00:06S1
This is Studio One on Vision Australia Radio.
00:25S2
Hi, I'm Lizzie and I'm Sam, and this is Studio One, your weekly look at life from a low vision and blind point of view here on Virgin Australia Radio.
00:35S3
On this week's.
00:35S2
Show, we talk to Rene Lyon from Quantum Roe.
00:39S3
Where we get to learn about some of the latest pieces of technology, including a phone for the blind.
00:44S2
As we always say at this point, please do get in touch with the show. Whether you have experience of any of the issues covered in this week's episode of Studio One, or if you think that there's something we should be talking about, you never know. Your story or insight may help somebody else who's dealing with something similar.
01:03S3
You can drop us a note via email. Studio one at Australia. Org, that's studio one at Vision Australia. Org. So, Lizzie, how has the week been going for you? Pretty hectic.
01:22S2
But otherwise very well. Thanks. And what about you?
01:25S3
I've been busy recording show after show after show. I'm going to let the listener in on a bit of a cheat here. We don't necessarily record all of these in order, so we've been working very, very hard on the first show for next year, the last show for this year, and next week's show, which is, uh, well, fun, fun, fun. Anyway, we have a special guest in the studio because we don't usually have people in the studio. We have Rene from quantum RV. Hello, Rene. Hi, guys.
01:56S4
How are you?
01:57S3
Don't. I think that's a rabbit hole? We're not worth going down. Yes. That's right. So tell us a bit about yourself. I mean, how did you get started in adaptive technology?
02:06S4
So, um, my name is Rene Leon. I started in adaptive technology, working at Vision Australia in the vision store. Um, I'm based in Perth in Western Australia, and, um, I do work in the vision store there around a lot of these different pieces of technology. And recently I just started with quantum as a low vision consultant for the WA and South Australia region. Uh, and I have had an opportunity to learn a lot more in depth about the different technologies that quantum provide.
02:37S2
So what's your role as a low vision consult consultant? Yeah.
02:42S4
So basically quantum provides products to people with a print disability. So low vision blindness or a learning difficulty. Basically as part of my role I would go out and see people, demo equipment with them, try and work out what sort of equipment might suit them the best. And then as part of that role, we also provide after sales support and training and things like that.
03:04S2
Would you say it's been a rewarding role for you to take off? Yeah, definitely.
03:09S4
I've loved my time working at Vision Australia and now quantum. It is very rewarding seeing people, uh, be able to get back to do the things they love, such as reading. So it is very rewarding.
03:19S3
Did you have much to do with the disability community prior to taking up this job?
03:24S4
Not particularly, although a little bit. I do have a background in social work, so a lot of my practicals at university was working with people with disabilities. Um, and I do come from a background of optical dispensing as well, so spent a lot of time at Specsavers. But in regards to disability, I did get a bit of experience with that through social work.
03:43S3
So without further ado, what have you brought us to play with?
03:47S4
So today I've brought two different devices. So the first one that I've brought, which is probably one of the most popular products we sell, is the Orcam read smart. I'll explain a little bit about what the device does. It's basically a text to speech device. It's handheld, so it's about the size of a highlighter pen, and you can point it at pretty much any text that's written or on a screen, and have it instantly read back out loud to you.
04:14S2
Oh, fascinating. We'll get to see if it actually works.
04:17S4
Yep, I'm just turning it on at the moment, so we'll wait for that one to power on. While it is turning on, I'll just describe a little bit about what it looks like. So basically there's four tactile buttons across the front. There's your on and off button. There's a minus and a plus which is volume up and down. And when the device is reading out loud, those buttons become fast forward and rewind. And then at the bottom there's what we call a trigger button, or the button that you use to capture some text or take a photo. So it's just powering on at the moment.
04:46S3
So we actually had a bit of a play with this last time around. It's gone well over every year since that's done. But I mean so is this the same same device or have they improved up on it.
04:56S4
So this particular device that I've brought today is the same one. However, there is a new one that's going to be coming out in the next year. I can talk a little bit about what that one will do. However. It's not out just.
05:09S3
Yet, right? Yeah, definitely let us know. We like to know everything we do.
