Associated services blind - Google News - Thursday, September 13, 2018 at 9:10
AM
Talking gloves, tactile windows: New tech helps the disabled
[Talking gloves, tactile windows: New tech helps the disabled]
Hector Minto, a Senior Technology accessibility evangelist at Microsoft,
demonstrates an app that can audibly describe a handwritten note during an
interview with The Associated Press, at Microsoft offices in London, Friday,
July 27, 2018. Improvements in artificial intelligence, combined with the
decreasing cost of hardware, are making it possible for inventors to develop
new products without the need for the deep pockets of governments or big
corporations. With the help of 3D printers and the increased processing power
of home computers, they are creating devices designed for people with motor,
vision, hearing and cognitive impairments. (AP Photo/Robert Stevens)
Hadeel Ayoub slips a black glove onto her hand before beginning the swish of
sign language that is meaningless to the untrained observer. Then she pushes a
button on her wrist, and a small speaker relays the message drawn in the air:
"Let's Dance!"
"My dream is to give a voice to those who can't speak," says the 36-year-old
inventor who is developing her BrightSign glove while working toward a Ph.D. in
assistive technology at Goldsmiths, University of London.
Ayoub's glove is just one example of a bigger trend as entrepreneurs, startups
and companies like Microsoft and Google try to harness the power of artificial
intelligence<https://techxplore.com/tags/artificial+intelligence/> to make life
easier for people with disabilities<https://techxplore.com/tags/disabilities/>.
The initiatives come as the World Health Organization estimates that the number
of people needing assistive devices ranging from wheelchairs to communication
technologies will double to 2 billion by 2050.
Improvements in artificial intelligence, combined with the decreasing cost of
hardware, are making it possible for inventors to develop new products without
the need for the deep pockets of governments or corporations. With the help of
3D printers and the increased processing power of home computers, they are
creating devices designed for people with motor, vision, hearing and cognitive
impairments.
Microsoft and Google are trying to spur work in this area, offering a total of
$45 million in grants to developers of assistive
technologies<https://techxplore.com/tags/assistive+technologies/>. Microsoft
says it hopes to identify promising projects that can eventually be
incorporated into widely available services.
"We're certainly seeing an explosion of new technology that is looking to
support people with disabilities," said Zvika Krieger, head of technology
policy and partnerships at the World Economic Forum. "There are a lot of
innovators out there ... who are looking to move beyond maybe a dating app or a
social networking app and are looking to do something that really helps the
disadvantaged."
While Ayoub hopes her efforts pay off financially, she says she is driven by a
desire to create a world where disabilities become meaningless. She is trying
to raise 1 million pounds to bring BrightSign to the market, estimating her
gloves will cost "a few hundred dollars" each, compared with $2,000 or more for
existing technology.
[Talking gloves, tactile windows: New tech helps the disabled]
Paul Bepey uses a phone app created by Microsoft to audibly describe a drink in
a can during an interview with The Associated Press at Microsoft offices in
London, Friday, July 27, 2018. Improvements in artificial intelligence,
combined with the decreasing cost of hardware, are making it possible for
inventors to develop new products without the need for the deep pockets of
governments or big corporations. With the help of 3D printers and the increased
processing power of home computers, they are creating devices designed for
people with motor, vision, hearing and cognitive impairments. (AP Photo/Robert
Stevens)
"My dream for BrightSign is to be the extension of the senses for the people
... who want to voice their feelings and opinions without having to always look
for someone to help them out—to give them the independence that they need and
control over their own communication," she said.
The need for such products is only going to increase as the world's population
ages, increasing the number of people with physical, cognitive, vision and
hearing problems, according to a WHO report published this year. The challenge
is to develop new technologies while also increasing the availability of simple
devices like spectacles and wheelchairs that many people can't afford.
Companies are starting to recognize the financial potential of the market, as
these innovations can improve products sold more widely, said Hector Minto, who
has the unusual title of "accessibility evangelist" at Microsoft.
For example, Microsoft last year launched its free Seeing AI app, which turns a
smart phone into a "talking camera" that helps visually impaired people do
things like scan and read aloud text, recognize faces and identify products bar
codes. Similar technology goes into the company's text Translator service,
which costs businesses $10 to $45,000 a month, depending on the number of
transactions.
"Absolutely I think there's a unique business case on its own, but definitely
there's a much larger business case for Microsoft in that the tools of the
future quite often will come through a disability lens," he said.
It's important to remember that all of us have impairments at times, says Robin
Christopherson, head of digital inclusion at the British charity AbilityNet,
which helps older people and the disabled use computers.
He explains it like this: a person with perfect sight might have a visual
impairment when trying to read a smart phone in bright sunlight, or a person
with perfect hearing can struggle to understand a phone call when on the street
outside. As a result, technology that helps people with permanent vision or
hearing problems<https://techxplore.com/tags/hearing+problems/> also makes
products better for everyone. In the past five years, AbilityNet's team of
experts who test products to ensure they work well for the disabled has grown
from six people to 22.
[Talking gloves, tactile windows: New tech helps the disabled]
Hector Minto, a Senior Technology accessibility evangelist at Microsoft, talks
about their app that audibly describes objects and people for blind people
during an interview with The Associated Press, at Microsoft offices in London,
Friday, July 27, 2018. Improvements in artificial intelligence, combined with
the decreasing cost of hardware, are making it possible for inventors to
develop new products without the need for the deep pockets of governments or
big corporations. With the help of 3D printers and the increased processing
power of home computers, they are creating devices designed for people with
motor, vision, hearing and cognitive impairments. (AP Photo/Robert Stevens)
Innovation has not yet produced products good enough to offer complete freedom
for the impaired, said Tom Kamber, executive director of Brooklyn-based Older
Adults Technology Services, a non-profit that helps the elderly use technology.
But there is reason for optimism because investors are actively looking for the
next big thing in technology, he said.
"There's no shortage of people in Silicon Valley that will take your call,"
Kamber said. "The sector has advanced to the point that a lot of money is going
to be made."
The Holy Grail is for such technology to be integrated into off-the-shelf
products, so people with disabilities can get the help they need without extra
cost, said Christopherson of AbilityNet. Christopherson, who is blind, cited
the iPhone, which allowed him to swap a backpack full of equipment and cables
for one device.
And then there's the opportunity for technology to help people with impairments
experience the world in completely different ways.
Ford Motor Co. worked with the Aedo Project, an Italian startup, to create a
device that helps blind people "feel the view" outside a car window by turning
light into vibrations that, when combined with audio description, convey a
sense of the scenery passing by.
While the technology<https://techxplore.com/tags/technology/> is only in the
prototype stage, one blind man who worked on the project described his
amazement when he tried out the device for the first time.
"My first sensation when my finger went from the mountain to the sky felt like
I had ended up in cream, something milky, something soft," Antonio Bruni said.
"They told me: These were clouds."
https://techxplore.com/news/2018-09-gloves-tactile-windows-tech-disabled.html
David Goldfield
Assistive Technology Specialist
Feel free to visit my Web site
WWW.DavidGoldfield.info<http://WWW.DavidGoldfield.info>
