memory.
Although Hill was born with Leber Congenital Amaurosis - a retinal
disease characterized by severe loss of vision - he has been blessed
with musical talent many musicians would envy.
Hill has perfect pitch and an autographic memory, meaning he remembers
almost everything he hears. It has helped him collect an endless supply
of music for his repertoire.
"He just feels it out," said his father, Ryan Hill, who remembers
watching his
3-year-old son tap out the notes of Beethoven's "Fur Elise" after
hearing it as a baby.
"There is a common misconception that when you lose a sense, the other
senses get stronger," said Peggy Arabie, Region 5 coordinator for
teachers of the visually impaired. "Medically, your ears aren't any
stronger, but when hearing is the way you gain all your information, it
becomes the thing you rely on the most."
Music, however, has not been able to give Hill the independence he
desires. Hill has light perception but is mostly blind.
Last month, during his yearly ophthalmologist exam he found something
that could give him that freedom.
Hill was given an opportunity to work with a new piece of vision
technology called the OrCam, which attaches to a person's glasses. It
reads printed text on any surface and recognizes faces, instantly
relaying the information to the user.
"You can program it to learn 100 different images and 100 different
faces you want it to remember," Hill said. "It would allow me to
recognize people and things without really seeing them."
The problem was the price tag attached to it.
"It costs $3,500 plus extra for travel and the time we'd have to stay in
Houston while he learns how to use it," Brandi said. "It's not covered
by insurance, so we are asking for help."
Brandi set up a crowd funding website to ask for financial assistance.
"It's never easy to ask people for money," she said. "But this is
something that would allow Colton to be more independent and could
really change his life in a great way."
Hill spends much of his free time helping others who have visual
impairments.
He was able to teach himself how to write code with the help of a screen
reader, which he uses to develop video games that rely on sound instead
of sight.
His latest work was with a first-person shooter game that uses a series
of beeps and other noises to let players know when enemies are approaching.
"It's like any other game, well, except for you can't see anything,"
Hill said.
His interest in computers brought him to the world of Electric Dance
Music, where he produces music using a program called Reaper, which
allows those with visual impairments to be able to record their songs.
"He's self-taught with computers," said his mother. "I never have any
idea what he's talking about."
Hill said he has plans to stay close to home for college but hopes
technology like the OrCam will allow him to live alone in the future.
"I don't want to be living under my parents' roof the rest of my life,"
Colton said. "This technology would help me do basic things that could
make me more independent.
"Like, if I want to cook a meal, it would let me know which box I need
to use. Just little things like that."
DThompson@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Twitter.com/DaveTh89
www.southeasttexas.com
--
David Goldfield, Assistive Technology Specialist Feel free to visit my
Web site WWW.DavidGoldfield.Info
You are invited to visit the moderator's Web site at WWW.DavidGoldfield.Info
for additional resources and information about assistive technology training
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