05:14S4
Um, so this one's ready to use now. Um, I might pass it to you, Lizzy, if you wanted to have a go.
05:20S2
Um, do we have any text?
05:21S4
Yes, I do have some text, so I'll just pop a little, uh, brochure just in front of you for the text. So I'll just give you a bit of a, um, feel of the device. Basically the flat end. So there's two ends to it. The flat one is the camera, and the round one is like the the top of the device. Okay, great.
05:37S2
So basically I found the trigger. Yeah.
05:39S4
Perfect. So the trigger button is the round one. That's right down the bottom towards the camera. So basically um, for you, if you find the center of where the text is now, the text can be any direction. It doesn't matter if it's upside down. And if you bring it up about 30cm from the center of the page. Now, if you hold down that trigger button and then just let go, it'll take a photo. Skipped one line which.
06:03S5
Was cut off. Versatile, high quality lighting for close up tasks and fine details. Skip line of unreadable text. The magnificent lamp is ideal for all types of detailed work. It works.
06:16S6
It does.
06:17S4
So that'll basically read everything that was captured in the image that you took. To pause it. If you just press the trigger button again or just to stop it. Yeah. So that would basically read any printed text. Or it can also read off a screen as well. So if you had your computer or iPad or phone or something like that, this is amazing.
06:36S2
I can I can see why it's quite a popular device because, you know, I know, especially for myself in the past, having to rely on other people to read mail. And, you know, that stuff can be quite personal. Whereas with this device you could quite independently get a piece of text and read it.
06:53S4
Yeah, definitely. Um, you can also get an optional stand with it. So if you, if someone maybe was having problems like centering the text, you can have a stand that helps to center the text and put the orcam at a particular distance from the text to be able to get it to capture a whole day for page, I would.
07:12S3
Actually see it. I mean, how does it go with, say, uh, fancy writing? Because that's sort of the bane of my existence really, especially in restaurants, if you're going there with poor lighting and they have this lovely, fancy scroll of spidery writing.
07:25S4
Yeah, it's okay. It does depend on the font, probably the new one that's coming out in the next CR. That one is actually able to do handwriting as well, so something like that could probably work a little bit better. Um, it does do quite a few different fonts, but if it is really, really, you know, out there, out there, it might not capture it.
07:47S2
And so for any of the listeners that are interested in purchasing this device, how much would, would it cost?
07:53S4
Ah, yeah. So at the moment the device is 3150, although a lot of the time, um, people who have funding providers such as NDIS or home care package, for example, um, can apply for this device through those funding providers.
08:08S2
Sam, do you wanna have a go?
08:10S3
I think I have a I want I've got these wipes here. I might have a bit of a play.
08:14S4
Yeah, absolutely I don't.
08:16S3
I'll see see how it goes with, with the uh, small print here. So.
08:20S4
So the flat end is the camera. Um, and then basically your tactile buttons are just along the top. If you have a few.
08:28S3
Spots on a minor's and then a little button here, it looks like a usb-C thing for the. Yeah. So that one's this is the trigger is it. Yes.
08:34S4
That's right. So if you just kind of center the device, you'll see, um, when the device lights up, there will be a red square around it. And if you just center that let go. Yeah.
08:45S5
One line of unreadable text on the go to an eye wipes suddenly on the go, two and one wipes sanitizing wipe to use on hands or surfaces for must have moments when disinfecting is waited.
08:58S6
Oh.
08:59S2
That is so cool.
09:01S4
Yeah. So you can use it on, you know, products like these sanitizing wipes you can use on food products that you have at home, for example.
09:08S3
And this I mean, the text on this is something like, uh, 8 or 9 point or something like that. It's quite tiny. So it did pretty well there. And, and uh, it wasn't completely clear either. So yeah, that's a pretty nifty little kid. Do are you stuck with the sexy American voice or can you make somebody else?
09:27S4
You can change the voice. It's got a few different voices. Um, so you can have a male voice. There's also an Australian voice. Um, and I'm pretty sure you can install other voices on it as well if you don't like the ones that are pre-installed.
