Safer cars and connecting with the VA Library

00:21S1

Hello everyone! Welcome to Talking Tech. This edition available from April 23rd, 2024. I'm Stephen Jolley, great to have you with us listening maybe through Vision Australia Radio, Associated Stations of Australia or maybe the Community Radio Network. There is the podcast. If you haven't caught up with that yet, all you need to do is search for the two words Talking Tech and download can all come usually on a Tuesday afternoon just after it's been produced. Another option is to ask your Siri device or smart speaker to play Vision Australia Radio talking tech podcast Vision Australia Radio talking tech podcast.

With me, someone who can explain all this tech stuff really well. Vision Australia's national advisor on access technology, David Woodbridge. David, let's start with our product Minute from the vision store of Vision Australia. There are lots of different ways to access content from the Vision Australia library these days, and one of them is through a very simple little device.

01:25S2

And when we say simple, we mean very, very simple to use. It's not complicated. You pick it up and you can use it. And what I'm talking about is a little audio player which is called the Envoy, Envoy Connect. The way it works is that if you're a member of the Vision Australia library and remember that the Vision Australia Library is open to anybody with a print disability. So you don't have to be just blind or low vision. If you've got a print disability, I might have a neurological condition, etc. then you can join the Vision Australia library. And you can certainly, if you're not already, certainly give them a call via the main one 308 4746 number and have a chat. The way the Envoy Connect player works with the library is actually fairly cool. 

So one way is you grab your windows computer. So window no Windows 10 or Windows 11. You install an application from the Vision State Library called the kiosk, and then you initially log in with your username and password and then whatever you've got your bookshelf set to, such as, you know, automatic books coming online, uh, or any other content you've got up automatically and we'll get to some other options in a tick. Then as soon as you run the software, the next time it goes okay, I've logged in. I've grabbed all your books for you. I'm going to download it to the player that you've got plugged in via the USB port, and you unplug it when it's finished because it tells you when it's done, and press one button to turn it on. Press the same button to start it playing and off you go. So it really, really is straightforward. 

Or the other way is let's say for example, you're not don't want to actually use a windows computer. You can actually send your envoy connect to the Vision Australia library. They can put more content on it for you and send it back. And the tip for some people is to have two players, because what you can do is you can have one play which has got your new current books on it, and then once you finish with the other player that's got your old books and you send it in while that's waiting to get updated and send it back to you, you can enjoy content on your current player that you've got all the new books on. 

So it's a great way, considering that this thing only costs $84. So it is really worthwhile to grab a hold of this, particularly for people that want either simple access via windows computer or they want to just be able to enjoy books, you know, turn it on, press play, adjust the volume, which is actually very, very loud. Go to the previous next chapter and not have to worry too much about all the whiz bang features that other systems may have.

03:58S1

Physically, it sits in the palm of your hand.

04:00S2

It does literally. You've got a speaker, and then below that you basically got about six buttons. So play pause or on and off a bookshelf, fast forward rewind and volume up and volume down. And the thing I love about this one, and besides the volume and the fact that you can pair it off for USB to actually pair it, it's got a little solar panel at the back of it. So you can use the the free battery in the sky. You pop it on your kitchen bench or wherever you got the sun coming through, and hey presto, it'll do a good solid charge of your envoy connect within. I think I want to say around about eight hours. So it really does work extremely nicely. And of course you can plug a good old 3.5mm headphone jack into it for your earphones if you want to do that as well.

04:45S1

The speaker itself is pretty good, but as you say, you can use the headphones as well.

04:50S2

That's right. And when we say loud, it's significantly loud. It's actually really, really good volume. I can actually have it on my outdoor table. Undermine the time, you know, the back of my house and I can listen to it a good, jeez, ten metres away. So that's the Envoy Connect from the Vision Australia Vision store, which works with the Vision Australia library.

05:10S1

Terrific. We're starting to see the presence of AI in our apps more and more. This is something from Honda.

05:18S2

Yep. And when we say Honda, we. I mean, the Honda Car company and what they're doing there currently in conjunction with a couple of blindness organizations, on the other side of the world. They're developing something called the Honda Scene Audio app, which is currently in beta. And what it's designed to do is to give you, through computer vision, what is happening around the car when you're traveling is a blind or low vision person, because we know as a blind person, you jump in a car and all you can hear is just the car noises and the road surface and all that sort of stuff. So this tells you what's happening around you. It also has G.P.S. information. So it also knows from your GPS location what quote should be around you. So what they're saying is, look, it's not just audio describing or describing what's around you. It's also giving you G.P.S. located type information. 

And the other thing it also gives you as well is because you're traveling outside in the weather. It's also giving you the forward cost if it's cloudy or raining or a chance of rain and so on. So it really does sound like one of these inclusive applications where it's really telling you what's happening in your environment in real time and giving you a lot more information just besides. Oh look, your computer vision thing has just seen a tree. Well big deal. But when they can describe the landscape in much greater detail the cliffs, the ocean, all that sort of stuff this is really going to bring alive traveling in the car. So I'm not too sure whether when they say an app that it's tied to the the Honda Entertainment system and just using the cameras in the car, or it's an app you can use on your smartphone that didn't quite go into that detail in the article I read, but looks promising for the future.

07:06S1

One of the downsides of the new generation of vehicles, electric cars, etc. is they don't make any noise.

07:15S2

No, and that's actually quite dangerous for us, particularly if you've got low vision issues or you're completely blind because these things don't make a noise. The only time electric vehicle makes a noise is when the tyre noise is on the road, and you can hear it now when they're at lower speeds, you can't hear the car even move under, say 25km an hour. So what Vision Australia has been advocating and lobbying for for the last five years is to get a sound in the car so that it generates the noise under 25km an hour. And the fancy name for it or the abbreviation is Avatar. So it stands for Acoustic Vehicle Audio System. One thing that did mention in the announcement, which Chris Edwards made last week, is it's not just a beep sound, because a beep sounds, as we all know, is very hard to determine where it's coming from. Chris said in the the article that I read is it actually makes an engine sound, which is much easier to locate. 

