Hello,
the last year I have started to build something I have called MKSpeech,
it was a notetaker based in the latest raspbian image with some
preinstalled software and some modules I have written in python. I've
used fenrir as screen reader, and sent a pull request with a few lines
so fenrir can work in Python 3.3 to 3.5 (speakup is quite good, but
fenrir had much more settings and functionality). Now I have read from
Chrys that he did Fenrir event based and uses multiple threads, so it
should go even better in the pi.
In the setup I was working on, it should cost around $300. Basically it
was a raspberry PI model 3 (it has better features and speed), an
external soundCard wich has a microphone, loud speakers, a 10000 MA
Battery pack (I was using Ni-MH batteries, but we started to work with
Litium based packs too), an RTC (real time clock), ADC (analog to
digital converter), and a little case that we've print for putting all
together. We planned to develop a set of keyboards (a QWERTY and Braille
keyboard) that could be exchanged by putting it in the top of the case
and fixing it with a few tricks that I can't explain very well (sorry,
English isn't my first language).
Unfortunately I no longer work in this idea (I've started to work by
myself, after it I opened a campaing that didn't work much, and my
employer allowed me to work during some months on this before assigning
me another job), so I Just got a few prototypes working and a set of
pyton modules already to use.
But I have learnt the following, I hope it can help somehow:
* I don't think the analog audio output present in the Raspberry Pi
should be used in a device like this one. Quality is not the best, and
you can hear strange noises when the CPU is working or when any other
device is being used. Also I have found issues for playing music with
MPlayer (I've written a media player app based in MPlayer and stuff) and
espeak.
* Nuance offers some interesting voices available for the Pi'S platform.
I've got a demo, but haven't the time yet for trying them out. One needs
to write some drivers, but you can get the SDK documentation and some C
examples. You can run vocalizer's voices in the pi, as far as I know.
* I would be careful when adding GUI apps to the PI. I've added XFCE,
libreoffice, firefox and thunderbird. And the desktop and its apps, as
well as libreoffice worked as expected, but firefox and thunderbird
never worked properly. In the last days of my experiments I have
installed pidgin and it was working normally.
* I've written a small module for allowing me to write interfaces by
using curses and python. I am not sure if this is the most updated
version of the source code (I think no, but I cannot find the main
repository), but you can take a look here [1]. I've taken and modified
some source code from a project that someone sent me in the speakup
mailing list, but I cannot remember the person and the project, so I am
sorry.
* Everything else is just writting modules and binding all them
together. For this project I made a media player (based in mplayer),
youtube player (youtube_dl, googleapiclient python module and a simple
interface in curses), media recorder (wrapping arecord), file manager (I
think main pieces are in guicurses itself), module updater (request
downloading of zip files and running bash scripts before and after
installation of updates) and a simple main menu.
I can't have access to that source code right now, unfortunately.
Best regards,
Manuel
[1]: https://github.com/raspberrypi-accesible/guicurses
El 05/08/2017 a las 06:22 p. m., Jacob Kruger escribió:
Amanda, AFAIK, talkback is open-source, so, it could be modified, but,
one of the reasons I got to playing with a pi in the first place,
besides raspiVoice implementation of the vOICe is the overall mini-pc it is.
For example, a while ago I was one of the hardware beta-testers for a
form of stand-alone PC implementation this side, which was basically
modified hardware to implement a full PC in something that felt like a
rather bulky keyboard, since all the PC hardware is built into the
keyboard housing, and, it's based on the command line version of ubuntu,
running off a menu system from boot-up, and then also allowing you to
launch a version of the ubuntu gui/desktop from there, but, for example,
the raspberry pi can currently offer almost all the same functionality,
for a very small percentage of the pricing, but, does require
configuration/setup, and, slightly less convenient hardware/wiring,
etc., but anyway.
In other words, I would definitely recommend sticking to the raspberry
pi as a base for something like this, and, while not really relevant, I
have already managed to get my own python-code-based bootup menu going
on a pi 3, working with an external USB audio adapter to then offer a
boot-up menu relating to recording audio, etc., but anyway.
Stay well
Jacob Kruger
Blind Biker
Skype: BlindZA
"Resistance is futile, but, acceptance is versatile..."
On 2017-08-05 21:48, Amanda Lacy wrote:
The only significant advantages I can think of to using Android are===========================================================
* huge user base
* good web browsing experience
* potential to map indoor spaces with Tango-enabled devices
However, I strongly dislike being forced to use Talkback and BrailleBack.
Correct me at once if I'm wrong about any of the following:
* BrailleBack is inferior to BRLTTY.
It's dependent on Talkback. We can't add functionality to it, e.g.
latex-access.
* We can't add functionality to Talkback.
We must depend on our Google overlords for all improvements to this
screen reader.
* But we can modify Orca, Fenrir, BRLTTY etc.
On 8/5/17, Jeffery Mewtamer <mewtamer@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Android's massive install base may seem like an asset, and I'm sure===========================================================
blind persons already using Android would probably prefer improvements
to the quality and quantity of accessibility options on that platform.
That said, consider the following:
-How many existing Android devices support ethernet and USB peripherals?
-How many existing Android devices aren't built around a touchscreen
as the primary input/output device?
-How many existing Android devices support installation of custom OS
images without voiding the warranty?
-How many existing Android devices come anywhere close to the 100USD
target cost?
Not to mention that a general Android solution would need to run well
on a variety of hardware whereas a Pi solution gives a specific
hardware target and one that packs a lot of computer into a little
space and at litle cost.
Now, if there's a well supported Android image for the Raspberry Pi
I'm unaware of, there might be value in checking how existing
accessibility options work under it compared to Rasbian and possibly
choosing it as a starting point over Rasbian or even trying to produce
a Pi image that can dual boot the two.
And hardware concerns aside, what about the following considerations
regarding the Android OS itself?:
-Can Android run in text-mode?
-If so, how does the volume of text-mode applications available for
Android compare with the volume available for Rasbian(or even vanilla
ARM Debian)?
-Does Android support running a GUI that wasn't built with a
touchscreen in mind?
-Has support for writing Android Applications in languages other than
Java improved? Does there at least exist a stand-alone C++ compiler or
Python interpreter for Android?
Android may have an advantage in terms of install base, but unless my
knowledge is even more incomplete than I think it is, it seems clear
that Rasbian has the advantage in flexibility and versatility.
--
Sincerely,
Jeffery Wright
President Emeritus, Nu Nu Chapter, Phi Theta Kappa.
Former Secretary, Student Government Association, College of the Albemarle.
===========================================================
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Raspberry Pi and the Raspberry Pi logo are trademarks of the Raspberry Pi
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This list is not affiliated to the Raspberry Pi Foundation and the views and
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the Foundation.
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The raspberry-vi mailing list
Archives: //www.freelists.org/archives/raspberry-vi
Administrative contact: <mike.ray@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
-----------------------------------------------------------
Raspberry Pi and the Raspberry Pi logo are trademarks of the Raspberry Pi
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This list is not affiliated to the Raspberry Pi Foundation and the views and
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the Foundation.
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