09:44S1
This is Studio One on Vision Australia Radio.
09:53S3
All right. So do we have anything else to play with?
09:57S4
Yes. So, um, the next product I brought is, um, the Blind shell classic two mobile phone. Uh, so basically with this phone, it kind of, um, gives you the, the, you know, the benefits of having a smartphone, but with a tactile keypad and basically the whole phone is voiced over. So I'll explain a little bit about that in just a moment. I might pass the phone to you Lizzy, just so you can have a feel of.
10:22S6
It starting 11:10 a.m..
10:24S4
There you go.
10:25S2
I think it's got the, uh, the time wrong.
10:28S4
Yeah, it does have the time wrong, basically. Um, yes. If you feel it, it's like a so it's a tactile keypad. Um, it does have a screen that does display the numbers in the text in large print, but the whole phone is voiced over. Basically, the way that you control the phone is if you have a feel there's two buttons that feel like bars, long bars. Yep. So yeah, those are your up and down buttons. So that's what you use to navigate the phone messages.
10:53S6
Two of seven contacts, three of seven applications, four of seven settings, five of seven manual, six of seven. Turn off the phone. So seven.
11:04S4
Basically the reason why it says one of seven two of seven. That's basically to help with the navigation. So that means that there's uh your on item number two, for example, in a list of seven items for sure.
11:17S2
Yeah.
11:17S4
So just to help with, you know, knowing if you've heard all of the options, once you've heard the option that you want to go into. So if you go into, you know, uh, contacts or, or something like that. Yeah. Now you there's a trigger button which is around button just a little bit below, just on the other side. Yeah. And just yeah. That's perfect. So just that one, at least.
11:39S6
One of.
11:39S4
Six. So that is called the confirm button. And that brings you into the contacts menu. Now it says one of six. So we know there's six options in this menu.
11:47S6
That new contact contacts list add new single button dialing import contacts from file backup contacts to file contact settings six of six.
11:58S4
So basically the idea is the whole phone is voiced over. It's got the uh, kind of lets you know where you're where you're on, on the phone. So it's easy to navigate. Okay. Um, and it does read out loud text messages and all of that sort of things. Um, a lot of the so some of the other phones that we have, they won't read out loud text messages, for example, but we'll do like the main menu, um, where there is this phone will read everything on the whole phone.
12:24S2
So if you wanted to get out of this menu, for example, which button would you press?
12:28S4
So there is a back button which your finger is on at the moment. That one. Yeah. So if you press a once it'll take you back one step. But if you hold it down it takes you back to the home screen. So if you ever get stuck in a menu somewhere and you don't know where to go, you just hold that one down. It'll bring you right back to the start.
12:43S2
Amazing. And is there a way to close down all of the things that you've opened, or.
12:48S4
It doesn't really save things that you've opened, like an iPhone or an Android does? So there's no need to like, close down everything that you've opened.
12:57S2
Oh, cool. That's super convenient.
12:59S4
Now it does. It does act like a smartphone. However, there is a list of apps that you can have installed on the phone, so it doesn't take every single app like an iPhone or an Android might do. But on that list you do have things like Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, audible, the VA connect app for the Vision Australia library. So it does have quite a few good apps that you can have on the device.
13:22S2
Amazing. So what kind of, uh, person would this phone benefit?
13:25S4
It would benefit someone who maybe struggles to use a smartphone because there's no tactile keypad, or someone who doesn't want to go into a phone as complicated as an iPhone or an Android.
13:39S3
It strikes me that I mean someone who is all of a sudden lost their eyesight or, you know, is losing their eyesight, for example. And, uh, struggles with the technology to start out with this would probably be perfect.
13:49S2
Yeah. I was thinking that I was thinking that, um, there's quite a few people I know that who have recently lost their sight, whether it be to age or illness or accident. And for them, like, I watched them using an iPhone. And it's such a struggle to them because it's hard for their brain to process how to do the same things that they used to do, but without using sight. This sort of phone would be absolutely perfect for that person. It's just simple, but it's also complicated enough that you can do everyday things like Facebook Messenger, which is great. Everyone needs Facebook Messenger.