So that means when you've got an electric vehicle coming towards you in a car park, or it's coming up to a crossing with no traffic lights, or it's backing out of a drive while you're doing all sorts of low speed things, you'll be able to hear it. And the really great thing, as Chris said, was pointed out and also in the article, was that the government's also extended this to hybrid vehicles, hydrogen vehicles and trucks and buses, not just electric cars. So I think this is going to look bright, considering that over the next 25 years or so, we're going to see a lot more things on the road that are electric. And I think it's very promising because I have been called out quite a few times with electric vehicles. And as Chris points out, a number of us have had very near misses with electric vehicles purely because you can't hear them coming.

09:10S1

He's a good man, Chris. He leads the systemic advocacy group at Vision Australia. This issue is an example of the very kind of thing that he's quite concerned about and working on.

09:21S2

Exactly. No, and that's been it's been fantastic that after five years of lobbying, we've got to where we are now. So I think Vision Australia needs to be congratulated and so does the government.

09:30S1

Actually Apple accessibility may is always an interesting month. And there's a major event next week that we can tune into.

09:38S2

That's correct. And they seem to be getting in early for God. So God is the Global Accessibility Awareness Day, which I think from memory is in about May 20th. So Apple's getting in a bit early. So what they've got is they've called Apple accessibility events. Make it yours and there'll be over viewing accessibility to do with cross the line for accessibility of all Apple products. So iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, etc. and what they've done quite nicely. And I think it's a great idea. The the actual times are on May 1st, two, eight and nine. And then during those days they've got different times and also different ways of setting it. So I think they've got a couple with closed captioning. They've got a couple with audio describing going on as well. So they're actually pre done pre recordings which I think is a fantastic way to do it. 

That seems to be the Apple way at the moment. They do these sort of keynotes or videos that are pre done so they can put all the accessibility stuff into it rather than being a live one. And I think it's a good idea, even though I'm a fairly good person on Apple accessibility. I've loved listening to this type of stuff because I always find out little things that I may have forgotten. So if you want to just have a little bit of refresher, it only takes an hour. Choose what time you like. Register on the link that I've got in the show notes, and hey presto, you can sit back and listen to it at your own time and at your own accessibility level. Great stuff.

11:08S1

More attention now to the beat speak or Blazey speak. The little device that we've been talking about in recent weeks that Braille oriented one. There's a leather case that's going to be available soon.

11:22S2

That's right. There's a company called Turtleback overseas that's very famous for producing executive cases for quite a few different blindness type products, and they've just announced via Blazey Technologies themselves, they've got a case now for the beat speak so effectively. What it does it when it's closed it calls it covers up the keys. It leaves the ports open, including that, of course, where you plug it in via the USB port to power it. So it's really designed to sort of, you know, keep dust and other stuff out of the keys when the case is closed, has a little magnetic toggle on the front, so it clips on quite nicely and stays there. So it's just to protect it, considering that this thing's, you know, an Australian dollars, it's worth about a couple of thousand dollars. 

always a good idea to try and keep your your device bump free, scratch free, moisture free and all that sort of cool stuff. So have a look at that on the link. Um, now, if you go to the Blaze Technologies website, you may also see a promo on there to get a reduction off if you use a promo code. Um, but I think that's only lasting for another 3 or 4 weeks as we go to air. So you certainly can go to the turtle back link that I've got on the show notes. It's $148 US now, the promo code via the Blaze Technology site. If you want to use that promo code when you purchase from turtle Bank, that takes it down to 92 USD.

12:49S1

Is that available now or is it for pre-order?

12:51S2

No, it's for pre-order. I would probably suggest maybe towards the end of May.

12:57S1

They have pretty significant software updates every month or so. Now for the BT spec, don't they?

13:03S2

They do. And I think this is going to be a regular thing for the moment. While they're sort of ironed out, a few little bugs add a few more applications and features and documentation. Uh, there isn't one was actually a good one because it actually included a voice memo application. It's a good, solid update that they've actually released voice memos, and they've got more applications to come as time goes on.

13:24S1

Tell us about the We Work.

13:26S2

So this is the quote, "smart cane", which is as an application of your smartphone, that you can control the cane on what it does with sounds and stuff to do with GPS. The cane itself has a one single sonar unit that points in front, detects objects right in front of you above your waist height. So it's another option to look at if you're looking for a sonar based cane, such as the walk, ultra cane, or other sonar based canes. But the walk is the one that Vision Australia sells. And this new one is a is a version two of the previous one. And certainly worthwhile having a listen to the webinar coming up on our time the 26th of April. And it's probably going to be about 3 a.m. in the morning. So depending on how you are, have a listen.

14:14S1

Hopefully there'll be a recording available for later use.

14:17S2

I hope so, yeah.

14:18S1

Before we go, a reminder of where there are details of what we've been talking about in this and previous editions.

14:24S2

As always, you can check out my blog site, which is David Audible Podbean Pod Bean Comm.

14:30S1

David would be our podbean podbean - dot - com to write to the program.

14:37S2

You can write to me at Vision Australia where I work, which is David Woodbridge - how it sounds - at Vision Australia - dot - org.

14:43S1

David Dot Woodbridge at Vision Australian dot org. This has been Talking Tech. With me has been Vision Australia's national advisor on access technology David Woodbridge. I'm Stephen Jolley. Take care. We'll talk more tech next week. See you.