Page 55 - Green Builder Magazine May-June 2019 Issue

1. Enter your destination 2. Follow navigation as there’s internet). The blind gained this opportunity
CREDIT: CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY COGNITIVE ASSISTANCE LAB with the advent of Blitab, a Braille-based tablet. Blitab

allows blind users to learn, work and play with one
mobile device and to have digital access to information
in real time. The device converts any document into
Braille text; little smart dots (“tixels”) raise immediately
from the surface and then fall down again when text
changes. Capable of converting a full 8-by-11 page at

navigation, making it usable by non-Braille readers
when needed.
Line of sight. NavCog’s Bluetooth-driven process enables the visually impaired to easily a time, it also has text-to-speech capability and touch
navigate within buildings and along streets.
HOUSEHOLD HELPER
VISION QUEST Switches are a fact of life in any home or
Few will argue that loss of vision is one of the worst disabilities to o€ce. There are light switches, computer
endure, no matter how old you are. The concept that you’ll have switches, phones, environmental control
to learn an entirely di‘erent method of interaction—one based on units, television remotes and more.
your other senses, especially your hearing—is a nightmare to some. Anyone who can’t easily use a switch CREDIT: ORIGIN INSTRUMENTS
Making the transition easier is NavCog, an open-sourced iPhone should consider a Sip/Puff Breeze, a
app for indoor navigation. Developed by Carnegie Mellon University, system that controls switches with their
this tool helps people with visual impairments use earbuds, a breath. Consisting of a mouthpiece, Easy breathing. The Sip/Puff
smartphone and Bluetooth sensors to explore the world. Information headset and flexible shaft with a Breeze system enables control of
about their surroundings is spoken to the user, helping them know removable clamp, a user activates a switch lights, computers, remotes and
what to expect as they try to move around the house or make their by sipping (inhaling) or pu€ng (exhaling). other handheld or vocal-controlled
The device also enables a user to control
way down the street.
devices with a simple inhale or
CREDIT: LUNA AZUL PERMANENT HOUSING capable of identifying objects and university, airport or hospital. make drawing, playing games and any application that accurate
The cane that explains. Smart canes are
exhale.
cursor movements and joysticks, which
This process is also
helpful for people
people for blind people through
who are at huge and
cursor control as easy as a snap of the „ngers.
ultrasound.
complex places such as a
DEVELOPMENTAL AIDS
Meanwhile, human interac-
tion can be a chore when you’re One tool that can help people keep their thoughts organized as they
age and their memories begin to fade is one they may have used
blind. You can’t always rely on your un- when they were younger: a graphic organizer. In this case, the device
aided senses of hearing or touch to let you allows a user to “dump” their information into the online system in
know who’s standing nearby. But XploR, a smart an unstructured manner. The unit can then rearrange the data into
cane developed by Birmingham City University in the a logical pattern. For example, a “to do” list may be set in any order
United Kingdom, can clear things up. The mobility stick uses as recalled, then moved into proper 1-2-3 order after online review.
a handle-mounted camera, built-in sensors and facial recognition Dozens of such products exist (and not all of them require online
software to scan for faces in a crowd, then compares those images use); a typical provider of organizer charts basic and complex is
to an online database or preloaded memory card. If there’s a match, Lucidchart.
the stick vibrates, then guides the user to their friend or relative us-
ing a Bluetooth earpiece and audio
guidance. XploR is still being mar-
ket tested, but similar products are
already available. Smart canes by
AssisTech and UltraCane use
ultrasound to detect obstacles in
the user’s path, then vibrate to tell
the user which direction to go to CREDIT: BLITAB
avoid them.
One of the greatest technologi- Reading things write. The blind CREDIT: LUCIDCHART
cal innovations of this century has who want to read while on the
been the tablet PC, a wonder that web and the sighted who want to Lost in thought. Persons with cognitive disabilities can benefit from a
has enabled us to communicate learn Braille can make the graphic organizer such as one by Lucidchart, which allows random
and learn wherever we go (as long connection with the Blitab tablet. placement of thoughts on a chart for future reorganization.

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