14:23S6
Hey, how are.
14:24S3
You finding actually dealing with the phone there? Lizzie?
14:27S2
Yeah, I quite like it. Do you want to have a go?
14:29S3
I don't think so. Oh, I have a look at it. Yeah, give me a look. I'll try to have a.
14:34S6
Yeah.
14:34S2
Oh, goodness gracious me. You have.
14:37S6
Found.
14:38S3
Ladies and gentlemen, we still have a Covid screen. It looks pretty groovy, actually. It's sort of, uh, I was expecting Covid screen. Yeah, yeah. The, um, the, uh, it sort of gives me old style Nokia vibes with a larger screen. Does a little bit.
14:52S2
Doesn't it?
14:53S4
Yeah, it does come in two different colors as well. So the one we have in the studio today is a bright red color, which may help people locate the phone if it's on a black table. But it does also come in a black color as well.
15:05S3
I like red, it actually wouldn't help me in the slightest if it was on a black table, because red and black look the same to me, but uh. Oh well, that's, uh, we all live different lives.
15:13S2
It all looks the same to me too.
15:15S3
Even black. That said. That's true. Yes. So that's that. Hence, you don't recognize the Day-Glo socks that I'm wearing at the moment, but. Oh, well, I wore them just to get your attention.
15:25S2
Oh, gee, Sam, I'm so sorry.
15:27S3
So how what things can we adjust? I'm presuming we can adjust the volume so that everybody's not listening into our, uh, what we're doing on the phone.
15:35S4
Of course. So you can adjust the volume. Um, you can plug headphones in as well. So if you wanted to wear headphones with it, um, so that's absolutely fine. And I forgot to mention as well before this phone as well does have voice like control. So kind of like you do on an iPhone with Siri. You can tell this phone to call certain people and send text messages and things like that as well.
15:55S3
Oh that's good, that's good. Uh, what about the actual voice? Can we change the voice and can we speed it up? Because, uh, if you know as many blind people as I've come across, they don't like speech at normal speed.
16:08S4
You can do so. You can adjust the speed. And I believe you can change the voice as well.
16:13S2
And I think I noticed is that an Apple charging port at the bottom?
16:17S4
No, I think it is usb-C. It is, however, soon to be the same as an Apple charging port. The new iPhones are gonna have usb-C, so it will be the same.
16:26S3
We're all going usb-C, which means there's one less thing to pack when we go overseas, you know? So handy.
16:31S2
Brilliant.
16:35S3
Coming up in the new year is brain dead.
16:39S2
Since the 1980s, many have predicted its demise. But for International Braille Day, we talk to a few people who think there's life in the old Perkins yet.
16:49S3
We'll be dropping the podcast on International Braille Day, the 5th of January, and playing the show the following week. So tune in then.
17:01UU
As we have.
17:01S3
No more things to play around with. Maybe you can tell us a bit how you've been going since you started, and is there anything in particularly interesting or exciting that you've actually encountered since starting working with quantum?
17:13S4
Yeah, for sure. Um, so I've been going pretty good at the moment. I am quite new. This is my second time actually coming to Adelaide to support the South Australia region, so I came down for an event in November, which was great. And then now back here to work with some clients here, show them some different devices and come and see you guys for example. Um, so some of the really interesting things I think that we have coming up, um, is definitely the new models of the Orcam, which will be out next year, um, maybe next year when I'm back. I can come when it's out and show you guys the new one, and then some of the other products that we have coming up, for example, is another one called the Mountbatten Tutor, which is a brailler device. Um, so we do have some really exciting devices coming up.
18:02S2
I remember the Mountbatten from back in my primary school days. It's good to know that those things are still around.
18:08S4
Yeah, they're still around. So they've, um, they're coming out with a new model. I'll have to check and see if it's available for sale at the moment, but there is a new model that's just come out, which is super exciting.
18:18S3
Do we know what it does? What's, uh, new about it, or is it just new colours?
18:21S4
Yeah. Well, basically it's going to be working really well as like a learning tool, maybe for children that are learning braille in schools or parents teaching their children Braille. Basically, you can connect it to something like a tablet and you can type the for example, the parent can type their words on the iPad, and then it will print straight away in Braille for the child and vice versa. What the whatever the child is typing in Braille will come up on the parents or teachers. Um, iPad screen.
18:49S2
That sounds absolutely amazing because I remember the first Mountbatten's. You just stuck the piece of paper in, you press the keys and that was it. But it's oh my goodness, like the marvels of technology and how we've been able to progress these devices to a point where you can link them up with tablets and things like that. It's just absolutely fascinating to me. And yeah, I love it.
19:11S4
Yeah.
19:11S3
So the new Orcam reader, I believe it has additional features as well. And you hear it plugged into a screen or something like that as well.
19:20S4
Yeah. So basically the new feature is that it can act as a magnifier as well. So when it's in the stand and connected to internet, you can connect it to a screen such as a computer or an iPad tablet. And basically you can view a magnified image from the orcam on the screen. So it does act as a magnifier. Um, and through that mode it will be able to do handwriting as well.
19:43S3
Oh, wow. So you can basically say, right, I need this image blown up. No, I still don't know what it is. Please describe it to me. Yeah, I guess so.
19:52S4
You can definitely view the magnified image. Um, you can't say describe it and it will describe it. However, it does have some artificial intelligence built into it. So you can ask it to summarize a document for example. So if you capture a document you can ask the orcam to summarize. And basically it will just give you a summary of the whole document or the whole page that you've captured. So it does have a little bit of AI built in as well. Hmm. I'm not too sure.
20:18S2
And because I didn't ask before, um, how much did the phones go for? What's the cost of that?
20:24S4
Um, so the phones at the moment and 950, um, at the moment, I believe they are doing a summer sale where when you buy the phone, you get a free, uh, case for it as well. Um, so I think that's the sale that's running at the moment, but, yeah, they're 950, so that's surprising.
20:43S3
I mean, um, I've recently bought a new phone and it wasn't really much different in price for that. So, I mean, you've got something that's actually got a few extra features that, uh, can probably change some people's lives, really. And it's only about 100 or so dollars more. Yeah, it's.
20:56S4
Not too bad.
20:57S2
It's cheaper than an iPhone.
20:58S3
That's definitely everything's cheaper than an iPhone.
21:01S2
Our souls are cheaper than iPhones. Perhaps you could tell the listener how to get in touch with quantum if they wanted to start learning about these new devices, or to speak with a low vision consultant such as yourself.
21:13S4
Yeah, absolutely. So the best thing to do would just to be, um, give quantum a call. So the phone number is 1300 883 853. Um, or you can also just send an email to info at quantum RV. Com.au and.
21:32S3
Do we have a.
21:33S6
Website. Yes we.
21:34S4
Do. So it's just um w w w quantum rv commu. So all of the products that we sell are on the website, and you can get in touch with us from the website as well. All of our contact details are on there, and.
21:48S3
We'll make sure to include all of that information in the podcast notes and on our Facebook page when the episode comes out. Thank you Renee, I hope you enjoy your time in Adelaide and uh, we look forward to. Perhaps catching up with you at some later stage?
22:02S6
Yeah.
22:02S4
No worries. Thank you so much for having me.
22:09S3
And that is it for this show. A big thank you to Rene from quantum RV for helping us out. And of course, thank you to quantum RV themselves.
22:18S2
And thank you to you for listening.
22:20S3
We'll be back next week for a very studio one Christmas.
22:24S2
We welcome friends, both old and new, to talk about the year that's gone and what we have to look forward to next year.
22:32S3
Join us as we eat too much, drink way more than is sensible, and finish the year in style.
22:37S2
But between now and then, please do get in touch with the show. Whether you have experience with any of the issues covered in this week's episode of Studio One, or if you think that there's something we should be talking about.
22:49S3
You never know. Your story and your insight may help somebody else who.
22:52S6
Is dealing with something.
22:53S3
Similar. Our email address is studio one at Virgin Australia. Org. That's studio one.
23:04S1
Virgin Australia Radio gratefully acknowledges the support of the Community Broadcasting Foundation for Studio One.
